Developing a Rating Scale for Classroom Assessment of the Argumentative Writing of Chinese EFL College Students Majoring in English

The argumentative writing ability of Chinese EFL college students majoring in English is frequently assessed with both formative and summative assessments in the classroom. However, rating scal es used in these assessments fail to provide precise and clear scoring criteria and fail to adequately evaluate the quality of arguments/argumentation. By adopting a theoretically based data driven approach proposed by Knoch (2009) 2009), this study aims to de velop a rating system appropriate for classroom assessment of the argumentative writing ability of Chinese EFL college students majoring in English and toinvestigate its usability by ra ters Chinese EFL writing teachers This study was undertaken in two phases. In phase one, 258 writing scripts were selected from a corpus of argumentative writing of Chinese EFL college students built for thi s study, and were analyzed using discourse analytic measures . The results of the main study were used to create descriptors of the new rating scale. In phase two, 30 writing scripts, representing a wide range of writing proficiency levels, were rated by th ree writing teachers (or raters). Their ratings using the new rating scale were analyzed using inter rater reliability analysis, and follow up questionnaire feedback from the raters was analyzed using content analysis. The new rating scale was shown to be generally adequate to represent the construct of argumentative writing ability, useful for providing detailed feedback for the teaching and assessment of argumentative writing ability in the classroom, and reliable for three of five trait scales mechani cs, fluency and argumentation. The new rating scale was also shown to be not practical, not authentic as a whole and not reliable for the scales of accuracy and coherence, although no exact reason for the unreliability was found. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for assessment of argumentation ability, rating scale development, and score reporting in classroom based assessment in the Chinese EFL context

Novel Strategy to Control Polymorph Nucleation of Gamma Pyrazinamide by Preferred Intermolecular Interactions during Heterogeneous Nucleation

Pyrazinamide is usually nucleated from solution as a dimeric form; it has rarely been reported in the γ form (chain structure) crystallized from solution, especially from aqueous solution. Here, we designed a novel way to obtain the γ form of pyrazinamide from aqueous solution. Specific templates were applied to disturb the intrinsic self-association of pyrazinamide molecules and prevent the formation of the dimer structure. In this paper, the heterosynthon design method was applied in pyrazinamide heterogeneous nucleation, in which sulfonamides were chosen as the templates. In the presence of sulfonamide templates, hydrogen bonds between the carbonyl moiety of the amide group in pyrazinamide molecules and the sulfonamide moiety of sulfonamide template molecules were formed; these preferred intermolecular interactions protected the carbonyl groups of PZA, facilitating assembly of PZA molecules in a chain via N–H···N′ and nucleating as the γ form of PZA. This is the first time that the heterosynthon design method was applied to screen effective templates, which can control and select the desired polymorph in heterogeneous nucleation

Tuning Electrical Properties in Amorphous Zinc Tin Oxide Thin Films for Solution Processed Electronics

Solution processed zinc tin oxide (ZTO) thin film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated by varying the Zn/Sn composition. The addition of Sn to the zinc oxide (ZnO) films resulted in improved electrical characteristics, with devices of Zn_0.7Sn_0.3O composition showing the highest mobility of 7.7 cm²/(V s). An improvement in subthreshold swings was also observed, indicative of a reduction of the interfacial trap densities. Mobility studies at low temperature have been carried out, which indicated that the activation energy was reduced with Sn incorporation. Kelvin probe force microscopy was performed on the films to evaluate work function and correlated to the metal–semiconductor barrier indicating Zn_0.7Sn_0.3O films had the smallest barrier for charge injection. Organic–inorganic hybrid complementary inverters with a maximum gain of 10 were fabricated by integrating ZTO TFTs with poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) transistors

Image1_Periplaneta americana extract alleviates steatohepatitis in a mouse model by modulating HMGB1-mediated inflammatory response.tif

