A microfluidic platform for quantitative analysis of cancer angiogenesis and intravasation

Understanding the mechanism behind cancer metastasis is a major challenge in cancer biology. Several in vitro models have been developed to mimic a cancer microenvironment by engineering cancer–endothelial cell (EC) and cancer-stromal cell interactions. It has been challenging to realistically mimic angiogenesis, intravasation, and extravasation using macro-scale approaches but recent progress in microfluidics technology has begun to yield promising results. We present a metastasis chip that produce microvessels, where EC and stromal cells can be patterned in close proximity to tumor cells. The vessels are formed following a natural morphogenic process and have smooth boundaries with proper cell-cell junctions. The engineered microvessels are perfusable and have well-defined openings toward inlet and outlet channels. The ability to introduce cancer cells into different locations bordering to the microvessel wall allowed generation and maintenance of appropriate spatial gradients of growth factors and attractants. Cancer angiogenesis and its inhibition by anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (bevacizumab) treatment were successfully reproduced in the metastasis chip. Cancer intravasation and its modulation by treatment of tumor necrosis factor-α were also modeled. Compared to other models, the unique design of the metastasis chip that engineers a clear EC-cancer interface allows precise imaging and quantification of angiogenic response as well as tumor cell trans-endothelial migration. The metastasis chip presented here has potential applications in the investigation of fundamental cancer biology as well as in drug screening.     

论韩国限制企业结合制度

为了抑制在经济发展过程中形成的企业经济力量过度集中或垄断从而维护市场经济的有效竞争,韩国于1980年制定了《反垄断法》。该法较好地体现了对企业结合的规制规则。随着经济全球化趋势的加强、中国市场经济体制的建立和完善,中国企业合并现象也日益增多,中国在这方面法律的缺位或不健全也随之凸显。因此,本文拟在对韩国企业结合相关制度进行详细研究的基础上,主张在中国反垄断立法进程中,借鉴韩国企业结合制度相关内容,合理构建和完善中国的企业合并制度。     

Martial Arts and Ideology of Hwarang,the Ancient Korean Warrior

Abstract

From 37 BC to 676 AD, an era called the period of the Three States, ancient Korea was divided into Koguryo, Baekje and Shilla. Among these states, Shilla was the one that terminated the period and founded a single united nation. At the background of this unification, there were the prominent activities of Hwarang, an elite warrior group. The purpose of this study is to verify the characteristics of Hwarang’s martial arts and the ideological background that provided the foundation for the unification. Hwarang members usually ascended mountains or entered caves alone to hone their skills or were taught by senior Hwarang members and experts. Moreover, considering that the members of this group included monks, it is surmized that the monks supported the group as they practised their martial arts. National loyalty was regarded as the ultimate virtue. Due to the influence from Buddhism, Hwarang evolved into a loyal association where the members dedicated their lives to the nation. After many years, this ideology is currently receiving a great deal of attention and it is being used in a variety of educational fields. The ideological characteristics of Hwarang are part of Korea's cultural heritage and deserve academic attention.     

Evaluating Emotional Literacy in Schools: The Development of the School Emotional Environment for Learning Survey

This paper describes the development of the School Emotional Environment for Learning Survey, an instrument for evaluating the perceived level of emotional literacy of the school as an organization. It elicits student and staff perceptions of their affective experience of being a part of the school community. It was designed to look at the extent to which a school enables members of its community to interact in a manner that builds an understanding of their own and others' emotions, which can then be used to shape their actions. Emotional literacy is seen here as a potential in everyone that is contingent on the interaction between a person and their social context, rather than a capacity that is either present or absent in the individual.
Qualitative data were collected from an ethnographic case study of two schools using closed- and open-ended questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, a draw-and-write exercise and participant observation. The data were used to generate grounded theory and to build a theoretical framework for organizational emotional literacy. This theoretical framework is described as the CORE framework, addressing the domains of communication, relationships, organization and emotional experience. These domains are then characterized by particular qualities and values that are described in the 'matrix of emotional literacy'. This framework and matrix were then used to develop a questionnaire, which was trialed as a tool to audit the level of emotional literacy in both primary and secondary schools.     

