Science Letters： Vascular architecture： is it a helpful histopathological biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma？

Hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） remains one of the major public health problems throughout the world. Although originally associated with tumorigenic processes, liver angiogenesis has also been observed in the context of different liver inflammatory, fibrotic, and ischemic conditions. Here we investigate the fractal dimension as a quantitator of non-Euclidean two-dimensional vascular geometry in a series of paired specimens of primary HCC and surrounding non-tumoral tissue, and discuss why this parameter might provide additional information regarding cancer behavior. The application of fractal geometry to the measurement of liver vascularity and the availability of a computer-aided quantitative method can eliminate errors in visual interpretation, and make it possible to obtain closer-to-reality numerals that are compulsory for any measurement process.     

Managing a modern university: is it time for a rethink?

The corporate approaches introduced in the late 1980s and now prevalent in universities in Australia have led to irrevocable changes in the way universities are managed and academics work. The management approaches widely applied in Australian universities are largely based on a top‐down corporate management model, with central control over policy and budget driven by the need to meet stringent external accountability requirements. This form of management rewards compliance and predictability. The economic environment over this period has changed drastically, becoming more global and uncertain. The prevailing management processes are not suited to the modern economic environment. A modern university is expected to operate more as an enterprise, but to do so effectively it needs flexible and responsive forms of management that are more inclusive of academics in the decision making process. This paper explores the organisational management literature and links it to the context in which universities operate. It considers the implications for managers and academics, as key stakeholders in a modern university, in this changeable environment.     

What is play fighting and what is it good for?

Play fighting is a common form of play reported among species of mammals, birds, and some other taxa. The competition present in play fighting revolves around gaining some advantage, such as biting a partner without being bitten. The behavior simulated during play fighting need not be restricted to that present in adult serious fighting, but can involve competitive interactions derived from amicable behavior, such as sex and social grooming, or from nonsocial competition, such as predation. What unifies play fighting, irrespective of the functional behavior being simulated, is that it involves some degree of reciprocity, or turn taking, that requires that the competition be attenuated by cooperation. However, there are several different ways in which cooperation can be inserted into playful interactions, and these vary in use across different species. The moderation of competition with cooperation forces animals to monitor their own actions and those of their partners, and this common feature appears to be one vehicle through which the experience of play fighting in the juvenile period can train animals for greater psychological resilience. The monitoring and contextual adjustment of actions influences the development of executive functions of the brain, which, in turn, leads to the development of more adaptable adults.     

Cultural sensitivity: How important is it for effective home visits?

The implementation of home visits as a technique for involving parents has recently resurfaced. This educational trend has received additional emphasis as the nation attempts to meet the national education goals — particularly the first goal, which states, By the year 2000, all children will enter school ready to learn.Sally A. LaPoint is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of South Carolina at Beaufort. She also administers the At Risk Early Childhood Family Initiative, located at the historic Penn Center on St. Helena Island, South Carolina. Gloria S. Boutte is an Assistant Professor, Kevin J. Swick is a Professor, and Mac H. Brown is an Associate Professor, Early Childhood Education, at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.     

What is it?

Yon can find it everywhere．Yon can touch it or feel it.But it can’t be eaten and can’t be drunk．There is air in it．There is water in it．Because it has much nutrition(营养物)which plants live on it,and we     

Teaching a discrete information technology course in a constructivist learning environment: is it effective for Malaysian pre-service teachers?

The purpose of this research was to measure pre-service teachers' attitudes toward information technology (IT) following their participation in a discrete IT course. The IT course was taught in a constructivist learning environment where the students collaborated to achieve their learning goals and problem solve on tasks [Educ. Technol. 35 (1995) 25]. The results of the study revealed that with the constructivist learning approach infused in the IT course, there was a positive shift in the participants' attitudes toward IT. Pretest results showed that participants who were competent had regarded IT as more useful; and they had more confidence and less aversion toward technology. The posttest results showed increased mean scores on all three dependent variables (e.g., usefulness, confidence, and aversion) with no differences between competent and incompetent participants by the end of the course. The responses obtained from interviews of course instructors indicated that participants were more independent, more creative, and used their collaborative learning skills. While an exploratory study, the results provide support for the premise that infusing constructivism into a discrete IT course can enhance positive attitudes towards IT and enable students to be active participants in their own learning process.     

