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Acute genoprotective effects on lymphocytic DNA with ginseng extract supplementation
No full textGinseng is regarded as the ‘miracle’ herb or supplement in the traditional Chinese medicine. Minimizing DNA damage isthought to contribute to longevity. Previous study on ginseng aqueous extract showed in vitro DNA protection on humanlymphocytes against oxidative stress. In the current study, the potential DNA protective effect on lymphocytes aftersupplementation of commercial ginseng extract was measured by comet assay. Seven volunteers were requested to ingest 200 mLwater with five capsules of ginseng extract. On the other occasions, seven volunteers took 200 mL of water only as the control trial.Venous blood samples before ingestion were taken. Subjects were requested to keep fasting and the second blood sample wastaken at 2.5 hours. Lymphocyte was isolated and subjected to comet assay. DNA damage of isolated lymphocytes was induced by 50 μM H2O2 and the level of damage of was graded under fluorescence microscope. Results showed that there was significantdecrease (77% lower) in comet score in ginseng treatment group. No significant change of DNA damage in water treatment groupwas observed. In conclude, a normal dose of commercial ginseng extract was able to lower DNA damage of peripherallymphocyte within 2.5 hours of ingestion
Induced self-assembly and disassembly of water-soluble alkynylplatinum( ii ) terpyridyl complexes with switchable near-infrared (NIR) emission modulated by metalmetal interactions over physiological pH: demonstration of pH-responsive NIR luminescent probes in cell-imaging studies
No full textWater-soluble alkynylplatinum( ii ) terpyridine complexes, [Pt{tpy(C 6 H 4 CH 2 NMe 3 -4)-4}(CCAr)](OTf) 2 [Ar = C 6 H 3 (OH) 2 -3,5 ( 1 ), C 6 H 4 OH-4 ( 2 ), C 6 H 3 (OMe) 2 -3,5 ( 3 )], have been synthesized and characterized. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of the complexes have been studied. Complex 1 has been found to undergo aggregation at low pHs, leading to metalmetal and/or interactions and the emergence of a triplet metal-metal-to-ligand charge transfer ( 3 MMLCT) emission in the near-infrared (NIR) region, the intensity of which has been enhanced 1350-fold over that at physiological pH. Such switchable NIR emission of complex 1 was employed in cell-imaging experiments. The pH response of the 3 MMLCT emission of complex 1 in cellular compartments has been studied using experiments with fixed MadinDarby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, while live cell-imaging experiments revealed that complex 1 could function as a NIR luminescent probe for the tracking of the location of acidic organelles such as lysosomes
Cholesterol lowering and vascular protective effects of ethanolic extract of dried fruit of Crataegus pinnatifida, hawthorn (Shan Zha), in diet-induced hypercholesterolaemic rat model
No full textConsumption of functional foods for managing plasma cholesterol level has gained acceptance globally. The hypocholesterolaemic and vascular protective effects of the dried fruit of Crataegus pinnatifida, hawthorn (Shan Zha), were investigated in rats fed with normal diet, high cholesterol diet (HCD) or HCD plus Shan Zha 80% ethanolic extract treatment (30 or 100 mg/kg/day, p.o.) for 4 weeks. Shan Zha extract markedly reversed the increased plasma total cholesterol and high density lipoprotein cholesterol induced by HCD with a dose-dependent improvement on the atherogenic index. It also demonstrated good hepatoprotective function by reducing lipid content in the liver. The blunted endothelium-mediated aortic relaxation in HCD-fed rats was restored by high dosage of Shan Zha extract treatment. The current results showed that Shan Zha extract could provide its cholesterol lowering effect by up-regulating hepatic CYP7A1 mRNA expression which leads to enhanced bile acid biosynthesis. It is postulated that the hypocholesterolaemic effect is the primary beneficial effect given by Shan Zha extract; it then leads to other secondary beneficial effects such as vascular protective and hepatoprotective functions. Thus, Shan Zha extract could provide an overall improvement on the hepatic and vascular systems that may be important in relieving hypercholesterolaemia-related complications
Mechanisms of nC60 removal by the alum coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation process
No full textThis study explored the mechanisms for nC60 removal in pure water and filtered saline wastewater by the alum coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation process through analyzing the hydrolyzed aluminum species and exploring the complexation of nC60 with aluminum hydroxide precipitates. Sweep flocculation (enmeshment and adsorption) with Alc is the most dominant mechanism contributing to the nC60 removal in pure water. In filtered saline wastewater, hetero-precipitation of Alb with nC60, colloids, and dissolved solids also contributes to the nC60 removal. Alkalinity affected the nC60 removal by changing the hydrolyzed aluminum species distributions. XPS, FTIR, and SEM evidences suggest that the enmeshment and adsorption of nC60 onto the aluminum hydroxide precipitates can be described as the inner-sphere complexation. Based on the above observations, conceptual models for nC60 removal by the alum coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation process in the different water matrices are proposed
Removal of aqueous fullerene nC60 from wastewater by alum-enhanced primary treatment
No full textThis study examined the removal of nC60 from wastewater by alum-enhanced primary treatment at different pH levels and alum dosages and identified wastewater characteristics affecting the removal. The efficiency of the removal depended on the alum dosage, pH, alkalinity, and the concentrations of suspended solids, sewage organic matter and salinity. Alum dosage and pH influenced the removal efficiency by changing the hydrolyzed aluminum species distribution at acidic and near neutral pH levels. At pH 9-10, nC60 removal was associated with the formation of magnesium (or calcium) carbonate or hydroxide precipitates. Alkalinity dramatically enhanced the nC60 removal efficiency (by up to 71%) through the formation of sodium aluminum hydroxycarbonate precipitates. Increasing the concentration of suspended solids enhanced the nC60 removal efficiency by up to 46% at 25 mg/L of alum as the solids act as adsorbents and the nuclei around which flocs can grow. Increasing the concentration of sewage organic matter decreased the nC 60 removal efficiency (by 17% or less) while salinity improved it, albeit only slightly so. The results of this study demonstrate that nC 60 can be effectively removed from wastewater by the alum-based chemically enhanced primary treatment process under appropriate conditions and better removal can be achieved by increasing alum dosage
