CHINESE EFL UNDERGRADUATES’ ACADEMIC WRITING: RHETORICAL DIFFICULTIES AND SUGGESTIONS

Difficulties encountered by students in L2 academic writing has been a subject of research for several decades. However, to date, there still remains a lack of detailed and in-depth investigation into this area of interest. This qualitative study thoroughly investigated the rhetorical difficulties faced by Chinese EFL undergraduate academic writers, and collected suggestions on how to address these rhetorical issues. To be sufficiently detailed and thorough, this study divided students' difficulties into process- and product-related difficulties, and used triangulated data from supervisors' perspectives, students' perspectives, and supervisors' comments to address research questions. Although there were no strong generalizations derived from data from different perspectives and sources, the findings of this study showed supervisor perceptions of the rhetorical difficulties the students experienced were almost identical. In nature these rhetorical difficulties were culturallyembedded and genre-related issues; and the degree of difficulty experienced by each student varied. In this study, supervisors and students both suggested that, to solve rhetorical difficulties, teacher student communication should be improved. This study provided empirical evidence to contrastive rhetoric theory and socio-cultural theory. It also offered suggestions on how to strengthen future research in this area of inquiry, and how to improve academic writing teaching in L2 educational contexts

Failure Mode and Effect Analysis of Power Transformer Based on Cloud Model of Weight

As the key component of a power system, the power transformer directly impacts the reliability and safety of the system. Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a methodology used to analyze potential failure modes within a system and has been used extensively to examine the power transformer’s performance in various potential failure scenarios. However, the FMEA method has several flaws; for example, the non-differential analysis of evaluation index and the impossibility of evaluating the actual risk among risk priority number (RPN) values that on the surface are equal. The cloud model of weight incorporates the relative importance of index. This paper proposes applying FMEA based on the cloud model of weight to assess a power transformer for risk, and shows that this method can effectively overcome the defects of traditional FMEA assessment methods

Glutathione S-Transferase alpha 4 promotes proliferation and chemoresistance in colorectal cancer cells

Glutathion

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Chinese EFL Teachers’ Written Feedback on Expository Argumentation (EA): a Sociocognitive Perspective

Although teacher written feedback on student writing has become a central topic for second language (L2) writing research, investigations into it have mainly focused on the surface-level errors of student writing. This study, situated in the Chinese EFL context where feedback research is more limited, echoed the general call for more research addressing non-error feedback (e.g., organization and content feedback). It was informed by a sociocognitive view of teacher feedback and SFL (Systemic Functional Linguistics) genre pedagogy and followed Hyland and Hyland’s (2006a) lead to study the feedback-and-interpretation process. Particularly, it investigated • how feedback on expository argumentation (EA feedback) is given and processed, as reflected by the teacher’s/student’s decision-making thought processes, and • the extent to which the feedback-and-interpretation process is helpful for student development. Methodologically, the study adopted a case study approach. This approach was used because it is most suitable for answering the research questions explored in the study, that is, the “how” questions about teachers’/students’ decision-making (Bowles, 2010). As a case study, it focused on three teacher-student pairs/cases (a teacher and three of her students) and lasted one semester. To get the best possible answers to research questions, it quantitatively and qualitatively analysed data obtained from think-alouds, teacher comments on student writing, student notes, and interviews (background interviews, retrospective interviews, ongoing interviews, and final interviews). The study found that the teacher consistently provided EA feedback on supporting evidence, cohesion and coherence, topic statement, topic sentences, conclusion, and overall organization and she usually used the following approaches to deliver EA feedback: problems/strengths identifications, explanations, suggestions, revisions, and a combination thereof. The study also found that the students interpreted (accepted and incorporated) EA feedback in different ways and their interpretation of EA feedback was marked by changes. Furthermore, the study found that the teacher’s/students’ decisions to provide/process EA feedback were formed through the workings of the their “mindbodyworld” (Atkinson, 2014). Generally speaking, the study found that the teacher-student interaction during the feedback process did not always go very well, but it was still helpful for the students’ development as writers and feedback receivers. The study was significant in that it advanced the understanding of teacher feedback by providing a sociocognitive explanation about 1) how the teacher offers feedback, 2) how the student attends to teacher feedback, 3) how the teacher, the student, the feedback itself (as the text-level context), and the context interact with each other during the feedback process, and 4) how student learning and development occur during the feedback process. An advanced understanding of teacher feedback had pertinence not only for the Chinese EFL context, but also for other L2 contexts

