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Objective To identify the early biomarkers of acute kidney injury(AKI) in septic shock patients based on proteomics. Methods A total of 100 patients admitted to the ICU of our hospital with a diagnosis of septic shock between March 2020 and March 2022 were recruited, of whom 42 had concurrent AKI and 58 had no AKI(NAKI). Urine samples were collected from these patients in 12 and 24 h after diagnosis of septic shock. Metabolomic analysis was performed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-QTOF/MS). Comparative cluster analysis was used to identify the global proteomic patterns associated with injury severity, and then to identify the early biomarkers of septic shock combined with AKI. Urine samples were analyzed the contents of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin(NGAL), chitinase-like protein 3(Chil3), S100 calcium binding protein A8(S100A8) and ceruloplasmin(CP) with ELISA kits. Biomarker performance was quantified by plotting receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curves. Results The AKI group had significantly higher SCr and lactate levels and increased all-cause mortality (P < 0.05), and obviously lower eGFR than the NAKI group(P < 0.001). Metabolomic analysis revealed that the levels of proteins associated with extracellular matrix and acute-phase responses were increased after diagnosis of septic shock, while the levels of proteins associated with excretion of ions, amino acids, and metabolites, and mitochondria-associated proteins were decreased in the AKI patients. Global proteome pattern analysis revealed that NGAL, Chil3, S100A8 and CP were early biomarkers of septic shock complicated with AKI. The results of ELISA indicated that NGAL, Chil3, S100A8 and CP in AKI patients with septic shock were significantly higher than those without AKI(P < 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that the expression levels of NGAL, Chil3, S100A8 and CP were positively correlated with SCr level(r=0.276, 0.391, 0.789, 0.721, all P < 0.001). ROC analysis suggested that the combination of these markers had greater diagnostic performance in diagnosing septic shock complicated with AKI, and the AUCs at 12 h and 24 h were 0.901 and 0.958, respectively. Conclusion NGAL, Chil3, S100A8 and CP based on proteomics can be used as early biomarkers for identifying septic shock complicated with AKI.

Chinese students nowadays have more opportunities to engage in interactions with people from different cultures, but meanwhile, their performance in authentic intercultural communications may be impeded by a variety of barriers. In this study, we qualitatively explored and summarized various types of barriers of intercultural communication as perceived by 40 Chinese students, based on Rozkwitalska’s (2010) model. The findings revealed a series of universal barriers that coincided previous studies (e.g., lack of confidence, shyness, feelings of remoteness, nonproficient use of functional language), and enriched Rozkwitalska’s (2010) model with newly identified barriers (e.g., lack of stress tolerance, self-centered communication, protection of face, discrepant performance concerning SES and age). Our study examined intercultural communications in a more comprehensive manner and made an attempt to develop a well-established, coherent frame of theory-building in international education research. Practical implications for educators and schools are discussed.

A growing body of research has examined the relations of dispositions toward information and communication technology (ICT) to intercultural competence among university students. However, there is little research exploring the associations between ICT-related dispositions and intercultural competence among adolescent students. The mechanism of such relationships also remains unknown. Therefore, from a self-determination theory perspective, this study investigated the relationships of perceived autonomy, competence, and relatedness in ICT usage with global competence--intercultural knowledge, skills and attitudes--among 17,055 15-year-old students from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan in PISA 2018. Results of Multilevel Structural Equation Modelling (MSEM) analyses indicated that perceived autonomy in ICT use, perceived competence in ICT use and perceived relatedness in ICT use all positively affected intercultural knowledge, skills and attitudes. Further, the results of the study revealed that the use of social media was a partial mediator in the relationship between perceived autonomy/competence in ICT use and intercultural knowledge/skills; and between perceived relatedness/competence in ICT use and intercultural attitudes. Our findings emphasized the importance of satisfying students' ICT-related needs and acknowledged the role of the use of social media in cultivating their global competence. Implications for teachers, schools and parents were discussed.

The bloom of technologies has witnessed the urgent need to develop high quality STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education. For this reason, there has been increasing emphases on understanding how STEM teachers perceive about STEM education, which would directly influence their classroom instructions. Scholars have designed and implemented interventions aiming at promoting STEM perceptions of teachers at different teaching levels. Yet a synthesis of these studies is necessary to provide an overall evaluation of the effectiveness of these interventions to help both teachers and teacher educators make better decisions in STEM implementation. A meta-analysis of 23 relevant empirical studies was conducted to examine the magnitudes of the relationships between STEM interventions/programs and teachers' STEM perceptions. Overall, all types of interventions reviewed in this study were found to be effective in developing teachers' perceptions about STEM knowledge, STEM teaching skills, and student STEM learning. The strongest effect of curriculum-based interventions and interventions focusing on professional development was observed on the improvement of teachers' STEM knowledge. Further moderator analyses showed that in-service teachers were inclined to benefit more from interventions in both STEM knowledge and STEM teaching skill perceptions. Findings were discussed in STEM teacher education contexts.