Reflections on pedagogical use of blended learning in hospitality education: a case study of teaching human resources management
No full textThis article empirically explores the pedagogical use of blended learning for university students studying human resources management. Instructional methods combined with a Web component were adopted in designing teaching and learning activities that could enhance students\u27 learning experiences. This study includes both quantitative and qualitative research methods. In the quantitative part of the study, a total of 297 students responded to a self-administered questionnaire that evaluated different instructional methods of blended learning in a human resources management course. Factor analysis identified seven factors, which were further examined to assess their influence on the students\u27 overall evaluation. The results showed that mass lecture was the most influential determinant, followed by interactive tutorial and then group project–integration. Study outcomes are discussed using quantitative data, while qualitative feedback from students and instructors provide insights into how to develop appropriate courses for today\u27s undergraduates
School and hotel integration: practices and experiences from stakeholders
No full textThis paper describes an exploratory study of stakeholder feedback on a Hotel Integration project from the perspective of students, HR personnel working in a teaching hotel, and subject teachers. Hotel Integration was one of the principal components in the delivery of a program entitled “Human Resources Management (HRM) in the Tourism and Hotel Industry.” The design and implementation focused on promoting student-centered learning. Data were collected from students, teachers and HR staff, and qualitative analysis undertaken to identify similarities and differences in their views. The paper presents dendrograms representing these views and discusses participants\u27 experiences of the project. In the analysis, feedback was classified into four categories; Planning, Implementation and Management of the Project, Project Evaluation; and Consideration and Improvement of Future Learning Activities. The results generally showed that the confidentiality of hotel data and large class sizes were the major issues affecting the design and implementation of the integration project. The paper closes by suggesting recommendations and considerations for future projects. For example, the student-centered learning approach could be further explained and promoted to students in order to enhance its popularity and general acceptance
Conceptual recombination: a method for producing exploratory and transformational creativity in creative works
No full textComputational creativity researchers have long been searching for a reliable creative method of generating transformational creativity in Creativity Support Tools, in vain, especially when these systems are supposed to take in a user’s unfinished creative work and produce representational and creative outputs as continuations to the user input. In this paper we propose a new creative method called Conceptual Recombination to take up this challenge. We first define creative work for this study followed by creative work ontology to be the theoretical background of Conceptual Recombination. We further refer to application ontology and regard Conceptual Recombination as the task model for creative work ontology. In this task model there are three levels of prediction leading to the formations of output features, output structures, and their combinations as the final system outputs constrained by rules, biases, and homeomorphism. Furthermore, this new creative method allows the use of exploratory creativity on structures and transformational creativity on features to attain a balance between usefulness and novelty in system outputs. A 7-tuple computational model and the search mechanisms for exploratory and transformational creativity are also defined for it. Lastly, we evaluate Conceptual Recombination with our case study about producing a 2-dimensional asymmetrical shape with a given symmetrical shape to demonstrate its practicality and conclude that it not only offers a new reliable creative method for Creativity Support Tools, but also provides an objective evaluation method for transformational creativity
The use of English as a lingua franca in teaching Chinese as a foreign language: a case study of native Chinese teachers in Beijing
No full textWith the rapid rise of China’s economy, Mandarin Chinese (henceforth Chinese, denotes ‘Putonghua’ in the People’s Republic of China) has quickly emerged as the new must-have language for this millennium. The teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) has become popular in the past decade, and the large influx of international students of Chinese has brought different cultures and languages into the classroom and society. English has also spread around the world, and as a result both Chinese teachers and international students of Chinese use English as a lingua franca (ELF) to assist the teaching and learning of Chinese. This study investigates native Chinese teachers’ beliefs about ELF. Three native Chinese speakers from universities in Beijing were invited to participate in one-on-one in-depth interviews. Findings indicate that there are three categories of beliefs which can be classified adopting Macaro’s terms of the ‘virtual, maximal and optional positions’. The teachers’ beliefs were found to be considerably influenced by their English learning experience, English language proficiency, national identity and English language identity. The study concludes that Chinese will not replace English as another lingua franca and thus native Chinese teachers should develop an ELF pedagogy to meet the needs of multilingual international students of Chinese