Suchergebnisse

Students in rural China are dropping out of secondary school at troubling rates. While there is considerable quantitative research on this issue, no systematic effort has been made to assess the deeper reasons behind student decision making through a mixed-methods approach. This article seeks to explore the prevalence, correlates and potential reasons for rural dropout throughout the secondary education process. It brings together results from eight large-scale survey studies covering 24,931 rural secondary students across four provinces, as well as analysis of extensive interviews with 52 students from these same study sites. The results show that the cumulative dropout rate across all windows of secondary education may be as high as 63 per cent. Dropping out is significantly correlated with low academic performance, high opportunity cost, low socio-economic status and poor mental health. A model is developed to suggest that rural dropout is primarily driven by two mechanisms: rational cost-benefit analysis or impulsive, stress-induced decision making. (China Q/GIGA)

We examined the feasibility of using the House–Tree–Person Test as an intervention to reduce prisoners' prerelease anxiety, and tested its effectiveness. In the first phase, 15 prison officers completed the other-evaluation Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) individually
and 105 male prisoners completed the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) in groups. After screening, 72 of the prisoners who would be released within the next 2 to 6 months were selected as participants. Then, a quasiexperimental design was applied and 36 participants completed the House–Tree–Person
Test 10 times over a period of 5 weeks. The results of quantitative analysis indicated that, during the prerelease period, more than 80% of prisoners had suffered from anxiety at some level. More important, in the posttest the total HAM-A and standard SAS scores for the prisoners in the experimental
group were both significantly lower than their scores in the pretest. On the contrary, the total score on the HAM-A for the prisoners in the control group in the posttest was significantly higher than their score in the pretest. Simultaneously, the result of qualitative analysis of 2 of a
prisoner's drawings, especially the positive change in house structure, the increasing number of trees, the clarity of the self-image, and the appearance of significant others, also indicated that his anxiety level had reduced.

Yan-Hua Zheng,1 Yue-Yun Ma,2 Yi Ding,3 Xie-Qun Chen,1 Guang-Xun Gao1 1Department of Hematology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China; 2Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China; 3Department of Pharmacy, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China Abstract: Invasive fungal infections especially in immunocompromised patients represent a dominating cause of mortality. The most commonly used antifungal agents can be divided into three broad categories, including triazoles, echinocandins and polyenes. Antifungal resistance is on the increase, posing a growing threat to the stewardship of immunocompromised patients with fungal infections. The paucity of currently available antifungals leads to the rapid emergence of drug resistance and thus aggravates the refractoriness of invasive fungal infections. Therefore, deep exploration into mechanisms of drug resistance and search for new antifungal targets are required. This review highlights the therapeutic strategies targeting Hsp90, calcineurin, trehalose biosynthesis and sphingolipids biosynthesis, in an attempt to provide clinical evidence for overcoming drug resistance and to form the rationale for combination therapy of conventional antifungals and agents with novel mechanisms of action. What's more, this review also gives a concise introduction of three new-fashioned antifungals, including carboxymethyl chitosan, silver nanoparticles and chromogranin A-N46. Keywords: carboxymethyl chitosan, chromogranin A-N46, Hsp90, calcineurin, trehalose, sphingolipids