Metacognitive judgment of one's online search process (calibration) is an important element of searching efficiency. This study investigated Chinese university students' calibration during online information search. Fourteen students s were asked to search answers for three assigned tasks. Immediately after the search, all participants attended individual interviews about their search behavior. Based on eye-tracking data of the actual search process, three profiles of searchers were identified: surface explorers, deep explorers, and smooth searchers. Eye-tracking and retrospective interview data were analyzed to examine the participants' level of calibration. Results showed that the participants were not able to calibrate well on their searching process, with a mean score of 3.64 out of 10.0 (SD = 1.91), suggesting a mediocre level of calibration capacity. A moderate level of positive relationship (r = 0.42, p > 0.05) was also found between calibration scores and search performance scores, implying a general pattern wherein the high calibration group tended to perform better than the low calibration group. The findings called for integrating metacognitive judgment as a component of improving computer information literacy which, accordingly, could be used to enhance students' ability to think critically about seeking and evaluating information.

Digital portfolios have gained an increasing prominence in teacher education programmes around the world as a consequence of research which purports their multiple benefits to users and of their potential to represent beginning teachers' practices. Despite the current popularity of digital portfolios, the nature of their use is still not well understood. This article explores how student teachers use digital portfolios in a teacher education programme in Singapore from an economics perspective. It posits that the adoption of an economic lens would shed new light on existing understandings and raise awareness of how and why student teachers use digital portfolios the ways they do. Reference to a range of economic concepts would will help to better understand educational outcomes. The article considers the implications of the findings for informing how digital portfolios are implemented and raises issues for consideration in further implementation efforts and in future research.

Due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in China, a large number of Chinese students resorted to online learning resources. The increasingly widespread online education enables the investigation of public opinion about this large-scale untraditional mode of learning during this critical period. Sina Weibo Microblogs (the Chinese equivalent of Twitter) related to online education were collected in three distinctive phases: from July 01, 2019 to January 09, 2020 (pre-pandemic); from January 10, 2020 to April 30, 2020 (amid-pandemic); and from May 01, 2020 to Nov 30, 2020 (post-pandemic), respectively. The aim was to obtain broad insight into how online learning was viewed by the public in the Chinese educational landscape. The public opinion during these three periods were analysed and compared. The findings facilitated a better understanding of what the Chinese public perceived about this online learning mode in becoming the dominant channel for teaching and learning during critical periods.

This review examined the relations between grit and academic achievement based on a meta-analysis of 137 studies yielding 156 dependent samples (N = 285,331). Using the robust variance estimation, we found that the correlations of overall grit level with academic achievement were generally weak to moderate (weighted r = 0.19). The correlation of perseverance of effort to achievement (weighted r = 0.21) was stronger than that of consistency of interest (weighted r = 0.08). Adopting a cross-cultural perspective in reviewing these findings, we concluded that the associations between overall grit/2 facets and academic achievement did not differ across individualism-collectivism. We also investigated 7 other moderators, including grit measurement, types of achievement measures, publication type, educational levels, research design, study quality, and the female ratio of sampling in the grit-achievement relationship. After controlling for all proposed moderators, no significant moderators were found in the overall grit-achievement link or the consistency of interest-achievement link. There was a significantly stronger association between perseverance of effort and academic achievement in nonstandardized measures than in standardized measures. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Purpose: The increasing societal requirement requests higher education institutions to be more responsive to socioeconomic needs and new governmental demands. This study aims to present a self-developed multidimensional quality assurance and assessment model for higher education institutions -- R.I.S.E model (relevance, impact, significance and excellence) -- as a tool for quality assessment in higher education institutions. Design/methodology/approach: The model was first described at a conceptual level, followed by the examination of its applicability by presenting a case of a university in Macau to substantiate the model with real-life evidence. Findings: Results showed that the model can be used as an assessment tool to analyze, evaluate and reflect upon the status quo of higher education institutions. Facilitators can use all or part of the model either as a useful baseline to assess performance and prioritize "next steps" or to compare performance across time to determine progress in achieving goals and objectives. Originality/value: The new model proposed in this study presents multiple perspectives when assessing higher education systems, especially in the transforming stage of a university, to meet upgrading requirements from both the society and the academic community.

