Social service purchasing in China: Rationale, features, and risks

Natasha Cortis1,Qian Fang1,Zhenfang Dou2 한국사회복지학회 2018 Asian Social Work and Policy Review Vol.12 No.3

progressing an agenda of purchasing child welfare and other social services from the nongovernment sector, primarily to expand capacity and address vast unmet need. This paper draws on current research evidence to explore the approaches to purchasing emerging in China, examining the rationale for purchasing and models of supply, competition, and regulation. While some approaches are modeled on direct service contracting, direct purchasing of social service “posts” is also used, aimed at achieving goals of professionalization alongside service expansion. Overall, the review shows purchasing is helping to rapidly expand service scale and capacity; however, regulatory strategies for managing and mitigating risks to quality and access appear lacking. This highlights the need for further scholarship aimed at developing the robust risk management strategies which are required to support high quality, sustainable provision of purchased services.

Effects of Different Medium Composition and Exogenous Hormones on Browning of Tree Peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.) Callus in Tissue Cultu

Fang Fang Zhou,Zheng Wang,Li Yun Shi,Jia Jia Niu,Wen Qian Shang,Dan He,Song Lin He 한국화훼학회 2016 화훼연구 Vol.24 No.2

Browning is one of the key factors that influenced the callus subculture of tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.). Effects of medium composition and exogenous hormones: macro elements of Murashige and Skoog (MS salts) and iron salt (Fe2+), pH, agar and 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA), 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and kinetin (KT) on the callus browning of P. suffruticosa ‘Shan Hu Tai’ in vitro were studied in this paper. Results showed that the browning of P. suffruticosa callus were more sensitive to KT than 6-BA in different concentrations of 6-BA and KT separately with different concentrations of NAA, and reduced to the lowest (13.3%) under 0.5 mg·L-1 NAA plus 0.3 mg·L-1 KT. 1/4 × MS plus 1/4 × Fe2+ was the best basic medium in which the browning rate was only 18.2%. The browning rate of the callus was the lowest of 4.0% under pH 6.5 and the callus grew better in 7.0 g·L-1 agar than others. This study indicated that the best medium preventing P. suffruticosa callus in vitro from browning was: 1/4 × MS medium supplemented with 6.95 mg·L-1Fe2+, 0.3 mg·L-1 KT, 0.5 mg·L-1 NAA, 6.0 g·L-1 agar and 30 g·L-1 sucrose in pH 6.5.

Experimental and Modelling Study of the Denaturation of Milk Protein by Heat Treatment

Fang Qian,Jiayue Sun,Di Cao,Yanfeng Tuo,Shujuan Jiang,Guangqing Mu 한국축산식품학회 2017 한국축산식품학회지 Vol.37 No.1

Heat treatment of milk aims to inhibit the growth of microbes, extend the shelf-life of products and improve the quality of the products. Heat treatment also leads to denaturation of whey protein and the formation of whey protein-casein polymer, which has negative effects on milk product. Hence the milk heat treatment conditions should be controlled in milk processing. In this study, the denaturation degree of whey protein and the combination degree of whey protein and casein when undergoing heat treatment were also determined by using the Native-PAGE and SDS-PAGE analysis. The results showed that the denaturation degree of whey protein and the combination degree of whey protein with casein extended with the increase of the heat-treated temperature and time. The effects of the heat-treated temperature and heat-treated time on the denaturation degree of whey protein and on the combination degree of whey protein and casein were well described using the quadratic regression equation. The analysis strategy used in this study reveals an intuitive and effective measure of the denaturation degree of whey protein, and the changes of milk protein under different heat treatment conditions efficiently and accurately in the dairy industry. It can be of great significance for dairy product proteins following processing treatments applied for dairy product manufacturing.

Preparation and Characterization of Acid and Pepsin-soluble Collagens from Scales of Croceine and Redlip Croakers

Qian-Qian Wu,Tao Li,Bin Wang,Guo-Fang Ding 한국식품과학회 2015 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.24 No.6

Acid-soluble (ASC) and pepsin-soluble collagen (PSC) from scales of croceine croaker (ASCPC and PSC-PC) and redlip croaker (ASC-PP and PSC-PP) were prepared with yields of 0.37±0.08% (ASCPC), 1.09±0.23% (PSC-PC), 0.42±0.09% (ASC-PP), and 1.14±0.30% (PSC-PP) (dry scale basis). Gly (347.1- 359.8 residues/1,000 residues) was the major amino acid. Contents of imino acid were between 189.4 and 192.9 residues/1,000 residues in all 4 collagens. ASC-PC and ASC-PP were type I collagens. Differences in subunit components between ASC and PSC were observed. Denaturation temperature values of ASC-PC, ASC-PP, PSC-PC, and PSC-PP were 30.7, 30.1, 27.5, and 26.6℃, respectively. All 4 collagens were soluble at pH 1-4. Values declined when NaCl concentrations exceeded 2%. Freeze-dried collagens showed loose, fibrous, and porous structures. The 4 scale collagens can be alternatives to collagen from terrestrial animals for applications in functional food, cosmetic, and biomedical industries.

