Category: research

Homework Apps and Copy-Paste Learning

Homework apps can help students check answers, organize tasks, and learn from examples. But they can also turn assignments into copy-paste routines.

When students are tired, the fastest solution is very tempting. Take a picture, search the question, copy the method, and move on. The homework is finished, but the learning may not have happened.

This is not only a student problem. Sometimes homework is repetitive, rushed, or graded mainly for completion. If the system rewards finished pages more than understanding, students will naturally look for shortcuts.

Teachers can design assignments that require explanation, personal examples, drafts, and in-class follow-up. Students can use apps to understand mistakes instead of hiding them.

Technology makes cheating easier, but it also reveals a deeper question: what is homework for? If the answer is only submission, copy-paste will win. If the answer is practice, the work has to feel worth doing.

How Young Individuals Perceive GMO Foods: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of U.S. and Chinese High School Students

How Young Individuals Perceive GMO Foods: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of U.S. and Chinese High School Students

by

Z.Li

Keywords: Young Individuals, GMO Foods, Cross-Cultural Analysis, U.S. and Chinese High School Students


Abstract

GMO products have received considerable attention in recent years because of their ability to reduce pest damage and increase yields. However, the use of GMOs to produce food products is a controversial topic because of their of various safety issues. The study investigates high school students’ attitudes toward GMO foods and considers whether their cultural background and gender influence those attitudes. In addition, the study determines the key factors influencing their perception of GMO foods, including their safety, price, taste, and environmental impact. A total of 63 high school students (26 in the U.S. and 37 in China) were surveyed. According to the results, the students generally had negative attitudes toward GMO foods. U.S. students were slightly more likely to prefer GMO foods than Chinese students, but there was no significant difference. Male students were more likely to have favorable attitudes toward GMO foods than female students, and there was a significant difference. Finally, the respondents considered the safety of GMO foods the most important factor, followed by the environmental impact, reasonable prices, and taste, in that order. Both U.S. and Chinese students and male and female students were most likely to report safety as the most important factor. The results are expected to facilitate policymaking and practical marketing efforts.

Allelopathic effects of kudzu (Pueraria montana) on seed germination and their potential use as a natural herbicide

Summary
Allelopathy is the inhibition of growth of one species of plants by chemicals produced by another, typically competing, species. The chemical compounds released in this phenomenon have the potential to be used as natural weed control agents. In this study, we tested kudzu (Pueraria montana) to determine its allelopathic potential for weed control and suppression. The aqueous extracts of different kudzu organs (leaf, stem, and root) were assessed for allelopathic properties on the seeds of several competing species: white clover, dandelion, bermudagrass, and ryegrass. Remarkably, both the kudzu leaf and root extracts significantly changed the majority of the measured germination indices, comprising total germination and the speed of germination. The total germination of white clover seeds was 25% less than the control in both the kudzu leaf and root extract bioassays, while speed of germination was reduced by 77% and 72%, respectively. Likewise, dandelion seeds demonstrated 53% and 73% reduced speed of germination when treated with kudzu leaf extract and root extract, respectively. Both leaf extract and root extract also reduced total germination in ryegrass and bermudagrass seeds by a minimum of 25%. These results suggest that the kudzu leaves and roots can be considered to be allelopathic and show potential as a weed control agent.

Shreya Mathur, Dr. Sunil Mathur

Click here for PDF file: December2013(1)

Characterization of a UPEC degS mutant in vitro and in vivo

Summary
Escherichia coli DegS is an integral inner membrane protein that breaks down incorrectly assembled proteins and helps regulate the σ ᴱ stress response pathway. When degS is deleted, approximately 200-fold more outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are produced. As OMVs contain sections of the outer membrane and proteins from the periplasm, they may play a role in the virulence of E. coli. To test whether degS or OMVs play a role in uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) virulence, we characterized a degS mutant. We found that the degS deletion did not affect the morphology of the bacterium, but did result in decreased virulence in vivo and in vitro. When we tested our mutant in a murine model of cystitis, mice infected with degS::cat bacteria had a 100-fold decrease in bacterial titers in the bladder at 24 hours post-infection. In vitro binding and invasion assays showed no difference in the ability to bind to host cells, but a significant decrease in the ability of mutant bacteria to invade cells. Together, these data suggest that degS deletion decreases the virulence of E. coli and that an increase in OMV production may be a detriment to virulence. Future studies can separate the role of degS and OMV production in UPEC virulence.

 

India C. Bradley and Elizabeth S. Danka

China’s Perspective on the Relation of Sovereignty and Human Rights: The Practice and Reasons

China’s Perspective on the Relation of  Sovereignty and Human Rights: The Practice and Reasons

  1. Introduction

Different from the western countries, Chinese perceive the contemporary world order in a sovereignty-bound thinking. As a result, Chinese government sees state sovereignty as the basis of human rights[1], which overweighs the human rights to some extent. This perspective has caused a veritable and arguable explosion of human rights discussion[2].

After the Second World War, the Unite Nations has made the protection of human rights one of the most important issues in modern international society. As a permanent member of UN, China has laid more and more emphasis on the promotion of human rights and has achieved a lot during the past decades. However, China is still criticized and doubted by both of the west and domestic dissidents for China’s unique thought on the relationship between sovereignty and human rights, and for facts of the diminishing but existing human rights violations.

In order to confront with pressures from outside and inside, we need to give a solid and impartial understanding of China’s opinion. In doing so, this presentation will concentrate on the practice of the promotion on human rights and reasons of having the unique thoughts on the relationship between sovereignty and human rights of the People’s Republic of China. Inevitably, it first will give a brief overview of conceptions of sovereignty and human rights, and contentions on the relationship between the two to give a background of the discourse.

[1] See: Speech by Liu Huaqiu, Head of the Chinese Delegation at the World Conference on Human Rights(Vienna: Permanent Mission of the PRC to the United Nations in Vienna, 15 June 1993).

[2] Michael C. Davis, Chinese Perspectives on the Bangkok Declaration and the Development of Human Rights in Asia, 89 Am. Soc’y Int’l L. Proc. 157, 157 (1995).

 

M.Sun