Success of ICT integration in the classrooms is, to a large part, accounted for by teachers' engagement with technologies. However, while many studies have identified the factors that affect teachers' decision to use technology, few have considered student perception as a likely influence. Increasingly, there is evidence in the literature to support a trend that recognizes student perception more explicitly in examining teachers' motivation in engaging technologies for instructional purposes. This study examined the role of student perception to understand why teachers decide to use technology in their teaching. Participants were 169 university students in Macau who responded to an open-ended question on what they thought were factors that motivated teachers to use technology in the classroom. Data were analyzed using a two-stage coding strategy. Results revealed nine possible themes to explain students' perceptions of the factors that acted as motivators for teachers' decision to use technologies in the classroom. Implications for theory and practice were discussed.

The rapid development of science and technology worldwide has promoted a boom in STEM education in China, increasing the demand for competent STEM teachers and creating new challenges for training STEM teachers. Teaching competence is crucial to the implementation and quality of STEM education in school, and is influenced in turn by teachers' learning experiences during their preparation programs. This study investigated the longitudinal effects of teacher training experiences on new teachers' perceived teaching competence, with their teaching beliefs as a mediator. Based on the model of Baumert and Kunter (2013), the study collected data from 219 beginner teachers from different K-12 schools in China. The findings showed that knowledge training and teaching practice during teacher education programs, as well as the teachers' beliefs about teaching, were positively related to STEM teachers' perceptions of their teaching competence. Meanwhile, teaching beliefs mediated the relationship between teaching practice and perceived teaching competence. Multigroup analysis revealed similar relationships for both primary and secondary school teachers between teacher training and perceived teaching competence, and between teaching beliefs and perceived competence. However, the relationship between teacher preparation and teaching beliefs was different for the two teacher cohorts, and a significant indirect effect of teaching practice on perceived teaching competence, mediated by teaching beliefs, was observed only in secondary school teachers.

Teacher work engagement is critical for work performance and child development, yet there is a limited understanding of how it is shaped from the perspective of teachers' emotion. Based on the job demand-resource model, this study tested the relationship between emotional labor strategies, teacher efficacy, grit, and work engagement. Research Findings: Through structural equation modeling, self-reports of 647 Chinese preschool teachers revealed that (1) expression of naturally felt emotions showed both a direct and an indirect (via teacher efficacy and grit) positive relationship with work engagement; (2) deep acting was associated with work engagement via promoted teacher efficacy; (3) surface acting was associated with work engagement via weakened teacher efficacy. Neither deep acting nor surface acting was linked to engagement via teacher grit. Practice or Policy: The findings call for attention to teacher emotion which is particularly important for preschool teachers in Chinese society. Guidance is needed for teachers to aptly use felt emotions to achieve classroom goals and translate the regulating process into positive beliefs about themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of a newly developed modules, Interactive Web-Based Visualization Tools for Gluing Undergraduate Fuel Cell Systems Courses system (IGLU), on learning motivations of engineering students using two samples (n[subscript 1] = 144 and n[subscript 2] = 135) from senior engineering classes. The multivariate analysis results revealed that the participants had a significant increase in their learning motivation after the treatment with the IGLU modules. This result was cross-validated with the two samples, in which the motivation mean posttest scores are significantly higher than the mean pretest scores, systematically (Sample 1: the mean score is increased by 2.09 [0.32, 3.87] points, p = 0.021; Sample 2: the mean score is increased by 1.38 [0.14, 2.61] points, p = 0.029). With the use of instructional technology prevailing in current university courses, the education initiative of the IGLU system and the assessment of its impact on student learning motivation provide us information to improve the modules to serve a more diverse student body. It will greatly help the development of engineering educational curriculum. With regards to the statistical inference, it is desirable to conduct further studies with a quasi-experiment control group design to assess the program effect focusing on student learning and its associations with student learning motivations and learning styles.

This large-scale study used the extended technology acceptance model to examine the different factors influencing Chinese university students' intentions to use the Internet-based technology with a learning focus. Specifically, the subject norm was conceptualised as a three-dimensional construct consisting of teacher influence, peer influence and institutional support. The data were collected from 4561 university students from 16 universities in China. The results indicated that 64% of the variance in Chinese university students' behavioural intentions were explained by their perceptions of ease of use and that the subjective norm significantly influenced their perceptions of the usefulness of the Internet-based technology with a learning focus. Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and the subjective norm significantly influenced students' attitudes towards using the Internet-based technology with a learning focus. In addition, Chinese university students' intentions to use the Internet-based technology with a learning focus were significantly influenced by attitude, perceived usefulness and the subjective norm. This study identified both theoretical and practical explanations for these relationships.