Formula optimization for melanosis-inhibitors of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) by response surface methodology

Yun-Fang Qian,Qing Xiong,Sheng-Ping Yang,Jing Xie 한국식품과학회 2019 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.28 No.6

Melanosis is major problem of crustaceans duringtheir rigor mortis storage. This study for the firsttime was designed to optimize the formula of preservativesto maintain the color feature of Pacific white shrimp usingresponse surface methodology. A three-factors-three-levelsBox-Behnken design was applied to evaluate the effect ofchitosan, citric acid and L-cysteine on color features (L*,a*, b* and DE) of Pacific white shrimp. It was found thatthe increasing rate of DE was retarded by the higher concentrationsof chitosan, citric acid and L-cysteine in acertain range. The optimal formula for inhibiting theincrease of DE was 1.36% chitosan, 0.47% citric acid and0.31% L-cysteine. Under the optimal pretreated conditions,the predicted DE of shrimp after 8 days of storage was14.59, close to the measured values (14.49). These resultsindicated that the optimal combined preservatives couldretard the decrease of lightness and the aggregation of DEand melanosis effectively, and might be a potentialapplication for retarding melanosis and extending shelf lifeof Pacific white shrimp.

Talin-1 Correlates with Reduced Invasion and Migration in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Fang, Kun-Peng,Zhang, Jian-Lin,Ren, Yan-Hong,Qian, Ye-Ben Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.6

Background: Talin-1 is a cytoskeleton protein that participates in cell migration and plays a role in tumor formation, migration, and metastasis in different types of cancer. Chinese investigators have observed that the levels of Talin-1 protein and mRNA expression in HCC tissues are significantly lower than in the adjacent non-cancerous tissue. However, Japanese investigators have reported that Talin-1 is upregulated in HCC. Tln2 as homologous gene of Tln-1, which encodes a very similar protein, but the role of Talin-2 is very little known in primary liver cancer (PLC). We investigated whether the expression of Talin-1 in PLC may be associated with the histological subtype as well as the role of Talin-1 in tumor cell invasion and migration using human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. Materials and Methods: We measured the mRNA expression levels of Talin-1 and Talin-2 in five human liver cancer cell lines and normal human liver cell ($LO_2$ cell line) by real-time PCR and the protein expression levels of Talin-1 by Western blot. Migration and invasion of the cells were assessed using transwell assays and cell scratch experiments, respectively, and proliferation was assessed by soft AGAR colony formation. Results: Talin-1 and Talin-2 expression differed significantly between the five human liver cancer cell lines and $LO_2$ cell line (p<0.05). Compared with the $LO_2$ cell line, the invasion and migration capabilities of the five cancer cell lines differed significantly (p<0.05). Similarly, the colony-forming ability differed (p<0.05). Conclusions: High levels of Talin-1 expression are correlated with reduced invasion and migration as well as decreased malignancy in human liver cancer cell lines; the suppression of Talin-1 promotes invasion and migration. In addition, Talin-2 may be correlated with invasion and migration in human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Prediction of peak occurrence of Dendrolimus punctatus larvae based on Bayes discriminant method

Qian Guangjing,Song Xueyu,Sun Jiazhao,Zhang Shuping,Zhou Xiazhi,Zhang Guoqing,Zou Yunding,Fang Guofei,Zhang Zhen,Yan Ping,Bi Shoudong 한국곤충학회 2020 Entomological Research Vol.50 No.8

To improve the accuracy of forecasting the peak occurrence of Dendrolimus punctatus Walker, we here used the Bayes discriminant analysis to predict this peak occurrence for the first and second generation of Dendrolimus punctatus larvae based on these data from 1983 to 2016 in Qianshan County, Anhui Province. Our present results showed that this discriminant equation for the first generation was as follows: f (1) = 3.2588-6.2700x1 + 1.2870x2 + 0.7920x3 + 0.4152x4; f (2) = 14.5215- 8.5710x1 + 2.9790x2 + 2.0280x3 + 0.5031x4; f (3) = 3.5264; f (4) = 66.8312- 12.5216x1 + 5.1740x2 + 4.7162x3 + 0.6033x4. And that the prediction accuracy for the first generation was 97.22%. Whilst this discriminant equation for the second generation was as follows: f (1) = 3.536-1.192x5 + 1.338x6 + 0.638x70.025x8; f (2) = 7.317-1.337x5 + 4.240x6 + 1.010x70.295x8; f (3) = 16.488- 3.192x5 + 4.955x6 + 1.900x7–0.411x8; f (4) = 34.502- 4.184x5 + 7.484x6 + 2.583x7–0.443x8. The prediction accuracy for the second generation was 85.71%. Overall, our findings revealed that the Bayes discriminant analysis could screen out key factors to significantly improve the prediction accuracy of peak occurrence of Dendrolimus punctatus larvae.