Alcoholic abuse and obesity are the most common lifestyle implications of chronic liver injury, and always act synergistically to increase the risk of mortality. Periplaneta americana has a long history of being applied in medicine, including wound healing, antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral, antifibrotic, and cardiomyocyte-protecting. Ganlong capsule (GLC), a natural prescription drug extracted from Periplaneta americana, has been widely used in HBV-related symptoms. However, the anti-steatohepatitis efficacy and mechanisms of GLC have not yet been characterized. Here, we found the protective effect of GLC on the development of hepatic steatosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation in vivo under alcohol exposure combined with a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet (HFHC). Consistently, GLC exhibited a hepatoprotective property by preventing hepatocytes from oxidative stress injury and lipid accumulation in vitro. In addition, it exerted an anti-inflammation characteristic by reducing macrophage recruitment and decreasing the expression of pro-inflammatory genes in vivo and in vitro. Mechanically, GLC serum, isolated from GLC-treated mice, reduced extracellular high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) of dying hepatocytes; and suppressed subsequent M1 polarization of macrophages in the co-culture system. Furthermore, GLC serum inhibited inflammatory response via suppressing the HMGB1 release and blocking the downstream TLR4/NF-kB pathway. Collectively, GLC alleviates steatohepatitis induced by alcohol consumption and obesity through inhibition of the HMGB1-mediated inflammatory cascade. GLC might be a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of steatohepatitis developed by alcohol abuse and metabolic disorders.</p

Photoredox-Catalyzed Cascade Radical Cyclization of Ester Arylpropiolates with CF₃SO₂Cl To Construct 3‑Trifluoromethyl Coumarin Derivatives

We report a highly efficient method to construct 3-trifluoromethyl coumarins using CF₃SO₂Cl as the trifluoromethyl radical source with ester 3-arylpropiolates. The reaction incorporated a cascade cyclization/dearomatization/ester migration/oxidization/rearomatization process to afford various 3-trifluoromethyl coumarins under visible light irradiation in good to excellent yields

Image4_Periplaneta americana extract alleviates steatohepatitis in a mouse model by modulating HMGB1-mediated inflammatory response.tif

Alcoholic abuse and obesity are the most common lifestyle implications of chronic liver injury, and always act synergistically to increase the risk of mortality. Periplaneta americana has a long history of being applied in medicine, including wound healing, antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral, antifibrotic, and cardiomyocyte-protecting. Ganlong capsule (GLC), a natural prescription drug extracted from Periplaneta americana, has been widely used in HBV-related symptoms. However, the anti-steatohepatitis efficacy and mechanisms of GLC have not yet been characterized. Here, we found the protective effect of GLC on the development of hepatic steatosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation in vivo under alcohol exposure combined with a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet (HFHC). Consistently, GLC exhibited a hepatoprotective property by preventing hepatocytes from oxidative stress injury and lipid accumulation in vitro. In addition, it exerted an anti-inflammation characteristic by reducing macrophage recruitment and decreasing the expression of pro-inflammatory genes in vivo and in vitro. Mechanically, GLC serum, isolated from GLC-treated mice, reduced extracellular high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) of dying hepatocytes; and suppressed subsequent M1 polarization of macrophages in the co-culture system. Furthermore, GLC serum inhibited inflammatory response via suppressing the HMGB1 release and blocking the downstream TLR4/NF-kB pathway. Collectively, GLC alleviates steatohepatitis induced by alcohol consumption and obesity through inhibition of the HMGB1-mediated inflammatory cascade. GLC might be a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of steatohepatitis developed by alcohol abuse and metabolic disorders.</p

Photoredox-Catalyzed Cascade Radical Cyclization of Ester Arylpropiolates with CF₃SO₂Cl To Construct 3‑Trifluoromethyl Coumarin Derivatives

We report a highly efficient method to construct 3-trifluoromethyl coumarins using CF₃SO₂Cl as the trifluoromethyl radical source with ester 3-arylpropiolates. The reaction incorporated a cascade cyclization/dearomatization/ester migration/oxidization/rearomatization process to afford various 3-trifluoromethyl coumarins under visible light irradiation in good to excellent yields

