Building Intercultural Competence in the Lower Division Chinese Language Classroom: A Lesson Plan Analysis

This portfolio is a compilation of what the author has learned in the field of Chinese as a second language in the Master of Second Language Teaching program at Utah State University. There are three main sections in the portfolio. The first section contains the author’s teaching philosophy statement, with a focus on intercultural competence development and teacher-student rapport. The second section consists of a reflection on a classroom observation. The main paper presents how the author designed a lesson plan and implemented it, as well as her analysis and introspection on a video recording of the lesson. The portfolio ends with a statement of the author’s future goals and plans

Economic analysis of medical malpractice claims and costs in Taiwan

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityThe number of medical malpractice claims has been increasing in recent years. However, because of the sensitiveness of information and no malpractice insurance coverage, no objective claims-based data has been released in Taiwan to estimate malpractice risk and its economic burden. In a university hospital of Taiwan, after forming a working group for solving malpractice claims in the past 6 years (2005-2010), we have collected 445 cases and examined the clinical, administrative, economic and legal information for these cases. First, after applying the Theory of Planned Behavior as our conceptual framework, we have performed several risk-adjustment models of associated factors on the odds of having legal action. Our main results are that the number of meetings between doctor and patient (OR= 2.478, p less than O.OOO1), along with other factors are significantly associated with the incidence of a malpractice claim developing into a legal action (c-statistics= 0.838). Second, using the amount of compensation as the outcome variable in all settled claims, we have constructed two-part models to describe the relationship between risk factors and outcome. The two-part models contain a logistic regression model as the first part to predict the frequency of paid claims (4.2 times more odds of having paid claims with every meeting between doctor and patient, OR= 4.235, p<0.001; c-statistics= 0.918) and an ordinary linear regression model as the second part to predict the amounts of these payments (every meeting between doctors and patient increasing the payment at 0.18 million NTD [R-square= 0.5521]). Our third study estimates nationwide malpractice costs for Taiwan based on our database, given limitations of extrapolating from a single hospital. We find that the estimated annual cost of medical malpractice for all of Taiwan's doctors is NTD 239.6 million (7.99 million USD) with a range from NTD 168.6 million to 404.3 million (5.62 million to 13.4 million USD). Such a low estimate may be caused by low lawsuit costs (42.7 million NTD, 1.42 million USD) and lower paid claims ratio for settled claims (21%). The results of the legal-economic analysis will contribute to forming a rational basis for policy debate for current malpractice reform in Taiwan

GPER-induced signaling is essential for the survival of breast cancer stem cells.

G protein-coupled estrogen receptor-1 (GPER), a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, mediates estrogen-induced proliferation of normal and malignant breast epithelial cells. However, its role in breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) remains unclear. Here we showed greater expression of GPER in BCSCs than non-BCSCs of three patient-derived xenografts of ER- /PR+ breast cancers. GPER silencing reduced stemness features of BCSCs as reflected by reduced mammosphere forming capacity in vitro, and tumor growth in vivo with decreased BCSC populations. Comparative phosphoproteomics revealed greater GPER-mediated PKA/BAD signaling in BCSCs. Activation of GPER by its ligands, including tamoxifen (TMX), induced phosphorylation of PKA and BAD-Ser118 to sustain BCSC characteristics. Transfection with a dominant-negative mutant BAD (Ser118Ala) led to reduced cell survival. Taken together, GPER and its downstream signaling play a key role in maintaining the stemness of BCSCs, suggesting that GPER is a potential therapeutic target for eradicating BCSCs

Case Study of Altruistic Behavior and Relational Network with Business Value on Local Travel Agency

The present study based on a local travel agency in Tainan, investigation how does the altruistic behavior affected the relational network and created the business value. The case company’s CEO had voluntary participated in charity societies more than 20 years. The present study first showed how the case company’s CEO to build an emotional relational network through altruistic behavior. Second, how does the emotional relational network form mixed relational network based on the key features demonstrated by altruistic behavior. Finally, also showed how the mixed relational network is transfer into an instrumental relational network. The results showed that the altruistic behavior can help local travel agency develop and increase their business value via relational network. The key factors to maximize the business value are the professional knowledge and altruistic behavior

KINETIC PROPERTIES AND EMG ACTIVITY OF NORMAL AND OVER-SPEED PEDALING IN TRACK SPRINT CYCLISTS: A CASE STUDY

Track sprint cycling requires unique skills. We investigate the pedaling kinetics and muscle coordination of a male track sprinter (170cm, 65kg, peak power 1513W) to see if they differ from that of a non-sprinter, and if the subject’s own technique vary from normal riding to an under-load maximal cadence sprint. Two trials were collected using 3D motion capture technology. EMG signals of 8 leg muscles were recorded. Joint torque and power of each trial were calculated using a subject specific musculoskeletal model, with realistic pedal forces as input to our dynamic simulation. Flexion torque appears at the knee during its extension, different from the non-sprinters. Joint torque and power appears similar for both trials, but 6 of the 8 muscles showed differences in EMG patterns. These findings could potentially benefit the evolvement of training methods

The Effects of Green Energy Production on Farmland: A Case Study in Yunlin County, Taiwan

Taiwan enacted the Act of Renewable Energy in the year 2009 which promotes energy safety, green economy, and a sustainable environment, and with that the government envisages a contribution of photovoltaic energy of up to 20% by the year 2025. In this study we look into the motivation and background of this energy policy, plans for implementation and associated challenges, and its actual consequences for farmland use and farmers. In addition, we take a look into the implementation of mixed-use farmland in which agricultural activity and photovoltaic installations are planned to coexist in order to increase land value and productivity. We furthermore report on some of our findings related to a field survey conducted in Taiwan’s corn chamber of Yunlin County which has been facing a number of socioeconomic challenges

Physicians Treating Physicians at the End of Life: The Relational Advantage in Treatment Choice

This study examines the agency problems by estimating the informational and relational effects of physician-patients on their invasive end-of-life treatment. To address potential issues of patient selection, we compare treatment intensity between physician- versus nonphysician-patients attended by the same doctor in the same hospital, and control for patients previous choices of doctors. To identify the relational effect, we further compare the impacts of physician-patients specializing in the same area as their attending doctors versus those in different areas. Physician-patients receive more care than comparable nonphysician-patients, and the increased volume results mostly from physician-patients relational advantages, not from their information advantages.JEL Classification Codes: D83, I11, J44The study received institutional review board approval from the Academia Sinica on Use of Humans as Experimental Subjects, AS-IRB-BM-13081 v5. We acknowledge funding from the JSPS Kakenhi Grant Number JP 17H02537 and the Academia Sinica Career Award.http://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/chen-stacey/profile-s-chen