Rui Yang

The University of Hong Kong | HKU · Faculty of Education

International scholarly relations have been hegemonic in form and Euro-American in content. In academic publishing, inequalities have been widely sustained. This case is even worse in the human and social sciences. Despite a wealth of literature on such a longstanding theme, little research has focused on actual measures to combat the hegemony. Emp...

This study aimed to investigate the differential expression profiles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in peripheral blood lymphocytes between patients with essential hypertension and healthy individuals in Xinjiang Kazakh and to provide insight into the mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension in this ethnic group. From April 2016 to May 2019, 3...

Although the protective effects of naringenin (Nar) on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) have been confirmed, whether it has anti-proliferation and anti-migration effects in high-glucose-induced VSMCs has remained unclear. This study aimed to clarify the potential targets and molecular mechanism of Nar when used to treat high-glucose-induced vas...

Objective To investigate the role of connexin 43 (Cx43) in the autophagy of rat thoracic aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL). Methods The primary VSMCs were identified by immunofluorescence cytochemical staining of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). After ox-LDL treatment, the foam cells were...

Background Oxidized low-density lipoproteins (ox-LDL) may induce foam cell formation from the vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) by inhibiting VSMC autophagy. This process accelerates the formation of atherosclerosis (AS). Connexin 43 (Cx43), which is the most widely distributed connexin in VSMC is associated with autophagy. However, the mechanism...

Cardiomyocyte apoptosis is a crucial factor leading to myocardial dysfunction. Adiponectin (APN) has a cardiomyocyte-protective impact. Studies have shown that the connexin43 (Cx43) and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) signaling pathways play an important role in the heart, but whether APN plays a protective role by regul...

Since the 2000s, China has been fast establishing English-language academic journals to further internationalize research. This article delineates a national scenario of such journals in the humanities and social sciences (HSS) and explores their efforts and predicaments in bringing China’s HSS research to the world. Based on first-hand data collec...

Aims: Adiponectin (APN) is a protein hormone secreted mainly by adipose tissue that exhibits biological functions such as anti-inflammatory, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-apoptotic, hearing-protective and microcirculation-regulating functions. In this study, we explored whether APN could attenuate damage caused by CoCl2-induced hypoxic conditions in...

Objective To investigate the effect of NaHS on the expression of connexin 40 (Cx40) and Cx43 in peripheral blood lymphocytes and the release of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6). Methods Six Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats were selected to collect peripheral blood from the abdominal aorta. Lymphocytes were isolated by density gradient...

Objective To investigate the effects of NO on the expression of connexin 40 (Cx40) on peripheral blood lymphocytes and the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in the supernatant of culture medium. Methods Peripheral blood lymphocytes of Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were isolated from abdominal aorta and cultured in vitro, and then divided into control group, ConA...

Over the past decade or so, Chinese government has been strategically luring back overseas Chinese high-fliers to strengthen science, technology, and higher education. One of the major initiatives is the Thousand Youth Talents Scheme (TYTS) launched in 2011. By 2017, 2980 Thousand Youth Talents Scheme scholars (TYTSs) had been recruited into China’...

Western models of the university have fundamentally shaped Chinese universities over the twentieth century. Since the nineteenth century, bringing together aspects of the Chinese and Western philosophical heritages in higher education has turned out to be an arduous task. The striking differences between the two value systems have led to cultural t...

In 2004, Peking University planned a radical overhaul of its faculty appointment and promotion policies. The reform program went far beyond the sphere of personnel itself and received a strong response not only on campus but throughout the country. The developments have vividly portrayed the difficulties and obstacles in China's new policies for un...

Over the past decades, the internationalization of higher education in China has had considerable achievements, and has contributed to the current transformation of the Chinese system into one of the largest and arguably most promising ones in the world. Setting the Chinese experience in an international context, this article assesses the latest de...

China’s urban–rural disparities are a fundamental source of China’s overall educational inequalities. This article addresses the issue with data collected through interviews with members at various Chinese higher education institutions. It interrogates China’s current policies together with the socio-political institutional arrangements that underl...

Modern universities are uniquely European in origin and characteristics. With the diffusion of the European model into the university throughout the world, the heritage of colonialism and the fact that contemporary universities are Western institutions without much linkage to their indigenous intellectual traditions are the fundamental reasons for...

Since the late 1980s, there has been a resurgence of regionalism in world politics. Prospects for new alliances are opened up often on a regional basis. In East and Southeast Asia, regionalization is becoming evident in higher education, with both awareness and signs of a rising ASEAN+3 higher education community. The quest for regional influence i...

Higher education, an integral part of China’s nation-building project, is a critical element in China’s strategic policy initiative of building national strength through science and education. One way to achieve this goal is to develop a higher education system of international stature. Perhaps more than any other country, through national programs...

Since the late 1980s, there has been a resurgence of regionalism in world politics. Prospects for new alliances are opened up often on a regional basis. In East and Southeast Asia, regionalization is becoming evident in higher education, with both awareness and signs of a rising ASEAN+3 higher education community. The quest for regional influence i...

Higher education , as an integral part of China ’s nation building project, is critically important. China identifies building national strength through science and education as a strategic policy, and one way to achieve this goal is to have a higher education system of international stature. China is heavily investing in improving its best univers...

The central purpose of China's modern higher education has been to combine Chinese and Western elements at all levels including institutional arrangements, research methodologies, educational ideals and cultural spirit, a combination that brings together aspects of Chinese and Western philosophical heritages. This, however, has not been achieved. T...

In a context of intensified globalization, the importance of international governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations as influencers and shapers of the global environment is becoming prominent. Participation in international organizations leads to active incorporation of nation-states with worldwide connotations. In higher educat...

Peking University has been urged to achieve world-class level in the coming decade. The university issued a plan to reform its faculty appointment and promotion systems in 2004. The plan received strong responses and was hotly debated. The debate touched on the fundamental issue: successful adaptation of the European–American education system to Ch...

Introduction The People's Republic of China (PRC) is a unified country with multi-nationalities. Besides the Han nationality, there are 55 other nationalities, with a population of 104.5 million, which accounts for about 8.41% of the total (National Bureau of Statistics, 2001, 28 March). The populations in the ethnic regions are designated official...

Transnational higher education is a rapidly growing phenomenon that is under-researched and often even misunderstood. As the world's most promising market, China has the potential to dwarf all traditional offshore markets. Little research has been done to seriously analyse the fast growth in China. A sound understanding of the Chinese situation fac...

The word policy is commonly used in government documents, academic writings and daily conversations. The simplest definition of policy is “whatever governments choose to do or not to do” (Dye 1992, p.7), which indicates that policy is developed by government and involves both decision-making and non-decision-making. However, more detailed definitio...

Globalisation, as described by Appadurai, is the term for a process characterised by disjunctive flows that can generate acute problems of social well‐being. One potential positive force that encourages an emancipatory politics of globalisation is the role of the imagination in social life. Globalisation requires rethinking the role of the ‘researc...

This study presents an empirical analysis of the ongoing real-life situation of Chinese internationalisation of higher education by employing a wide variety of indicators. It reports the overall results of the authors’ field study in Guangzhou, including comparisons with the practice in some major European, North American, Asia Pacific countries. B...