The influence of clothing style on student perceptions of lecturers: A cross-cultural extension of the Room-Product-Effect.

Recent advances in the extraction, purification, structural characterization, bioactivities, and applications of polysaccharides from Dioscorea opposita.

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells serve as the predominant host for the production of recombinant protein biopharmaceuticals. Maintaining an optimal culture environment is critical to achieving high productivity, ensuring protein quality, and minimising production costs. Amino acids are a key component of cell culture media which are essential for promoting cell growth and protein expression. Amino acids are the fundamental building blocks of proteins and serve critical roles in cellular energy generation and biosynthesis. The demand for amino acids varies throughout batch or fed-batch culture, which necessitates careful media and process design to ensure adequate supplies. However, if oversupplied, certain amino acids and associated byproducts can negatively impact cell growth and protein production. This review consolidates our understanding of the complex role of amino acid metabolism in CHO cells in the context of industrial production systems and growth medium formulations. It identifies and discusses key considerations in the demand and supply of amino acids, including fed-batch dynamics, amino acid toxicity, solubility and stability, medium osmolality, amino acid transporters and the relative availability of different amino acids. Based on the synthesis of current knowledge, emerging strategies to balance amino acid supply with demand are discussed, and research priorities identified to advance future efforts to optimise CHO cell culture process and media formulation.

The concept of food-medicine homology, derived from traditional Chinese dietary culture, endows functional food biscuits with both nutritional value and therapeutic potency. Such biscuits are abundant in bioactive compounds including polysaccharides, dietary fiber, and flavonoids, which may exert regulatory effects through the microbiota-gut-brain axis (MGBA). This study explored the impacts of functional biscuits formulated with Gastrodia elata Bl., Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf, Coix lacryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen (Roman.) Stapf, Sesamum indicum L., Juglans regia L., and Ziziphus jujuba Mill. on intestinal microbiota and cerebral biochemical indicators in mice. Mice were assigned to four groups: control, low-dose, medium-dose, and high-dose biscuit groups. We measured serum interleukin-1β (IL-1β), hippocampal acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), as well as cerebral superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels, and profiled intestinal microbiota using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The low-dose group exhibited optimal modulation of hippocampal AChE and BDNF, concurrent with reshaped intestinal microbiota and elevated abundance of beneficial bacterial taxa. Intervention doses exerted significant effects on microbial diversity; genera such as unclassified Atopobiaceae, Facklamia, and Staphylococcus were significantly correlated with changes in cerebral biomarkers. Collectively, these compound biscuits remodel the intestinal microbiota to ameliorate brain function, antioxidant capacity, and inflammatory status via the MGBA, demonstrating great potential for maintaining cognitive and neurological health.

Stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illness are common among nursing students, which can create barriers to treatment and recovery for people with schizophrenia. Chinese culture, which emphasizes face-saving and Confucianism, differs from Western culture in its understanding of stigma. This results in different approaches to dealing with stigma, leading to diverse outcomes. This study aims to explore how Chinese culture influences nursing students' perceptions of schizophrenia. A qualitative descriptive approach was adopted for this study. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit nursing students between July 25, 2022, and September 30, 2022 from a hospital in mainland China. Online focus group interviews were conducted with nursing students. Data were analyzed using conventional content analysis with NVivo 12. Data collection and analysis were conducted concurrently. Thirty nursing students participated in the focus group interviews, which ranged from 74 to 102min in duration. The participants were aged 19 to 22 years, and included 25 females and five males. Five themes were derived from the interviews: knowledge gaps regarding schizophrenia; misconceptions about schizophrenia, impact of cultural perceptions on attitudes towards schizophrenia, nursing students' intentional behavior toward schizophrenia, and pity and awareness of injustice towards people with schizophrenia. Cultural factors influencing nursing students' perspectives on schizophrenia include beliefs and stigma surrounding mental illness, family and community attitudes, religious interpretations, and exposure to or engagement with mental health services. These factors should be seriously considered when developing interventions to decrease nursing students' stigma toward individuals with schizophrenia.Clinical trial number Not applicable.

