Influences of electric field on living cells in a charged water-in-oil droplet under electrophoretic actuation

We experimentally investigate the effects of high electric field on living cells inside a charged droplet under electrophoretic actuation. When an aqueous droplet suspended in a dielectric liquid contacts with electrified electrode, the droplet acquires charge. This charged droplet undergoes electrophoretic motion under strong electric field (1–3 kV/cm), which can be used as a droplet manipulation method in biomicrofluidic applications. However, because strong electric field and use of dielectric oil can be a harmful environment for living cells, the biological feasibilities have been tested. Trypan blue test and cell growth test have been performed to check the viability and proliferation of cells in a droplet under various electric field strengths and actuation times. We have not observed any noticeable influence of electric field and silicone oil on the viability and proliferation of cells, which indicates that electrophoresis could be safely used as a manipulation method for a droplet containing living biological system.     

Does concept‐mapping strategy work for everyone? The levels of generativity and learners' self‐regulated learning skills

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of concept-mapping strategies with three different generativity levels (expert-generated concept map, partially learner-generated concept map, fully learner-generated concept map) on knowledge acquisition. Interaction between learners' self-regulated learning (SRL) skills and different levels of generativity was also tested. One hundred twenty-four undergraduate students, randomly assigned to three different concept-mapping groups, were differentiated by high and low levels of SRL skills. The findings suggest that the participants in the fully learner-generated map group significantly outperformed the participants in the expert-generated map group, and participants with high SRL skills significantly outperformed those with low SRL skills across all treatment levels.     

International rights business in Asia Frankfurt book fair an overview of doing business in Asia

The Frankfurt Book Fair sponsors an annual International Rights Directors Meeting to provide an opportunity for professionals from over 107 countries to get together and discuss new developments in the sale or purchase of reprint, translation and adaptation rights with related copyright issues. It seems to make sense to share the presentations that focus on countries for which information is not readily available.     

Reconceptualizing interorganizational collaborations as tensile structures: Implications of conveners’ proactive tension management

Conveners, as the main organizers of complex inter-organizational collaborations (IOCs), experience tensions as they make decisions based on collaborators’ competing interests and ideas. This paper theorizes conveners’ tension management as their proactive efforts to shape the IOC processes – as opposed to reactive responses to emergent tensions – and examines how they are related to IOCs’ collaborative capacity. A comparative case analysis of two IOCs in regional planning reveals that conveners’ organizing practices that actively promoted tensions contributed to creating a more dynamic and tension-resistant collaborative environment, compared to those of conveners who tried to prevent tensions. Using tensile structure as a metaphor, the author theorizes about when and how proactively promoting tensions can enhance collaborative capacity.     

Prevalence,gender ratio and gender differences in reading‐related cognitive abilities among Chinese children with dyslexia in Hong Kong

Based on the data of the normative study of the Hong Kong test of specific learning difficulties in reading and writing, and the Test of visual‐perceptual skills (non‐motor)—Revised, 99 children aged between 6 and 10½ years were identified as children with dyslexia out of the normative sample of 690 children. By excluding 12 children known to score below average in IQ, 87 children, including 20 children not tested for IQ, could be regarded as children with dyslexia, yielding a prevalence rate of 12.6% and a boy:girl gender ratio of 1.6 to 1. The figures would become 9.7% and 2.0 to 1 if the 20 children were omitted from computation. However, gender imbalance could not be readily explained by gender differences in reading‐related cognitive abilities, as there were only minor and subtle differences. Regression analyses to evaluate the relative contribution of different cognitive abilities to reading and writing suggested that orthographic knowledge and naming speed were most important among children with dyslexia. Implications of the findings and the need for early intervention are discussed.     

Rapid separation of bacteriorhodopsin using a laminar-flow extraction system in a microfluidic device

A protein separation technology using the microfluidic device was developed for the more rapid and effective analysis of target protein. This microfluidic separation system was carried out using the aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) and the ionic liquid two-phase system (ILTPS) for purification method of the protein sample, and the three-flow desalting system was used for the removal of salts from the sucrose-rich sample. Partitioning of the protein sample was observed in ATPS or ILTPS with the various pHs. The microdialysis system was applied to remove small molecules, such as sucrose and salts in the microfluidic channel with the different flow rates of buffer phase. A complex purification method, which combines microdialysis and ATPS or ILTPS, was carried out for the effective purification of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) from the purple membrane of Halobacterium salinarium, which was then analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption∕ionization time-of-flight. Furthermore, we were able to make a stable three-phase flow controlling the flow rate in the microfluidic channel. Our complex purification methods were successful in purifying and recovering the BR to its required value.     

Microfluidic parallel circuit for measurement of hydraulic resistance

We present a microfluidic parallel circuit that directly compares the test channel of an unknown hydraulic resistance with the reference channel with a known resistance, thereby measuring the unknown resistance without any measurement setup, such as standard pressure gauges. Many of microfluidic applications require the precise transport of fluid along a channel network with complex patterns. Therefore, it is important to accurately characterize and measure the hydraulic resistance of each channel segment, and determines whether the device principle works well. However, there is no fluidic device that includes features, such as the ability to diagnose microfluidic problems by measuring the hydraulic resistance of a microfluidic component in microscales. To address the above need, we demonstrate a simple strategy to measure an unknown hydraulic resistance, by characterizing the hydraulic resistance of microchannels with different widths and defining an equivalent linear channel of a microchannel with repeated patterns of a sudden contraction and expansion.     

韧带和肌腱损伤康复与再生的新概念

The nonlinear biomechanical properties of ligaments andtendons are well designed to guide synovial joints to moveeasily and smoothly,to transfer the large forces generated bymuscles to bones and also toli mit excessive bone to bone dis-placement whenthe e…     

An analysis of the trends of undergraduates' academic achievement based on their admissions type in Korea

This study investigates the establishment and benefits of the comprehensive admissions type recently introduced into Korean universities. We analyse undergraduate students' academic achievement and career readiness across three different admissions types in a medium‐sized university: rolling, comprehensive and regular. First, a series of mixed ANOVAs examined longitudinal changes for academic achievement and a set of ANOVAs found differences for academic achievement, within each semester. Specifically, students admitted via comprehensive admissions were found to have grade point averages (GPAs) similar to students admitted via regular admissions. Second, two‐way MANOVA examined students' career readiness by admissions type and academic standing. Students admitted through comprehensive admissions were found to exhibit a higher level of career readiness across academic years. The implications for admissions types in Higher Education are discussed.     

Peer-feedback and revision process in a wiki mediated collaborative writing

This study investigated the use of a wiki for collaborative writing among primary levels five (P5) and six (P6) students (n = 119) in a Chinese primary school in Hong Kong where English is taught as a second language (L2). Three classes of students and their English subject teachers participated in a three-month English language writing programme using a wiki. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed from activities recorded in the wiki system, including posted edits and comments, students’ group writings and student and teacher interviews. The wiki page history revealed information on the types of revisions that occurred, showing that different types of feedback elicited actual revisions, which may have resulted in better group writing. Findings from the study may shed light on how wikis can help provide support for students’ collaborative writing process with wikis, and how peer-feedback can influence this process.