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Expressing motion events by Cantonese-speaking children in video narratives
No full textTelling stories and making a narration of events are common communicative acts of children. Two major questions in expressing motion events have attracted much discussion in the literature: (a) how does a child encode a motion event (developmental issue)? and (b) how much of this is affected by the specific properties of the native language (typological effect on acquisition)? There has been a debate in discussing the lexicalization of patterns in Chinese: whether Chinese is a verb-framed language, a satellite-framed language or an equipollent language. Despite a large number of studies on how children encode motion events in English, Spanish and other western languages providing evidence on the relationship between language typology and language development, research on Chinese children’s expression of motion events is under-represented. Using data collected from video clips, this paper examines how Cantonese-speaking children of ages three and five encode motion events in narratives, and explores how such findings shed light on the issue of Chinese in the debate of lexicalization typology and language development. Our results show that children were sensitive to the specific properties of Cantonese Chinese at a young age, and the lexicalization pattern of Cantonese is closer to the equipollent patterns than the other patterns
Effect of an injury prevention program on muscle injuries in elite professional soccer
No full textDue to the continual physical, physiological, and psychological demands of elite level soccer increasing the incidence and risk of injuries, preventative training programs have become a common feature of soccer players training schedule. The aim of the current investigation was to examine the effectiveness of a structured injury prevention program on the number of muscle injuries and the total number of injuries within elite professional soccer. The present study was conducted over 2 consecutive seasons, of which the first (2008-2009) being the intervention season and the second the control season (2009-2010). In total, 26 and 23 elite male professional soccer players competing within the Scottish Premier League and European competition participated. The training program was performed twice weekly for the entirety of the season (58 prevention sessions). The results revealed an increase in the total number of injuries within the intervention season (88 vs. 72); however, this was largely due to the greater number of contusion injuries sustained within the intervention season (n = 44) when compared with control season (n = 23). Significantly less muscle injuries were observed during the intervention season (moderate effect), and this occurred concomitant with a bigger squad size (large effect, p \u3c 0.001). The findings from this study identify that a multicomponent injury prevention-training program may be appropriate for reducing the number of muscle injuries during a season but may not be adequate to reduce all other injuries
English in the Chinese foreign language classroom
No full textChinese is an ancient language, but the present scope of its global study is unprecedented. Comprehending the impacts of worldwide linguistic realities on ‘Chinese as a Foreign Language’ (CFL) teachers and students will be critical to its long-term success. The most important phenomenon has been the establishment of English as a lingua franca, especially in the expanding marketplaces of Asia. This book examines the role of English as a medium of instruction in CFL classrooms. It begins by integrating existing studies on the global spread of English with research on English as a medium of second language acquisition. Several valuable empirical analyses from actual CFL classrooms serve both to validate the use of English as a lingua franca and expose that much more work needs to be done to ground this practice in deep sociocultural and ecological settings. The author advocates the development of a new pedagogy that emphasizes taking account of specific cultural, social, and political contexts in order to reach an ever-more diverse body of students. The book concludes with a discussion of the role of English in China’s national education system and social development, as well as predictions about the future relationship between Chinese and English
Optimization and kinetic modeling of polysaccharide extraction by ultrasonic disruption of a medicinal fungal mycelia in fermentation broth
No full textGenome-wide association study in a Chinese population identifies a susceptibility locus for type 2 diabetes at 7q32 near PAX4
No full textAims/Hypothesis: Most genetic variants identified for type 2 diabetes have been discovered in European populations. We performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in a Chinese population with the aim of identifying novel variants for type 2 diabetes in Asians.
Methods: We performed a meta-analysis of three GWAS comprising 684 patients with type 2 diabetes and 955 controls of Southern Han Chinese descent. We followed up the top signals in two independent Southern Han Chinese cohorts (totalling 10,383 cases and 6,974 controls), and performed in silico replication in multiple populations.
Results: We identified CDKN2A/B and four novel type 2 diabetes association signals with p \u3c 1 × 10(-5) from the meta-analysis. Thirteen variants within these four loci were followed up in two independent Chinese cohorts, and rs10229583 at 7q32 was found to be associated with type 2 diabetes in a combined analysis of 11,067 cases and 7,929 controls (p meta = 2.6 × 10(-8); OR [95% CI] 1.18 [1.11, 1.25]). In silico replication revealed consistent associations across multiethnic groups, including five East Asian populations (p meta = 2.3 × 10(-10)) and a population of European descent (p = 8.6 × 10(-3)). The rs10229583 risk variant was associated with elevated fasting plasma glucose, impaired beta cell function in controls, and an earlier age at diagnosis for the cases. The novel variant lies within an islet-selective cluster of open regulatory elements. There was significant heterogeneity of effect between Han Chinese and individuals of European descent, Malaysians and Indians.