Teacher knowledge: What is it? How do we uncover it? What are its implications for schooling?

This paper follows the ways in which publications in TATE, that focus on teacher knowledge, provide insights into the development and growth of scholarly understanding of teacher knowledge. Relevant questions are: How is teacher knowledge defined? What modes of inquiry are adopted by the researchers? What are conceived as the implications of teacher knowledge for schooling? In order to answer these questions, nine papers were chosen from TATE according to the following criteria:

1.

distributed over a period of 20 years from 1988 to 2009

2.

representing an international group of scholars

3.

reflecting modes of inquiry

4.

focusing on a variety of themes related to teacher knowledge

These papers were analyzed according to the following aspects:

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Definition of teacher knowledge

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Mode of inquiry

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Emphasis on one or more of the commonplaces of education - subject matter, learner, teacher, milieu (Schwab, 1964)

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Emphasis on one or more of the kinds of teacher knowledge suggested byShulman (1986)

The analysis of each paper is presented followed by a discussion.Several tendencies in the development of the concept of teacher knowledge are noted. There is the extension of the term to include societal issues. As well, one finds a growing focus on the personal aspects of knowledge. The role of context in shaping teacher knowledge plays a crucial role in the analyzed papers, reflecting changes in the milieu of schooling. The main mode of inquiry in the analyzed papers is qualitative, interpretative. The authors of the various papers were interested in the concrete experiences and views of student teachers, and teachers, concerning their knowledge and its acquisition. This approach yields important insights but leaves open several questions. First, the curricular question: what concrete opportunities for gaining knowledge are offered to student teachers? Another question concerns the modes of teachers’ use of their professional knowledge. This question requires detailed observations and documentation of teachers’ actions in classrooms, trying to link their knowledge and practice.The papers analyzed in this review share a common scholarly language and are based in Western culture. It is important to see, as well, studies conducted in other cultures, which might have a different view of teacher knowledge.     

High school biology: What makes it a challenge for teachers?

This study contributes to our understanding of the complex issues inherent in dealing with the heterogeneity of current high school science classrooms, by reporting on in-depth interviews with 38 experienced biology teachers. Analyses of teachers' responses revealed complex and occasionally counter-intuitive relationships among: (a) their perceptions of what was distinctive about their school, its biology program, or their students; (b) their allocation of class time; (c) their efforts to individualize instruction and meet the needs of a heterogeneous student population; (d) their student outcome goals; and (e) the methods they used to evaluate student progress. Thus, for example, of the 9 teachers who cited the diversity of their students. 4 also commented on their poor motivation, but another 4 also commented on their high motivation. In addition, teachers reported using a similar range of instructional formats but for different reasons, depending on the characteristics of their students (e.g., cooperative learning groups used to compensate for poor attention spans, to challenge bright students, and to foster social tolerance). Discussion of these findings addresses several points of relevance for science education, teacher preparation, and curriculum reform. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Multiple solution methods and multiple outcomes—is it a task for kindergarten children?

Engaging students with multiple solution problems is considered good practice. Solutions to problems consist of the outcomes of the problem as well as the methods employed to reach these outcomes. In this study we analyze the results obtained from two groups of kindergarten children who engaged in one task, the Create an Equal Number Task. This task had five possible outcomes and five different methods which may be employed in reaching these outcomes. Children, whose teachers had attended the program Starting Right: Mathematics in Kindergartens, found more outcomes and employed more methods than children whose teachers did not attend this program. Results suggest that the habit of mind of searching for more than one outcome and employing more than one method may be promoted in kindergarten.     

How much is it?