Image3_Periplaneta americana extract alleviates steatohepatitis in a mouse model by modulating HMGB1-mediated inflammatory response.tif

Alcoholic abuse and obesity are the most common lifestyle implications of chronic liver injury, and always act synergistically to increase the risk of mortality. Periplaneta americana has a long history of being applied in medicine, including wound healing, antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral, antifibrotic, and cardiomyocyte-protecting. Ganlong capsule (GLC), a natural prescription drug extracted from Periplaneta americana, has been widely used in HBV-related symptoms. However, the anti-steatohepatitis efficacy and mechanisms of GLC have not yet been characterized. Here, we found the protective effect of GLC on the development of hepatic steatosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation in vivo under alcohol exposure combined with a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet (HFHC). Consistently, GLC exhibited a hepatoprotective property by preventing hepatocytes from oxidative stress injury and lipid accumulation in vitro. In addition, it exerted an anti-inflammation characteristic by reducing macrophage recruitment and decreasing the expression of pro-inflammatory genes in vivo and in vitro. Mechanically, GLC serum, isolated from GLC-treated mice, reduced extracellular high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) of dying hepatocytes; and suppressed subsequent M1 polarization of macrophages in the co-culture system. Furthermore, GLC serum inhibited inflammatory response via suppressing the HMGB1 release and blocking the downstream TLR4/NF-kB pathway. Collectively, GLC alleviates steatohepatitis induced by alcohol consumption and obesity through inhibition of the HMGB1-mediated inflammatory cascade. GLC might be a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of steatohepatitis developed by alcohol abuse and metabolic disorders.</p

Photoredox-Catalyzed Cascade Radical Cyclization of Ester Arylpropiolates with CF₃SO₂Cl To Construct 3‑Trifluoromethyl Coumarin Derivatives

We report a highly efficient method to construct 3-trifluoromethyl coumarins using CF₃SO₂Cl as the trifluoromethyl radical source with ester 3-arylpropiolates. The reaction incorporated a cascade cyclization/dearomatization/ester migration/oxidization/rearomatization process to afford various 3-trifluoromethyl coumarins under visible light irradiation in good to excellent yields

Image5_Periplaneta americana extract alleviates steatohepatitis in a mouse model by modulating HMGB1-mediated inflammatory response.tif

Alcoholic abuse and obesity are the most common lifestyle implications of chronic liver injury, and always act synergistically to increase the risk of mortality. Periplaneta americana has a long history of being applied in medicine, including wound healing, antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral, antifibrotic, and cardiomyocyte-protecting. Ganlong capsule (GLC), a natural prescription drug extracted from Periplaneta americana, has been widely used in HBV-related symptoms. However, the anti-steatohepatitis efficacy and mechanisms of GLC have not yet been characterized. Here, we found the protective effect of GLC on the development of hepatic steatosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation in vivo under alcohol exposure combined with a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet (HFHC). Consistently, GLC exhibited a hepatoprotective property by preventing hepatocytes from oxidative stress injury and lipid accumulation in vitro. In addition, it exerted an anti-inflammation characteristic by reducing macrophage recruitment and decreasing the expression of pro-inflammatory genes in vivo and in vitro. Mechanically, GLC serum, isolated from GLC-treated mice, reduced extracellular high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) of dying hepatocytes; and suppressed subsequent M1 polarization of macrophages in the co-culture system. Furthermore, GLC serum inhibited inflammatory response via suppressing the HMGB1 release and blocking the downstream TLR4/NF-kB pathway. Collectively, GLC alleviates steatohepatitis induced by alcohol consumption and obesity through inhibition of the HMGB1-mediated inflammatory cascade. GLC might be a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of steatohepatitis developed by alcohol abuse and metabolic disorders.</p