Patients with left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) experience unique challenges shaped by both device characteristics and cultural context. Their psychosocial and cultural implications remain underexplored, especially in non-Western contexts. This study explored the lived experiences of LVAD implantation patients in the context of Chinese culture. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was employed, involving five Chinese patients who had undergone LVAD implantation. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, audio-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. And data analysis based on the methodology of Interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). Two themes that emerged from the analysis: (1) Perceived loss of mastery, (2) Coping Strategies. The former includes five subthemes: contrast-induced disparity, restrictions imposed by the device, insufficient external support, loss of control over self-management, and emotional dysregulation, which represent the core adaptive challenge following implantation. The latter encompasses two subthemes: reconstruction of self-care ability and emotional adjustment. This study reveals that Chinese LVAD patients experience a pervasive loss of mastery after implantation and adopt adaptive coping strategies through self-care reconstruction and emotional adjustment. Family support has a unique yet paradoxical influence on patients' adaptation in the Chinese cultural context. Targeted interventions that combine functional and psychological support with culturally appropriate family-based strategies are essential for restoring patients' sense of mastery and improving long-term clinical outcomes.

This study examines the symbolic meanings attributed to the horse in Turkish and Chinese civilisations through a comparative historical analysis. A qualitative methodology is employed, drawing on Turkic oral epics, Dîvânu Lugâti’t-Türk, and selected Chinese historiographical sources, with particular reference to the Heavenly Horse (tianma) and horse administration practices (ma zheng). The study aims to analyse the role of the horse as a cultural and symbolic element within differing socio-economic and political contexts. It is found that in Turkish steppe culture, the horse is associated with freedom, mobility, warfare, and collective identity, whereas in Chinese civilisation it is linked to imperial authority, military logistics, and state power, as evidenced by Ferghana horse campaigns. Despite structural differences, the horse is shown to function as a shared symbolic expression of power and legitimacy. It is concluded that the horse operates as a cultural bridge within the historical relationship between Turkish and Chinese civilisations.

The Book of Songs, the first of the Five Classics, is a classic of Chinese culture. It is the first collection of realistic poetry in China and is the glorious starting point of realistic poetry in China. Imagery is the product of the poet’s subjective emotions and objective objects, and is essential for the poet to convey his emotions and meanings. As one of the traditional Chinese cultural texts, The Book of Songs is rich in imagery of animals, plants and cultural relics, containing a rich cultural heritage and carrying the poet’s deep emotions. Relevance theory is arguably the most popular cognitive pragmatics theory in recent years, focusing on human cognition and verbal communication. The purpose of this paper is to explore the study of animal, plant and cultural relic imagery in The Book of Songs based on the translation theory of relevance theory, to show the aesthetic value of the translation, and to promote the recognition of the artistic value of the traditional Chinese cultural texts represented by The Book of Songs and their dissemination to the outside world.

Metaphors are often used in persuasive political rhetoric. Effective use of metaphor can serve both to aid and to contaminate political discourse. China’s leaders resort to a wide range of metaphors, often drawn from Chinese traditions and folk culture. The distinct personal and political characteristics of these leaders can be identified by the way they have framed metaphors in their political narratives. The concept of ‘struggle’ has been adopted by all these leaders, appearing as a leading thread and surviving as a core theme of the Party’s spirit. This article considers the history of the People’s Republic of China in terms of metaphors used by its three most important CCP leaders: Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Xi Jinping.

Cultural adaptation and validation of the digital maturity inventory for chinese adolescents: A multidimensional psychometric evaluation.

Implicit representations of red color in Chinese culture.

