Background/aim: Pressure ulcers are a disastrous health issue in which inflammation is involved. Emodin possesses biological properties in inflammation. Our study investigated functions of emodin in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated HaCaT cells. Methods: LPS was used to induce cell inflammation. MTT and flow cytometry were applied for cell viability and apoptosis assays, respectively. Moreover, apoptotic proteins were detected by western blot. Similarly, inflammatory factors and signalling related proteins were also determined by western blot. Results: Emodin increased cell viability and diminished apoptosis in LPS-treated HaCaT cells. Moreover, cleaved-PARP, cleaved-caspase-3 and cleaved-caspase-9 were all downregulated by emodin. Furthermore, inflammatory factors IL-1b, IL-6, Cox-2 and iNOS were inhibited by emodin in LPS-treated cells. In addition, emodin decreased phosphorylation of p65 and IjBa and the level of PTEN while enhanced phosphorylation of PI3K and AKT. Importantly, emodin increased expression of miR-21 suppressed by LPS and miR-21 downregulation negated the protective functions of emodin. Conclusions: Emodin promoted cell growth presented by increasing viability and blocking apoptosis process with inflammation inhibition. The protective activity of emodin was mediated by miR-21 up-regulation.

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-This article examines multilingual students' collaborative talks in a TESOL graduate seminar. A group of multilingual students discussed an assigned reading on language awareness and teaching methodology. The group discussion was video recorded and analyzed using a micro-ethnographic discourse analysis approach. The study investigated how multilingual students constructed academic knowledge and learning tool in group work. The author argues that knowledge is socially constructed through collaboration and dialogues among students with different linguistic, sociocultural, and educational backgrounds. This study also examined how multilingual students negotiated leadership in collaborative talks. The more experienced student, who is the native English speaker, assumed leadership through active participation. The less experienced students, who are non-native English speakers tried to gain leadership using their native language and cultural knowledge. It suggests that multilingual students, particular non-native English speakers, should actively participate in academic knowledge construction and bring in their linguistic and cultural resources to the classroom.

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