Developmental competence and ultrastructural changes of heat-stressed mouse early blastocysts produced in vitro

Mouse early blastocysts were exposed to temperatures of 39℃ and 41℃ for 2 h, respectively, to determine their developmental competence and ultrastructural changes. The results showed that heat stress at 41 ℃ for 2 h, significantly reduced the percentages of expanded and hatched blastocysts, but not at 39℃ for 2 h. The average cell numbers in expanded blastocysts, which developed from early blastoeysts heat-stressed at temperatures of 39℃ and 41 ℃, were significantly reduced. The average cell numbers in hatched blastocysts subjected to heat stress were no different from those in the control group cultured at 37 ℃ . The mitochondria of the early blastocysts heat-stressed at 39℃ for 2 h, were slightly swollen, but they had recovered after culturing at 37 ℃ for 2 h. However, the mitochondria in the blastocysts heat stressed at 41 ℃ for 2 h were severely swollen, and their number increased. The ribosomes shed from the rough endoplasmic reticulum, and the number of secondary lysosomes in the plasma increased. The integrity of desmosomes was disrupted. The space between the nuclear envelope and the perivitelline membrane enlarged. The fibre fraction and the particulate fraction of nueleoli were separated. The heterochromatin in nueleoli was also increased in its quantity. There were some lamellar-shape structures and heterogeneous dense materials exhibiting in the cytoplasm. The ultrastructural changes induced by heat shock at 41 ℃ for 2 h were not reversible. In conclusion, the damage of heat stress to mitoehondria, lysosomes, ribosomes and cell nucleus, may be one of the most important factors that inhibit the normal development of mouse early blastoeysts .

Effects of Transport,Storage Temperature and Time on Parthenogenetically Developmental Competence of Sheep Oocyte

This study was to investigate the effects of transport, storage temperature and time on parthenogenetical developmental competence of sheep oocyte. The ovaries were collected and randomly immersed in physiological saline at （ 10 - 15 ） ℃, （20 - 25 ） ℃ and （30 - 35 ） ℃ and transported to the laboratory for culture. They were divided into three groups randomly in an optimized transport temperature, kept in physiological saline at4 ℃, （14 -18） ℃ and （25 -30） ℃ respectively; 15 - 17 h later, the ovaries were cutured for the maturation and parthenogenetic activation of oocytes. The results showed that the optimal transport temperature of ovaries was 20 -25 ℃, when the maturation rate and blastocysts rate reached 67.44% and 35.93% respectively. Incubating sheep ovaries at （ 14 - 18 ） ℃ for （15 -17） h did not reduce the maturation rate （61.81%） and blastocysts rate （29.03%） of oocyte significantly. However, incubating sheep ovaries at 4 ℃ or （25 -30） ℃ significantly reduced the maturation rate （41.90%, 18.40% ） and cleavage rate （9.09%, 13.04% ）, and the ovaries could not develop into blastocysts at these two temperature ranges. It can be concluded that the optimal transport temperature of the sheep ovaries is 20 - 25 ℃, and incubation at 14 - 18 ℃ overnight in vivo does not affect the developmental competence of oocytes.

Instruction of the Multi-dimensional Developing Perspective on Translation in Translation Competence Development

The overlook of the cultivation of learners’perspective on translation is one of the essential reasons that we fail to enhance learners’translation competence effectively and efficiently.The perspective on translation mirrors not only the interpretation of the essence,value,and function of translation,but the interpretation of culture and intercultural communication,which offers inspiration and implication on translation in the current context.This study analyzes the significance of the multi-dimensional developing perspective on translation and elaborates on the HBARP model to integrate the perspective on translation throughout the learning and teaching process to inspire learners to interpret translation essence and features,to highlight the intercultural communicative significance in the current context with a historical vision.