Glucose is a critical nutrient in mammalian cell culture processes, influencing cellular metabolism, productivity, and product quality. In industrial Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) fed-batch processes, glucose concentrations are commonly controlled using manual offline measurements and operator-based feed adjustments. Although online Process Analytical Technology (PAT) solutions and oxygen uptake rate (OUR)-based feeding approaches have previously been investigated, their implementation in existing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) manufacturing environments remains challenging due to instrumentation, validation, and process integration requirements. In this study, the relationship between cumulative oxygen consumption and glucose utilization was investigated across 58 CHOK1SV GS-KO® fed-batch cultures performed in stirred glass and single-use bioreactors ranging from 10 L to 2 kL scale. Building on previously reported oxygen-based glucose estimation concepts, a lactate-adjusted framework was developed to account for both lactate production and re-consumption during the fed-batch process. Oxygen transfer rates were calculated from standard online process parameters and integrated over time to determine cumulative oxygen consumption, which was subsequently correlated with cumulative glucose utilization. The results demonstrated robust linear correlations between cumulative oxygen consumption and lactate-adjusted cumulative glucose utilization across different projects, cell lines, and process scales (R2 ≥ 0.984). Incorporation of lactate metabolism improved the robustness of the oxygen-glucose relationship, particularly during metabolic transitions associated with lactate re-consumption. The predictive capability of the framework was further evaluated in three 200 L fed-batch processes by prospectively estimating glucose consumption over sequential 24h intervals using cumulative oxygen consumption and routine offline metabolite measurements. Overall, the study demonstrates that cumulative oxygen consumption provides a robust and scalable basis for oxygen-based soft-sensing of glucose demand in industrial CHO fed-batch cultures. The presented framework enables predictive glucose demand estimation using standard bioreactor process data without requiring additional glucose-specific PAT hardware and may support future implementation of automated feeding concepts in mammalian cell culture processes. KEY POINTS: • Cumulative oxygen consumption correlates linearly with glucose utilization. • Lactate-adjusted O₂-glucose correlations are consistent across bioreactor scales. • Glucose control can be automated using existing bioreactor process data.

This paper systematically examines the origin and development of Chinese shanshui culture and its influence on gardens in China and abroad. Adopting a comparative perspective between China and the West, the study reveals the differences and interactions between the two traditions across five dimensions: natural geography, philosophical thought, garden form, spiritual expression, and cross-cultural transmission. The results indicate that Western gardens, originating from open plains, emphasize human control over nature, while Chinese gardens, shaped by complex terrain, gave rise to the concept of "harmony between heaven and humanity" and the pursuit of "learning from nature." At the material level, Chinese cities integrated mountains and waters into their macro-scale layouts, while literati created micro-scale gardens through expressive techniques. At the spiritual level, Chinese landscape poetry and painting distinguish themselves from Western traditions through "conveying emotion through scenery" and "changing scenery with each step." During the 17th–18th centuries, Chinese shanshui culture was introduced to Europe by missionaries, driving innovation in Western garden design. In the contemporary context, the concept of the "shanshui city" offers a vital pathway for the continuity of urban cultural heritage and sustainable development in China. As a spiritual legacy connecting tradition and modernity, East and West, Chinese shanshui culture holds significant theoretical and practical value.

ABSTRACT Objective Contemporary psychotherapies for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are effective, but still have some limitations. Natural Psychotherapy (NPT), a novel approach integrating Japanese Morita therapy and traditional Chinese culture, may be a promising treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Methods A single-arm pilot study enrolled 40 eligible OCD outpatients who received 8-week group NPT therapy (8 group sessions + daily homework). Primary outcomes were measured via the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) at baseline (week 0), week 4, week 8 (end of treatment), and week 12 (follow-up). MRI scans were conducted at week 0 and 8. Results YBOCS scores significantly decreased after treatment and remained stable at follow-up. Treatment response rates were 60% (week 8) and 57.5% (week 12), with a 2.5% dropout rate and no severe adverse reactions. Resting-state functional connectivity within the core subsystem of the default mode network improved, correlating negatively with reduced obsessive symptoms. Conclusion Group NPT shows feasibility and a promising treatment response in OCD. However, a further large-scale randomised controlled trial is needed to confirm efficacy completely.

This study investigates the accuracy and reliability of large language models (LLMs) in scoring writing tasks from the Advanced Placement (AP) Chinese Language and Culture Exam. Using generalizability theory, the research evaluates and compares score consistency (reliability) and alignment with human raters (accuracy) across two types of AP Chinese free-response writing tasks: story narration and email response. These essays were independently scored by two trained human raters and seven artificial intelligence (AI) raters. Each essay received four scores: one holistic score and three analytic scores corresponding to the domains of task completion, delivery, and language use. Results indicate that although human raters produced more reliable scores overall, LLMs demonstrated reasonable consistency under certain conditions, particularly for story narration tasks. Composite scoring that incorporates both human and AI raters enhanced score dependability and human–AI agreement, which supports that hybrid scoring models improve both reliability and accuracy in large-scale writing assessments.

