Explore the vast range of titles available.

Low yields of extracted cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from plasma limit continued development of liquid biopsy in cancer, especially in early-stage cancer diagnostics and cancer screening applications. We investigate a novel liquid-phase-based DNA isolation method that utilizes aqueous two-phase systems to purify and concentrate circulating cfDNA. The PHASIFY MAX and PHASIFY ENRICH kits were compared to a commonly employed solid-phase extraction method on their ability to extract cfDNA from a set of 91 frozen plasma samples from cancer patients. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) was used as the downstream diagnostic to detect mutant copies. Compared to the QIAamp Circulating Nucleic Acid (QCNA) kit, the PHASIFY MAX method demonstrated 60% increase in DNA yield and 171% increase in mutant copy recovery, and the PHASIFY ENRICH kit demonstrated a 35% decrease in DNA yield with a 153% increase in mutant copy recovery. A follow-up study with PHASIFY ENRICH resulted in the positive conversion of 9 out of 47 plasma samples previously determined negative with QCNA extraction (all with known positive tissue genotyping). Our results indicate that this novel extraction technique offers higher cfDNA recovery resulting in better sensitivity for detection of cfDNA mutations compared to a commonly used solid-phase extraction method.

Availability of a rapid, accurate, and reliable point-of-care (POC) device for detection of infectious agents and pandemic pathogens, such as swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus, is crucial for effective patient management and outbreak prevention. Due to its ease of use, rapid processing, and minimal power and laboratory equipment requirements, the lateral-flow (immuno)assay (LFA) has gained much attention in recent years as a possible solution. However, since the sensitivity of LFA has been shown to be inferior to that of the gold standards of pathogen detection, namely cell culture and real-time PCR, LFA remains an ineffective POC assay for preventing pandemic outbreaks. A practical solution for increasing the sensitivity of LFA is to concentrate the target agent in a solution prior to the detection step. In this study, an aqueous two-phase micellar system comprised of the nonionic surfactant Triton X-114 was investigated for concentrating a model virus, namely bacteriophage M13 (M13), prior to LFA. The volume ratio of the two coexisting micellar phases was manipulated to concentrate M13 in the top, micelle-poor phase. The concentration step effectively improved the M13 detection limit of the assay by tenfold from 5 × 10⁸ plaque forming units (pfu)/mL to 5 × 10⁷ pfu/mL. In the future, the volume ratio can be further manipulated to yield a greater concentration of a target virus and further decrease the detection limits of the LFA. [graphic removed]

All students need to learn independently, yet the fast-changing world, especially with technology, creates many obstacles. In major cities like Hong Kong, where institutions vigorously promote contemporary educational patterns, the problem is more complicated and serious. Given the abundance of technologies, it is vital to understand how Hong Kong university students view independent learning and their expectations for its use in the digital age. The CUHK Independent Learning Centre (ILC) has been operating for over 30 years. Extending the language centre model makes this centre special. The ILC surveyed CUHK students in 2022 to learn about their opinions on autonomous studying and their expectations for help. A follow-up focus group study has been conducted to clarify the results and verify the first analysis by blending qualitative insights with the mostly quantitative findings. The principal objectives of the focus group study are to explore the viewpoints of students and aid ILC in improving its support for student needs. Students who completed the survey were invited to meet ILC hosts in 2023. Students discussed numerous issues with two ILC lecturers. All discussions were taped and transcribed into Word. Thematic analysis of student interview replies was done using QualCoder V3.5. Further content analysis showed that student perspectives fall into four main themes and different sub-themes, with a total of 480 instances recorded. The interpretation demonstrated that students comprehend independent learning, its concept, its practice at CUHK, self-efficacy, technology use, teacher assistance, and future support. Many students appear self-aware and secure in learning. They appear prepared to define independent learning in a digital age and traverse an informationand technologyrich environment. Although survey and focus group results varied on how significant in-person instruction by educators is in autonomous learning, focus group findings generally agree with survey results. In general, the assessment of both findings shows that most CUHK students enjoyed independent study.