5,10-Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase Polymorphisms and Colon Cancer Risk: a Meta-analysis

Fang, Xin-Yu,Xu, Wang-Dong,Huang, Qian,Yang, Xiao-Ke,Liu, Yan-Yan,Leng, Rui-Xue,Pan, Hai-Feng,Ye, Dong-Qing Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.19

Previous studies investigating the association between 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene polymorphisms and colon cancer risk have generated conflicting results. The aim of our meta-analysis was to clarify the precise association. A systematic literature search was conducted to identify all relevant studies. Pooled odds ratio (ORs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to estimate the strength of the association. In this meta-analysis, a total of 13 articles, involving 5,386 cases and 8,017 controls met the inclusion criteria. Overall, a significant association was found between colon cancer risk and the MTHFR C667 polymorphism (TT vs CC+CT: OR=0.79; 95%CI=0.65-0.96; p=0.017). Stratification by ethnicity revealed that MTHFRC667 was associated with colon cancer risk in the non-Asian group (TT vs CC+CT:OR=0.77, 95%CI=0.68-0.89, p=0.000; TT vs CC: OR=0.84, 95%CI=0.73-0.97, p=0.016). Stratification by source of control indicated that MTHFR C667 also correlated with colon cancer risk in the population-based subgroup (TT vs CC: OR=0.85, 95%CI=0.74-0.97, p=0.017; TT vs CC+CT: OR=0.78, 95%CI=0.68-0.89, p=0.000) and hospital-based subgroup (TT vs CC+CT: OR=0.65, 95%CI=0.49-0.86, p=0.003). However, risk was significantly increased for MTHFR A1298C polymorphisms and colon cancer risk in hospital-based studies (C vs A: OR=1.52, 95%CI=1.26-1.83, p=0.000; CC+AC vs AA: OR=1.93, 95%CI=1.47-2.49, p=0.000) but reduced in population-based studies (CC vs AA: OR=0.83, 95%CI=0.70-0.99, p=0.042). In conclusion, the results of our meta-analysis suggest that the MTHFR C667 polymorphism is associated with reduced colon cancer risk, especially for non-Asian populations.

Protection of chickens against infectious bronchitis virus with a multivalent DNA vaccine and boosting with an inactivated vaccine

Fang Yan,Zhong Li,Yongting Hu,Jianyang Qiu,Wenxin Lei,Wenhui Ji,Xuying Li,Qian Wu,Xiumin shi,Yujun Zhao 대한수의학회 2013 Journal of Veterinary Science Vol.14 No.1

The protective efficacy of DNA plasmids encoding avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) S1, N, or M protein was investigated in chickens. Chickens were inoculated monovalently (with plasmid pVAX1-16S1, pVAX1-16M, or pVAX1-16N alone) or multivalently (combination of the three different plasmids, pVAX1-16S1/M/N). A prime-boost immunization protocol against IBV was developed. Chickens were immunized with the multivalent DNA vaccine twice and then boosted with an inactivated vaccine once. Antibody titers of the chickens immunized with pVAX1-16S1/M/N were much higher than those of the monovalent groups (p < 0.01). A protective rate up to 90% was observed in the pVAX1-16S1/M/N group. The serum antibody titers in the prime-boost birds were significantly higher than those of the multivalent DNA vaccine group (p < 0.01) but not significantly different compared to the inactivated vaccine group at 49 days of age. Additionally, the prime-boost group also showed the highest level of IBV-specific cellular proliferation compared to the monovalent groups (p < 0.01)but no significant difference was found compared to the multivalent DNA vaccine group, and the prime-boost group completely protected from followed viral challenge.

Electrochemical control of the conversion of cellulose oligosaccharides into glucose

Fang Yang,Qian Zhang,Hong-Xian Fan,Yang Li,Gang Li 한국공업화학회 2014 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.20 No.5

This paper presents a novel method to convert cellulose oligosaccharides to glucose by using constant-potential electrolysis. Firstly experiments were performed to seek the optimum conditions and catalyst dosage to make the catalytic electrode, and it is found that the most active catalytic electrode (g-MnO2/graphite/PTFE) can be made using 5% g-MnO2 as catalysts which is prepared at calcinations temperature of 500 8C and calcinations time of 3 h. Following this, experiments were conducted to find the optimum operation conditions for the maximum glucose yield using the above-developed catalytic electrode. The results show that the maximum glucose yield of 72.4% can be achieved under the following operation conditions: electrolysis potential vs. SEC 1.0 V, pH value of 3 and electrolytic reaction time of 8 h. The cyclic voltammetry performance on MnO2/graphite/PTFE electrode suggests that g-MnO2 acts not only as electrode material but also as a catalyst. The g-MnO2 displays high electrocatalytic activity toward the breakage of b-1,4-glycoside bond of oligosaccharides and gives 100% selectivity to glucose. Crown Copyright