Drawing on van Dijk’s Ideological Square framework, this paper adopts a corpus-based method to examine the discursive strategies in their responses by the spokespersons for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs during regular press conferences amid a public health crisis. The analysis focuses on how these discursive strategies shape the national images of China and the other four permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The results show that (1) the spokespersons actively employed communicative discursive strategy to clarify China’s stance and international cooperation initiatives while also using offensive discourse strategy to counter criticisms from US-led Western nations and media regarding the virus and the pandemic; (2) although the spokespersons’ discourse generally aligns with van Dijk’s Ideological Square of positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation, this model is not fixed but subject to dynamic changes driven by the self-serving principle. It is argued that factors such as diplomatic ideology, geopolitical relations, and traditional Chinese culture underlie the spokespersons’ use of discursive strategies and national images representations. This study contributes to reconceptualizing an existing discourse model by offering data-driven insights into the operational mechanisms of ideological discourse in the contexts of global political communication and national image construction.

ABSTRACT Personality research has become increasingly important in environmental psychology. However, the relationship between the Confucian ideal personality trait in traditional Chinese culture – the Junzi personality – and pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) has received little attention. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship between Junzi personality and tourists’ PEB using structural equation modelling and scenario-based experiments. The results show that Junzi personality positively predicts tourists’ PEB; Junzi personality activation (vs. control) promotes higher levels of tourists’ PEB; felt obligation and altruistic concern mediate the relationship between Junzi personality activation and tourists’ PEB; and the presence (vs. absence) of destination residents’ PEB strengthens the effect of Junzi personality activation on tourists’ PEB, while simultaneously enhancing the mediating effects of felt obligation and altruistic concern. These findings enrich the literature on the relationship between Eastern personality traits and PEB and provide practical guidance for destinations seeking to encourage tourists’ PEB.

This study aims to analyze the ethics of cross-cultural bargaining between Indonesia and China and its implications in learning Indonesian for Foreign Speakers (BIPA). This study employs a qualitative approach using a literature study design. The data consist of relevant scholarly articles on bargaining practices, pragmatics, and cross-cultural communication. Data were collected through documentation techniques and analyzed using data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The results show that the practice of bargaining in Indonesian culture emphasizes politeness of language, indirect communication, and social harmony, while Chinese culture is influenced by the values of collectivism, the concept of guanxi, and face oriented towards social relations and reputation. These differences show that there are variations in communication strategies that are influenced by the cultural values behind them. This research emphasizes the importance of integrating pragmatic aspects and cross-cultural communication in the development of BIPA learning materials based on authentic communication.

The National Normal College of Guoshu and Physical Education (NNCGPE) stands as a pivotal yet long-misrepresented institution in modern Chinese physical culture. Drawing on Republican-era archival materials and official gazettes, a revision of the institution’s chronology corrects five core factual errors in existing scholarship: the NNCGPE’s direct precursor was The National Guoshu and Physical Education Institute founded in 1933 (not the aborted 1930–1931 Physical Education School plan); its renaming to The College of Physical Education, Central Guoshu Institute occurred in late 1933 (not 1934); its elevation to national college status took place in 1938 (not 1936); its renaming to the National Normal College of Guoshu and Physical Education was finalized in 1941; and the launch of its five-year teacher-training program was in 1942 (not 1941). This revised timeline reveals the gradual and contested institutionalization of Guoshu within China’s modern educational system, reflecting the Nationalist government’s evolving strategies to shape national physique and cultural identity through physical education. The NNCGPE embodied a distinctive form of hybrid modernity in modern Chinese physical education – a systematic effort to integrate traditional Guoshu techniques with Western physical education theories and pedagogies, cultivating a new generation of teachers disseminating this hybrid bodily culture across Chinese society.

When love harms: Longitudinal effects of harsh parenting on adolescents' depressive symptoms and reactive-proactive aggression.