The Online Platform for Successful Chinese Learning (OPSCL) is an online platform providing reviews of Chinese learning materials, with a focus on those available online and for free. The platform is fully bilingual in English and Chinese and comprehensive in coverage. All learning resources are described using a detailed ontology of categories and labels. The categories are organised in a tree-like structure, with 5 categories (Chinese characters, Mandarin, Cantonese, Chinese culture, and Hong Kong culture) at the top and specific subcategories (such as 'Mandarin » Reading comprehension » News') at the bottom. Each review consists of an 'objective' and a 'subjective' part: The objective part lists information such as the name, link, category, price, romanisation, and a textual description of the resource, accompanied by screenshots. The subjective part includes our estimate in terms of language level (on an 8-level scale based on Europe's CEFR) and a textual assessment of the quality of the resource. The reviews are original and in-depth, not only describing each learning resource but also situating it (where applicable) in the context of related learning materials and Chinese language learning in general. For example, our reviews comment on whether standard conventions for romanisation are followed and whether the use of visuals in YouTube videos is effective for the given target audience ('foreigners' vs heritage learners vs speakers of other Chinese topolects), compared to similar resources. Our platform contains a search interface that lets users search for resources by any combination of criteria derived from our ontology (such as the type of romanisation used and the language level targeted by the resource). Students have the option of rating the resources and writing their own comments, thereby supplementing our official evaluation. We also provide a 'self-assessment system' for 3 of our 5 top-level categories (Chinese characters, Mandarin, and Cantonese), which consist of extended questionnaires with the option to upload writing samples, recordings, and videos. Their purpose is to let students voluntarily provide information to our teachers to facilitate the selection of suitable learning materials for further study. Overall, the platform was designed with the goal of promoting independent language learning in mind.

The Independent Learning Centre (ILC) has a long history in the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Being unique in many ways, both within the university and in Hong Kong as an independent support unit on campus, we support all students, namely undergrads and postgrads, in their academic pursuit, career preparation, as well as whole-person and global awareness development through non-formal education. In other words, the ILC does not touch students' grade point average (GPA) directly, but has an undeniable and direct impact on CUHK students' learning experiences and well-being by complementing their formal education and supporting their language and communication skills both in English and Chinese in the context of Hong Kong. We offer both academic and work-related workshops (2 hours long), conduct individual and group consultations, and we develop online learning resources on our own or in collaboration with colleagues from other units such as the University Library, and the Office of Student Affairs to address students' diverse learning needs. Evaluation of our services and resources is conducted after every student encounter face-to-face, and through the online means. In general, students are very satisfied with what we have been offering, and think our Centre is an important piece of puzzle in their learning jigsaw. But despite this, no formal survey on students' views about independent learning has been conducted since our inception. The ILC, therefore, conducted our very first survey in 2022 among all students in the CUHK on their perception of the learning needs, and their expectations of independent learning support that the university should provide in face of the challenges, both local and global, ahead of them. Our paper will present both our quantitative and qualitative survey results, students' comments, as well as the implications for a centre like ours, and other similar centres in the region and across the world.

Availability of a rapid, accurate, and reliable point-of-care (POC) device for detection of infectious agents and pandemic pathogens, such as swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus, is crucial for effective patient management and outbreak prevention. Due to its ease of use, rapid processing, and minimal power and laboratory equipment requirements, the lateral-flow (immuno)assay (LFA) has gained much attention in recent years as a possible solution. However, since the sensitivity of LFA has been shown to be inferior to that of the gold standards of pathogen detection, namely cell culture and real-time PCR, LFA remains an ineffective POC assay for preventing pandemic outbreaks. A practical solution for increasing the sensitivity of LFA is to concentrate the target agent in a solution prior to the detection step. In this study, an aqueous two-phase micellar system comprised of the nonionic surfactant Triton X-114 was investigated for concentrating a model virus, namely bacteriophage M13 (M13), prior to LFA. The volume ratio of the two coexisting micellar phases was manipulated to concentrate M13 in the top, micelle-poor phase. The concentration step effectively improved the M13 detection limit of the assay by tenfold from 5x 108 plaque forming units (pfu)/mL to 5x 107 pfu/mL. In the future, the volume ratio can be further manipulated to yield a greater concentration of a target virus and further decrease the detection limits of the LFA.

