Disruption of splicing-regulatory elements using CRISPR/Cas9 to rescue spinal muscular atrophy in human iPSCs and mice

We here report a genome-editing strategy to correct spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Rather than directly targeting the pathogenic exonic mutations, our strategy employed Cas9 and guide-sgRNA for the targeted disruption of intronic splicing-regulatory elements. We disrupted intronic splicing silencers (ISSs, including ISS-N1 and ISS + 100) of survival motor neuron (SMN) 2, a key modifier gene of SMA, to enhance exon 7 inclusion and full-length SMN expression in SMA iPSCs. Survival of splicing-corrected iPSC-derived motor neurons was rescued with SMN restoration. Furthermore, co-injection of Cas9 mRNA from Streptococcus pyogenes (SpCas9) or Cas9 from Staphylococcus aureus (SaCas9) alongside their corresponding sgRNAs targeting ISS-N1 into zygotes rescued 56% and 100% of severe SMA transgenic mice (Smn^−/−, SMN2^tg/−). The median survival of the resulting mice was extended to >400 days. Collectively, our study provides proof-of-principle for a new strategy to therapeutically intervene in SMA and other RNA-splicing-related diseases.     

ArchiBabel: Tracing the Writing Architecture Project in Architectural Education

Though much recent scholarship has investigated the potential of writing in creative practice (including visual arts, drama, even choreography), there are few models in the literature which discuss writing in the context of architectural education. This article aims to address this dearth of pedagogical research, analysing the cross‐disciplinary Writing Architecture Project based in the undergraduate course of Queens University Belfast's School of Architecture. Over the course of four years, teaching staff, in partnership with the university's Learning Development Service, technicians and specialist librarians, have addressed an unfortunately persistent struggle for both architecture students and professionals alike to research and construct argument in written form. The article examines the current problem as identified in the literature before analysing the efficacy of the variety of teaching methods used in the Writing Architecture Project, with conclusions about the project's success and continuing challenges.     

参加药物临床试验现场核查实践提高药学期刊编辑的能力

根据药学期刊编辑参加药物临床试验现场核查工作的实际体会,论述临床试验现场核查工作对相关稿件编辑工作的启发,探讨参与学科实践对于提高科技期刊编辑的业务能力,进而全面提升自己的综合能力和编辑水平的重要意义。     

从Google侵权门谈我国商业性数字图书馆规避版权风险的策略

论文从Google数字图书馆引发的版权侵犯问题入手,剖析商业性数字图书馆在信息资源建设和服务中存在的版权问题,并提出规避版权风险的几点策略.     

"双循环"格局下数字经济与文化产业链融合创新升级机理研究——以抚州市为例

为应对当前全球政治经济形势,我国进入"双循环"发展格局,文化产业因此成为扩大消费促进双循环的重要支撑产业.面对消费者不断提升的体验品质要求,文化产业亟需进一步加快与数字经济深度融合,实现全产业链的转型升级.文章从产业链视角,探讨了文化产业与数字经济的融合升级机理,并以抚州市为例,针对抚州文化产业发展现状及存在的问题,从文化产品研发、生产、营销和消费等方面,提出抚州文化产业与数字经济的融合创新发展的对策建议.     

Enhancing Quality of Higher Education for World-Class Status

Aspiring to become an international city in Asia, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has been investing more in higher education. In order to enhance its global competitiveness, all public universities in Hong Kong have gone through different forms of quality assurance exercises, including teaching and learning processes reviews, research assessment exercises, management and governance reviews, as well as quality assurance council reviews. In the context of the significant emphasis placed by Hong Kong on the internationalization of higher education, this article examines the major approaches and strategies that the HKSAR has adopted in enhancing quality in teaching, learning, and research in higher education, and also discusses the major challenges for quality assurance confronted by the city-state.     

The Emerging Chinese Institutional Architecture in Higher Education

The article reviews the global landscape of higher education with the anticipation of an emerging Chinese institutional architecture in Asia-Pacific higher education. It starts with a theoretical framework for analyzing the functionalities of values and institutions in international higher education by adopting Joseph Nye's concept of soft power. In particular, it considers the Chinese cultural values and ranking systems/citations indexes as resources projecting the soft power of China in the arena of higher education. While China still plays the role of norm taker in the existing geopolitical sphere of knowledge construction, this article argues the possibility that China will change its role to norm setter by examining its potential institutional architecture in knowledge construction. On this basis, it argues that China may be able to increase its influence in higher education in the region through promoting China's academic practices and standards.     

论我国农民职业教育发展中的农民角色转换——以重庆市为例

建设社会主义新农村需要有文化、懂技术、会经营的新型农民,而培养新型农民的关键在于加强农民职业教育,即依靠职业教育提高农民的科学文化素质,使农民掌握先进的生产技术和学习科学文化知识。发展农民职业教育可以通过政府、社会各界力量以及农民的主动参与等各种方式。重庆市作为全国城乡统筹试点省市,应当以现有的农民职业教育发展途径为基础,借鉴发达国家发展农民职业教育的先进经验,积极探索农民职业教育发展的各种有效途径。