Impact of a simulation-based induction programme in gastroscopy on trainee outcomes and learning curves

BACKGROUND Pre-clinical simulation-based training(SBT)in endoscopy has been shown to augment trainee performance in the short-term,but longer-term data are lacking.AIM To assess the impact of a two-day gastroscopy induction course combining theory and SBT(Structured PRogramme of INduction and Training–SPRINT)on trainee outcomes over a 16-mo period.METHODS This prospective case-control study compared outcomes between novice SPRINT attendees and controls matched from a United Kingdom training database.Study outcomes comprised:(1)Unassisted D2 intubation rates;(2)Procedural discomfort scores;(3)Sedation practice;(4)Time to 200 procedures;and(5)Time to certification.RESULTS Total 15 cases and 24 controls were included,with mean procedure counts of 10 and 3(P=0.739)pre-SPRINT.Post-SPRINT,no significant differences between the groups were detected in long-term D2 intubation rates(P=0.332)or discomfort scores(P=0.090).However,the cases had a significantly higher rate of unsedated procedures than controls post-SPRINT(58%vs 44%,P=0.018),which was maintained over the subsequent 200 procedures.Cases tended to perform procedures at a greater frequency than controls in the post-SPRINT period(median:16.2 vs 13.8 per mo,P=0.051),resulting in a significantly greater proportion of cases achieving gastroscopy certification by the end of follow up(75% vs 36%,P=0.017).CONCLUSION In this pilot study,attendees of the SPRINT cohort tended to perform more procedures and achieved gastroscopy certification earlier than controls.These data support the role for wider evaluation of pre-clinical induction involving SBT.

Impact of a national basic skills in colonoscopy course on trainee performance: An interrupted time series analysis

BACKGROUND The Joint Advisory Group on Gastrointestinal Endoscopy basic skills in colonoscopy(BSC) course was introduced in 2009 to improve colonoscopy training within the United Kingdom, but its impact on trainee performance is unknown.AIM To assess whether attendance of the BSC could improve colonoscopy performance.METHODS Trainees awarded colonoscopy certification between 2011-2016 were stratified into 3 groups according to pre-course procedure count(< 70, 70-140 and > 140).Study outcomes, comprising the unassisted caecal intubation rate(CIR) and the performance indicator of colonic intubation(PICI), were studied over the 50 procedures pre and post-course. Interrupted time series analyses were performed to detect step-change changes attributable to the course.RESULTS A total of 369 trainees with pre-course procedure counts of < 70(n = 118), 70-140(n = 121) and > 140(n = 130) were included. Over the 50 pre-course procedures,significant linear improvements in CIR were found, with average increases of 4.2,3.6 and 1.7 percentage points(pp) per 10 procedures performed in the < 70, 70-140 and > 140 groups respectively(all P < 0.001). The < 70 procedures group saw a significant step-change improvement in CIR, increasing from 46% in the last pre-course procedure, to 51% in the first procedure post-course(P = 0.005). The CIR step-change was not significant in the 70-140(68% to 71%;P = 0.239) or > 140(86% to 87%;P = 0.354) groups. For PICI, significant step-change improvements were seen in all three groups, with average increases of 5.6 pp(P < 0.001), 5.4 pp(P = 0.003) and 3.9 pp(P = 0.014) respectively.CONCLUSION Attendance of the BSC was associated with a significant step-change improvement in PICI, regardless of prior procedural experience. However, CIR data suggest that the optimal timing of course attendance appears to be at earlier stages of training(< 70 procedures).

Improving Organisational Performance Through Understanding Human Motivation

This article explores some thoughtful considerations for management related to understanding and improving the overall performance of individuals and teams in organisations. It reflects thoughts and learnings from several implementations of small and large projects in public sector. It also sheds light on various theories, tools and frameworks and how they can be used to improve overall organisational performance

Factors Affecting Training Efficacy in Residency Program Adopted by New Graduate Nurses in Saudi Arabia

Objective: The purpose of the studies is to analyze and identify the level of competency, which includes knowledge and skills between SCDP nurses (Residence Program) and newly graduate nurses (Non-residence) in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A survey uses an open-ended question conducted among the participant. The data is collected by using tape recording during the interview session. Newly graduate nurses and SCDP nurses were included in this study. (5) Resident nurses vs. (5) non-resident were included in this study making 10 sample size of qualitative study. Results: Findings of the study show significant differences between nonresident and resident in their journey of orientation, competency development and their learning opportunities. Residents are more likely feel less distress and more satisfied about their experience entering the residence program. Conclusion: Nursing Residency program helps in supporting nurses to build a future leader. Hence, it helps in their critical thinking, skills and knowledge, which elevate their confidence level.