教材分析:本课是“OxfordEnglishChangjiangEdition”(4B)第四单元第一课时,主要内容是“SectionA:Kenisatashoppingplaza.Hehassixtyyuanandhewantstobuyapresent.Heisaskingtheshopassis-tantthepricesofsomeitems”。根据这一话题,我确定出本课的目标:重点是用英语认读人民币及货物价格,能通过提供的信息应答“Howmuchisit?Doyouwantone?”,以持续相互间的交谈。我采用听、说、学和演的教学方法,遵循趣味性教学原则、情景教学原则和交际性原则,充分发挥现代教学媒体的优势,使课堂“情趣化、生活化、交际化”,引导学生在一种轻松、自…     

What Color is it?

What color is it?(这是什么颜色) Cloud is White,(云是白色的) and sky is blue．(天是蓝色的) What color is it?(这是什么颜色) Moon is yellow,(月亮是黄色的) and sun is red.(太阳是红色的) What color is it?(这是什么颜色) Branch is brown,(树枝是褐色的)     

What time is it?

读下面的歌谣。根据歌谣内容在表盘上写出相应的时间,并把表盘和相应的图连起来。It's ten o'clock.Time for lessons.It's nice to be a boy.     

Treatment for abused children: when is a partial solution acceptable?

Physically maltreated children display a range of serious psychological problems. Despite the availability of effective treatment of similar problems in other populations of children, direct psychological treatment of abused children has rarely been reported. It is argued that such direct treatment, while constituting only a "partial solution" to the problem of child abuse, needs to be addressed through research and application.     

What is ethnography? Can it survive? Should it?

This paper notes that, in the field of education and beyond, the term ‘ethnography’ has acquired a range of meanings, and comes in many different versions, these often reflecting sharply divergent orientations. I argue that this is a major problem that requires attention; particularly since today there are some serious threats to the practice of ethnographic work, on almost any definition. However, while we need to forge greater agreement about the meaning of the term, this is a challenging task. Indeed, if we take ‘ethnography’ to refer to a whole methodological approach little agreement will be possible. I argue that it may be feasible if we treat ethnography as one methodological strategy among others, each having varying advantages and disadvantages for the purposes of investigating particular topics. However, the fundamental disagreements among ethnographers today about ontological, epistemological, and axiological matters render even this by no means unproblematic.     

If concept mapping is so helpful to learning biology,why aren't we all doing it?

Concept mapping is described repeatedly in the literature as a tool that can support and enhance students' learning in science classrooms. Despite such endorsements, the use of concept mapping as a basis for classroom activities in UK secondary schools does not seem to be widespread. Some of the flaws in the supporting literature are highlighted. The two main barriers to the extensive adoption of concept mapping as an integral component of typical classroom strategies are seen as the epistemological beliefs of classroom teachers and the underlying philosophy of the curriculum that they are asked to deliver. In conclusion, concept mapping is seen as a tool that may support learning within an appropriate teaching ecology. Such an ecological perspective may require, for some, a re-conceptualization of the teacher's role in which teaching, learning and change are seen as integrated components of effective teaching.     

Design-based research: is this a suitable methodology for short-term projects?

This article reports on a design-based methodology of a thesis in which a fully face-to-face contact module was converted into a blended learning course. The purpose of the article is to report on how design-based phases, in the form of micro-, meso- and macro-cycles were applied to improve practice and to generate design principles. Design-based research traditionally is associated with multiple iterations of design, development and revision over a long period of time. This challenges the idea of design-based research being an appropriate methodology for a short-term thesis or dissertation. We argue that graduate students who are limited by time constraints can also conduct educational design-based research as long as the relevant phases are followed, which can produce significant, appropriate and effective design principles. This article suggests that the scope of design-based research should not be limited to long-term projects only, which restricts the value of implementing this methodology to improve practice.     

Self-determination for students with learning disabilities: Is it a universal value?

Teaching students with learning disabilities to be self-determining during postsecondary transition planning is considered beneficial for students. Few self-determination studies, however, have focused on the impact students' cultural identities may have on the practice of self-determination during transition planning. A review of self-determination literature is presented and includes concept definition, characteristics, and example components of model programs. Additionally, multicultural special education literature helps frame the need to consider the interplay between programs that promote self-determination and culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Qualitative research methods, used with student participants, have the potential to inform preferred practices as well as research gaps in special education by capturing how diverse students respond to self-determination during postsecondary transition planning.