As a professional academic supporting unit of the University, The Independent Learning Centre (ILC) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has decided to provide additional support by adding sign language interpretation versions and subtitles to the existing self-learning videos. Such a project is pioneering in Hong Kong in addressing the needs of Special Education Needs (SEN) students. The project aims to benefit students with different levels of hearing impairment or other SEN as well as general students. While the revised videos will allow and encourage a wide range of students with different levels of learning difficulties to foster their independent learning skills, the added subtitles (Cantonese, Mandarin or English) can aid learning in terms of retention, comprehension, accuracy and engagement. Such benefit means general students are also expected to have their learning effectiveness increased by viewing these inclusive design videos. The whole project selected 98 videos from different self-designed online platforms, which would be over 10 hours in total. Once ready, the videos will be incorporated into the redesigned online platform and revised micro-modules accordingly. This paper aims to offer a first-handed and thorough perspective on the whole project in order to share the experience of supporting SEN and general students by making eLearning more accessible. When we are carrying out the project, we hope we can further benefit academia by sharing our successful experience. We believe the aims of the project can be further extended by sharing our experience with our academic peers, that is, our partners.

The paper will present how an Online Learning Platform for University Chinese I (CHLT1100) which was developed by the Independent Learning Centre and the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at The Chinese University of Hong Kong helps to promote learner awareness and autonomy in the learning process. The platform was first launched in 2014 and so far, a total of 2,556 students have used it. User feedback which was very positive was collected via a focus group study carried out from late 2014 to early 2015. Preliminary analysis suggests that the platform is able to: (1) heighten students' awareness towards the structure of their written language via the presentation of the characteristics of Chinese grammar through comparison; (2) enhance students' knowledge on Chinese grammar through the presentation of the detailed explanations on controversial terms and learning guides on various topics ; (3) encourage independent learning among themselves by engaging students to develop individual learning goals and reaching them through the pace they are comfortable with; and (4) stimulate students' interest in further studying the subject matter through the presentation of theories and the analysis of current language use and patterns. The paper will conclude by summarizing what makes online learning platforms like ours work and providing further improvement suggestions.

Reflective journal writing is an important genre of academic writing in which students are not only asked to think critically about any given experience, topic, or question, but also to be able to monitor their own development as learners. Here, we present and evaluate an English language micro-module for self-directed learning of reflective journal writing skills aimed specifically at students taking the compulsory General Education courses given to all students at CUHK. This micromodule is complementary to Chinese language versions and supports regular workshops. In the design of this platform, we have tried to reach multiple aims: for example, while we suggest a linear progress throughout the module, we also provide several points of entry in order to satisfy different learning needs and individual preferences. Furthermore, we provide multiple types of exercises and checkpoints generated from authentic student texts in order for the students to monitor their progress. In terms of content, we found it important not only to explain in detail the process of reflective thinking, but also to exemplify and practice the language features of reflective journal writing. Thus, we include detailed sections on how to analyse writing prompts, generate ideas and arguments, and finally outline and compose the writing. Therefore, we believe that core parts of this micro-module are also useful for learning and practicing general academic writing. During the academic year of 2018-19, student feedback questionnaires and pilot focus group studies have been used to evaluate the potential benefits from using the micro-module as a complement to regular workshops. To date, access rates and feedback response suggest that students find the online interface and content practical and meaningful. Furthermore, initial analyses of results indicate that the micro-module enables independent and mobile learning with increased and deeper content than a single workshop can provide.

Sensory areas of cortex respond more strongly to infrequent stimuli when these violate previously established regularities, a phenomenon known as deviance detection (DD). Previous modeling work has mainly attempted to explain DD on the basis of synaptic plasticity. However, a large fraction of cortical neurons also exhibit firing rate adaptation, an underexplored potential mechanism. Here, we investigate DD in a spiking neuronal network model with two types of short-term plasticity, fast synaptic short-term depression (STD) and slower threshold adaptation (TA). We probe the model with an oddball stimulation paradigm and assess DD by evaluating the network responses. We find that TA is sufficient to elicit DD. It achieves this by habituating neurons near the stimulation site that respond earliest to the frequently presented standard stimulus (local fatigue), which diminishes the response and promotes the recovery (global fatigue) of the wider network. Further, we find a synergy effect between STD and TA, where they interact with each other to achieve greater DD than the sum of their individual effects. We show that this synergy is caused by the local fatigue added by STD, which inhibits the global response to the frequently presented stimulus, allowing greater recovery of TA-mediated global fatigue and making the network more responsive to the deviant stimulus. Finally, we show that the magnitude of DD strongly depends on the timescale of stimulation. We conclude that highly predictable information can be encoded in strong local fatigue, which allows greater global recovery and subsequent heightened sensitivity for DD.