Using virtual reality in the classroom: preservice teachers’ perceptions of its use as a teaching and learning tool

Virtual reality (VR) platforms act as a potentially transformative tool in learning and teaching. The aim of this study was to examine pre-service teachers’ (PST) perceptions about VR, inclusive of their beliefs about its capacity to be used as a teaching and learning tool. A case-study, conducted at an urban university in Australia involved a sample of n = 41. Participants’ positive perceptions of VR in their teaching relate to its potential to engage learners, the immersive potential of the platform and the scope of VR to offer students experiences they might otherwise not have with other learning tools. Concerns expressed by PSTs include their relatively low self-efficacy to use VR in their teaching, monitoring-related matters, financial cost and implementing the technology in a safe and supportive way. There was a significant difference in PSTs’ amount of self-efficacy to teach using VR when compared to their overall confidence to use digital technologies. PSTs typically had greater awareness of the immersive and engagement potential of VR and less awareness about its potential to foster and promote collaborative learning. This paper contributes to an emerging discourse regarding the possible applications of VR in educational environments and particularly in relation teacher-educator contexts.     

The effects of formal learning and informal learning on job performance: the mediating role of the value of learning at work

Although research has widely recognized the relationships between formal and informal learning and job performance, empirical studies have not paid sufficient attention to these relationships. In addition, there is little understanding how individual perceptions toward learning influence the relationships between the aforementioned two types of learning and job performance. In the present study, it was proposed that formal and informal learning can influence job performance. Moreover, in the relationships between formal and informal learning and job performance, the value of learning at work was considered as a mediator. With a sample of employees from small and medium-sized enterprises in South Korea, the research showed that formal and informal learning influences job performance through the value of learning at work. Based on the results of the study, several implications were discussed.     

Unintended Learning in Primary School Practical Science Lessons from Polanyi’s Perspective of Intellectual Passion

This study explored, from the perspective of intellectual passion developed by Michael Polanyi, the unintended learning that occurred in primary practical science lessons. We use the term ‘unintended’ learning to distinguish it from ‘intended’ learning that appears in teachers’ learning objectives. Data were collected using video and audio recordings of a sample of twenty-four whole class practical science lessons, taught by five teachers, in Korean primary schools with 10- to 12-year-old students. In addition, video and audio recordings were made for each small group of students working together in order to capture their activities and intra-group discourse. Pre-lesson interviews with the teachers were undertaken and audio-recorded to ascertain their intended learning objectives. Selected key vignettes, including unintended learning, were analysed from the perspective of intellectual passion developed by Polanyi. What we found in this study is that unintended learning could occur when students got interested in something in the first place and could maintain their interest. In addition, students could get conceptual knowledge when they tried to connect their experience to their related prior knowledge. It was also found that the processes of intended learning and of unintended learning were different. Intended learning was characterized by having been planned by the teacher who then sought to generate students’ interest in it. In contrast, unintended learning originated from students’ spontaneous interest and curiosity as a result of unplanned opportunities. Whilst teachers’ persuasive passion comes first in the process of intended learning, students’ heuristic passion comes first in the process of unintended learning. Based on these findings, we argue that teachers need to be more aware that unintended learning, on the part of individual students, can occur during their lesson and to be able to better use this opportunity so that this unintended learning can be shared by the whole class. Furthermore, we argue that teachers’ deliberate action and a more interactive classroom culture are necessary in order to allow students to develop, in addition to heuristic passion, persuasive passion towards their unintended learning.     

A simple form synthesis of linear time-variant digital filter via spectral decomposition of its impulse response

The paper describes a new technique to synthesize a finite impulse response of linear time-variant (LTV) digital filter. First, a finite impulse response is decomposed into a sum of products of two orthogonal sequences. The direct implementation of the decomposed impulse response leads to the parallel connection of linear time-invariant (LTI) digital filters, followed by time-varying multipliers. A simple filter structure is obtained by properly modifying the sequences to realize the parallel form structure as a cascade connection of first- or second-order recursive LTI filters. The structure is easy to implement on a computer and saves computation time. Numerical examples illustrating the technique are included.