Protective Efficacy of Vitamins C and E on p,p′-DDT-Induced Cytotoxicity via the ROS-Mediated Mitochondrial Pathway and NF-κB/FasL Pathway

Dichlorodiphenoxytrichloroethane (DDT) is a known persistent organic pollutant and liver damage toxicant. However, there has been little emphasis on the mechanism underlying liver damage toxicity of DDT and the relevant effective inhibitors. Hence, the present study was conducted to explore the protective effects of vitamin C (VC) and vitamin E (VE) on the cytotoxicity of DDT in HL-7702 cells and elaborate the specific molecular mechanisms. The results demonstrated that p,p′-DDT exposure at over 10 µM depleted cell viability of HL-7702 cells and led to cell apoptotic. p,p′-DDT treatment elevated the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, induced mitochondrial membrane potential, and released cytochrome c into the cytosol, with subsequent elevations of Bax and p53, along with suppression of Bcl-2. In addition, the activations of caspase-3 and -8 were triggered. Furthermore, p,p′-DDT promoted the expressions of NF-κB and FasL. When the cells were exposed to the NF-κB inhibitor (PDTC), the up-regulated expression of FasL was attenuated. Strikingly, these alterations caused by DDT treatment were prevented or reversed by the addition of VC or VE, and the protective effects of co-treatment with VC and VE were higher than the single supplement with p,p′-DDT. Taken together, these findings provide novel experimental evidences supporting that VC or/and VE could reduce p,p′-DDT-induced cytotoxicity of HL-7702 cells via the ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway and NF-κB/FasL pathway

Contrastive Analysis of Politeness Principles in Intercultural Communication

Politeness phenomenon is universal in language usage, which has been so long approached by people from the distinctive perspectives of cultures. With the advance of intercultural communication politeness can no longer be confined to the study of either the Chinese culture or the English culture, and the revaluation of politeness with the amendment of the principles for intercultural communication must be implemented for the sake of efficacious interaction

A Cognitive Analysis of Hedges in Teacher Talk

Teacher talk considerably contributes to teacher-student interaction which is a major medium of classroom exchange and the adoption of hedges in teacher talk can lead to their negotiation of meaning and be the samples for students to learn a second language. The paper is intended to approach the linguistic phenomenon concerning the application and construal of hedges in teacher talk of the classroom context from the perspective of prototype theory in order to reveal the enlightenment and significance of hedges application in second language learning

A Functional Analysis of Hedges in Teacher Talk

Teacher talk considerably contributes to teacher-student interaction and the application of hedges in teacher talk can lead to their negotiation of meaning as well as be the samples for students to learn a second language. It is intended to approach hedges from the perspective of three metafunctions under the framework of systemic-functional grammar and reveal how and why hedges can figure in the teacher-student interaction in the classroom context. The registerial characteristics of hedges imply the pedagogical importance concerning teachers’ roles and students’ language proficiency

An Evil Backstage Manipulator: Psychological Factors Correlated with Health-Related Quality of Life in Chinese Patients with Crohn's Disease

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is recommended as one of essential parameters to evaluate treatment effect and clinical outcome in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). Recent studies reported that psychological factors might play a role in HRQoL in Western and American CD patients. Sufficient evidences in Chinese CD patients are still unavailable. This study is dedicated to investigate the correlation of various psychological factors with HRQoL in Chinese CD patients. We prospectively collected 40 active and 40 quiescent CD patients in China and found that psychological factors, especially neuroticism and anxiety, significantly correlate with and affect HRQoL in both active and quiescent CD groups. This is the first report revealing correlation between psychological factors and HRQoL in Chinese CD patients. Therefore, we assume that our results can contribute to a better understanding of etiology and tailoring of management in Chinese patients with Crohn's disease and are beneficial to our colleagues to compare the heterogeneous characteristics of Crohn's disease in different ethnic groups

A Review on Li Zhizao’s Scientific Translation and His Contribution to the Chinese Science Development

During the period from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, some Chinese scholars began to translate western science and culture. Li Zhizao, an excellent Chinese scientist, not only introduced a lot about western religion to the Chinese people, but also translated a great deal of western scientific knowledge. He committed himself to the introduction of western science and translation of western books, greatly promoting the advance of science in China. This paper first reviews the previous studies on scientific translation during the period from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, and the previous studies on Li Zhizao, then holds that: (1) the previous studies mainly focus on the contribution of Li Zhizao as a scholar or translator in general, rather than his specific translation activities and his translation contribution to the Chinese science development; (2) the previous studies are relatively scattered and need to go deeper. Therefore, a systematic and in-depth study of Li Zhizao’s translation needs to be made