A Study on the Cultivation of Students'Intercultural Communicative Competence in College English Teaching

With the further deepening of international cooperation and exchanges, the social demand for talents with interculturalcommunicative competence will be increasing. At present, the cultural competence of college students is far from meeting theneeds of intercultural communication. It is increasingly urgent to strengthen cultural teaching to improve the awareness and abilityof intercultural communication of College students. Teaching English should not only teach students to master the basic abilities ofEnglish listening, speaking, reading and writing, but also pay attention to the cultivation of students' intercultural communicativecompetence in order to improve college students' comprehensive English ability. This paper takes the approach of interculturalcommunication ability as the starting point, and explores the ways to cultivate students' intercultural communicative competence incollege English teaching.

On Developing Oral Communicative Competence in TEFL

More than ever before does China demand English, especially oral English competence, so urgently. In accordance with the situation, the goal of language teaching is shifting from linguistic competence to communicative competence. To accomplish this goal, we have made some investigations into students＇ current oral proficiency and their English language needs, as well as a detailed analysis of the factors constraining the development of oral proficiency. And in the light of the principles of communicative language teaching, practical ways of reform are proposed in this thesis. Among the factors teaching methodology is highlighted, which is crucial in the enhancement of learners＇ oral competence in EFL situation.

Weekly Journal： A Win-win Proposition for CE Learners and Teachers

This paper provides an overview of the weekly journal writing carried out over the period of one semester with two classes of College English learning freshmen. After introducing the situation of CE learning and teaching in China and the theoretical background, via a case study and a questionnaire and interview survey, it argues that by employing the weekly journal writing, the teacher can have a better knowledge of the students, thus being able to adopt a more learner-centered practice. Meanwhile, the students benefit in writing competence, positive emotional development, and fostering learner autonomy. It concludes that the weekly journal is the realization of three things at once： ongoing teacher-student communication, learners＇ positive emotional development, and semi-free writing-a win-win proposition for learners and teachers.

On SD-oriented mechanism of technological innovation

If one enterprise just takes technological innovation as the way for economic profit but not the combinationalprofit of economy, society and ecology, it will never survive in this fierce competition market. Based on the relationshipbetween technological innovation and sustainable development, this paper brings forward that technological innovationmust take the sustainable1 development of society as the fundamental goal. Technological innovation should be the realimpulse for the development of society, economy and ecology. On the basis of the analysis on previous technologicalinnovation impetus mechanism, combined with the influential factors, this paper puts forward SD-oriented mechanism oftechnological innovation.

ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIC COMPETENCE IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN CHINA

Introduction Nowadays, the communicative approach has become a common trend in ELT in China, and the term ’communicative competence’ is often heard when English teachers talk about how to improve their students’ ability to use English communicatively. Most teachers no longer use traditional methods of teaching English, particularly to teach speaking, which used to be restricted to sentence-patterning with given vocabulary for substitution drills. They now use all kinds of methods to teach speaking, such as group discussions, news/events reports, story-telling, arguing, expressing opinions, etc.. All these activities are meant to develop students’ ability to use English communicatively. To manipulate these activities well, and get students actively involved in the activities, one important factor in developing communicative competence should be emphasised: strategic competence.

Association between mitochondrial DNA haplotype compatibility and increased efficiency of bovine intersubspecies cloning

Reconstructed embryos derived from intersubspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer （SCNT） have poorer developmental potential than those from intrasubspecies SCNT. Based on our previous study that Holstein dairy bovine （HD） mitochondrial DNA （mtDNA） haplotype compatibility between donor karyoplast and recipient cytoplast is crucial for SCNT embryo development, we performed intersubspecies SCNT using HD as donor karyoplast and Luxi yellow heifer （LY） as recipient cytoplast according to mtDNA haplotypes determined by polymerase chain reaction- restriction fragment length polymorphism （PCR-RFLP） analysis. The results demonstrated that intersubspecies mtDNA homotype SCNT embryos had higher pre- and post-implantation developmental competence than intrasubspecies mtDNA heterotype embryos as well as improved blastocyst reprogramming status, including normal H3K9 dimethylation pattern and promoter hypomethylation of pluripotent genes such as Oct4 and Sox2, suggesting that intersubspecies SCNT using LY oocytes maintains HD cloning efficiency and may reprogram HD nuclei to develop into a normal cloned animal ultimately. Our results indicated that karyoplast-cytoplast interactions and mtDNA haplotype compatibility may affect bovine intersubspecies SCNT efficiency. This study on bovine intersubspecies SCNT is valuable for understanding the mechanisms of mtDNA haplotype compatibility between karyoplast and cytoplast impacting the bovine SCNT efficiency, and provides an alternative and economic resource for HD cloning.