Conclusions/Interpretation:Our study identifies rs10229583 near PAX4 as a novel locus for type 2 diabetes in Chinese and other populations and provides new insights into the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes
平原上盛開的紅花: 論李佩甫《羊的門》的烏托邦書寫 Red blossom on the plain: an inquisition of the utopian writing in Li Peifu\u27s The gate for sheep
No full text李佩甫描繪中國農村「呼家堡」的小說《羊的門》於1999年出版後，風行一時，旋即受政治力量干預而停止發行。過去對此書的評論雖涉及烏托邦面向，但是似乎未見從烏托邦書寫角度對「呼家堡」形象背後意識型態的歷史淵源進行深入分析，以及考察小說和中華人民共和國歷史發展的關係，這兩點正是本文關注所在。首先就「呼家堡」是一個實現了的共產主義烏托邦，分析它與「烏托邦」、「毛式烏托邦主義」和「新集體主義」等義理間的歷史淵源。接著，探討呼天成的領袖形象，以及領袖和民眾之間的關係，說明呼天成的人物形象在新時期中國文學上的獨特意義，以及長期存在於中國農民心底對「救主」的期盼。最後探討《羊的門》的烏托邦書寫之意義－「呼家堡」做為歷史出路的另一假設，展現了作家對於中國社會的批判與思考。
The circulation of The Gate for Sheep 羊的門, written by Li Peifu 李佩甫, was immediately halted through political intervention after its publication in 1999. Perhaps this is the reason why there have not been comprehensive analyses about the artistic image of Hu Jiabao 呼家堡 village from the perspective of Utopian Writing, nor have there been investigations about how the novel relates to Chinese history, despite the short-lived popularity of the novel. This article first analyzes the relationship of Hu Jiabao village with Utopia, Maoist Utopianism, and New Collectivism. Then it investigates the leadership image of Hu Tiancheng 呼天成, as well as the relationship between leaders and the public, which explains the unique meaning of his character in the new era of Chinese literature and the long-existing expectation that Chinese peasants had for a ”savior.” Finally, the meaning of the Utopian writing in The Gate for Sheep is investigated-Hu Jiabao village is an escape route for peasants throughout history, and the novel expresses the criticisms and reflections of the writer toward Chinese society
Design for ageing and happiness: from \u27design things\u27 to a solution-focused design approach and design intelligence
No full textAs a team with a sociologist and a designer-researcher, we employed action research methodology by conducting design labs for different learning situations and researching the social role of designers, Design Schools and the design education system as a whole. In this paper, we intend to reflect on our latest project with young design students who were sent out to the local communities around their design institution to see if participatory design and infrastructuring could provide a new direction for design as a profession. We challenged the notion of design things, which conceptualise the design process as ‘social-material assembly’ but neglect the professional roles of designers. We investigated three areas that enable designers to engage social reality: 1. identifying the public, 2. democratising design process / design intelligence, 3. solution focused design practice. We argued that designers have their designerly ways of practice that constitutes a specific professional force to achieve for social change
Assessing the contractor performance outcomes of construction framework for the UK public sector
No full textThe construction industry in the UK has a history of client dissatisfaction. Criticisms have been included within UK Government reports since the 1940’s. A potential solution for improvement is through formation of a framework agreement between contractors and a client, where long term relationships may focus upon performance. A typical yet unique local authority was examined to determine whether use of framework agreements for construction projects could result in significant improvement for contractor performance outcomes in respect of quality, schedule and budget when compared with traditional discrete procurement methods. Within the case, performance data was compiled from 164 highways maintenance projects and separated into two groups – one represents those procured using traditional discrete methods and the other within a framework agreement. All projects were subjected to Critical Success Factors (CSFs) determined by the client organisation allowing a Project Success Index (PSI) to be calculated for performance assessment of each project. Independent-samples t-tests proved that there were significant improvements resulted from framework agreements in overall performance and individually in quality (defects), schedule (finish on time), budget limit (accuracy of payment applications). Conclusions from this study support the use of framework agreements as an innovative procurement for the wider public sector environment