Ethical and Moral Competences of Upper Secondary Students:A Comparative Study

Purpose:This article presents the theoretical framework,research design,methodology,and main findings of the comparative measurement of ethical-moral competences of 15-year-old upper secondary students in Shanghai,under the ETiK-International-Shanghai project.Design/Approach/Methods:By dividing the ethical-moral competences into the categories of basic ethical-moral knowledge,ethical-moral judgment competence,and competence in developing ethical-moral action plans,a survey of 2,036 students was conducted,using a reliable and valid testing instrument.Findings:In general,15-year-olds from homes with more educational resources perform higher in all three scales across all countries taken under consideration in our study.Furthermore,school practices,teaching,as well as quantity and quality of instruction play a very important role in the moral education process and especially in developing students’proficiency levels of ethical-moral knowledge,reasoning competence,as well as students’high abilities in developing moral action plans.When relevant educational background factors are held constant,Chinese students show lower average scores on basic ethical-moral knowledge and moral judgment competence.With exception of the tested Vienna students,all other European samples scored better than the Chinese students—also on the test for developing ethical-moral action plans.However,Chinese students are especially able to display outstanding empathy when dealing with suffering,misfortune,and sorrow,as well as in their willingness to help others.Originality/Value:The findings of this article can foster thinking about which topics should be further discussed to improve the ethical-moral knowledge and competences of Chinese students and highlight requirements for the further development of moral education in China at the levels of teaching,curriculum,teacher education,and research.

Expression of Target Genes in Cumulus Cells Derived from Human Oocytes with and without Blastocyst Formation

Objective:The transcriptional profile of cumulus cells(CCs)during oocyte maturation provides information for predicting oocyte developmental competence.Our previous study using a mouse model indicated that there were nine different genes related to oocyte development potential expressed in CCs during oocyte maturation.The purpose of this study was to elucidate whether gene expression levels of CCs during oocyte maturation are associated with oocyte developmental competence.Methods:The human CCs collected from each oocyte were divided into two groups after tracking depending on whether or not they developed to the blastocyst stage:(1)the oocytes were developed to blastocyst stage after fertilization(B+)and(2)the oocytes were not developed to blastocyst stage after fertilization(B−).The expression levels of the nine selected genes(ARRB1,ATP2C1,CDH5,CNTNAP1,LGR4,MKLN1,RHOBTB1,SIX2,and SMC2)were examined.CCs were obtained from 29 women who were undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment cycles.Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis was performed on cumulus masses collected before insemination.Each sample was run three times.Statistically significant differences in mRNA expression of the target genes in independent samples were evaluated by two-tailed Student’s t-test,and P<0.05 was considered significantly different.Results:There were significant differences in the mRNA expression levels of ARRB1(P=0.016),LGR4(P=0.025),and SMC2(P=0.013)between the groups B+and B−.Gene expression of ARRB1,LGR4,and SMC2 in CCs is related to blastocyst development.Conclusions:Analysis of expression of ARRB1,LGR4,and SMC2 genes in CCs as biomarkers may provide predictive information on oocyte developmental competence before insemination and fertilization.

Reconstruction of Teachers’Competencies:A Key Support for the Digital Transformation in Education

With the adoption of competency reconstructing path of functional analysis in the organizational behavior theory,and the consideration of the core mission and attributes of educational organizations plus the urgency for digital transformation,this paper concludes four pillar competencies for teachers:curriculum development and teaching competency,human-computer collaboration competency,effective moral education competency,and self-growth competency.From the perspective of supporting the digital transformation in education,curriculum development and teaching competency is the premise and guarantee of“learning-centered”;and human-computer collaboration competency is the transformation direction of teachers’information and communications technology capabilities in smart environments;effective moral education competency determines the primary role of teachers in the process of digital transformation;and self-growth competency is the purpose and means of digital existence.Teacher education needs to face up to the current problems in teacher capacity development and reshape teacher education around the core competencies required by digital transformation.