CHINESE EFL UNDERGRADUATES’ ACADEMIC WRITING: RHETORICAL DIFFICULTIES AND SUGGESTIONS

Difficulties encountered by students in L2 academic writing has been a subject of research for several decades. However, to date, there still remains a lack of detailed and in-depth investigation into this area of interest. This qualitative study thoroughly investigated the rhetorical difficulties faced by Chinese EFL undergraduate academic writers, and collected suggestions on how to address these rhetorical issues. To be sufficiently detailed and thorough, this study divided students' difficulties into process- and product-related difficulties, and used triangulated data from supervisors' perspectives, students' perspectives, and supervisors' comments to address research questions. Although there were no strong generalizations derived from data from different perspectives and sources, the findings of this study showed supervisor perceptions of the rhetorical difficulties the students experienced were almost identical. In nature these rhetorical difficulties were culturallyembedded and genre-related issues; and the degree of difficulty experienced by each student varied. In this study, supervisors and students both suggested that, to solve rhetorical difficulties, teacher student communication should be improved. This study provided empirical evidence to contrastive rhetoric theory and socio-cultural theory. It also offered suggestions on how to strengthen future research in this area of inquiry, and how to improve academic writing teaching in L2 educational contexts

Optimization of Ring Laser Gyroscope Bias Compensation Algorithm in Variable Temperature Environment

In a high accuracy strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS), the ring laser gyroscope’s (RLG) bias changes and the performance decreases due to factors in the RLG’s self-heating and changes in ambient temperature. Therefore, it is important to study the bias temperature drift characteristics of RLGs in high, low, and variable temperature environments. In this paper, a composite temperature calibration scheme is proposed. The composite temperature model introduces the derivative term and the temperature derivative cross-multiplier on the basis of the static model and sets the overlap regions for the piecewise least squares fitting. The results show that the composite temperature model can compensate the bias trend term well at ambient temperature, improve the fitting accuracy, and smooth the output curve. The compensation method has a small amount of calculations and flexible parameter design. The precision of the laser gyros in one SINS is improved by about 64.9%, 15.7%, and 3.6%, respectively, which has certain engineering application value

Probabilistic Analysis of Life Cycle Cost for Power Transformer

The selection of power transformer is very important to power sector. Most methods are utilized according to the initial cost and don’t consider the synthetical evaluation of economy and technology. Based on previous research, this paper addresses a new practical probabilistic life cycle cost model. Then, in order to demonstrate the practicability of probabilistic life cycle cost for the power transformer, illustrative investment alternatives of actual power transformers are discussed. From the result of the numerical investigation, it may be positively stated that the optimum investment alternative for the power transformer based on the probabilistic life cycle cost model proposed in this study will lead to a more rational, economical and effective procedure compared with the conventional method only considering the initial cost

Acupuncture for functional dyspepsia: Bayesian meta-analysis

Background: Acupuncture stands out as a prominent complementary and alternative medicine therapy employed for functional dyspepsia (FD). We conducted a Bayesian meta-analysis to ascertain both the relative effectiveness and safety of various acupuncture methods in the treatment of functional dyspepsia. Methods: We systematically searched eight electronic databases, spanning from their inception to April 2023. The eligibility criteria included randomized controlled trials investigating acupuncture treatments for FD. Study appraisal was conducted using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Pairwise and network meta-analyses were conducted using RevMan 5.3 and ADDIS V.1.16.6 software. Bayesian network meta-analysis was performed to compare and rank the efficacy of different acupuncture therapies for FD symptoms. Results: This study found that combining different acupuncture methods or using acupuncture in conjunction with Western medicine is more effective in improving symptoms of functional dyspepsia compared to using Western medicine alone. According to the comprehensive analysis results, notably, the combination of Western medicine and acupuncture exhibited superior efficacy in alleviating early satiation and postprandial fullness symptoms. For ameliorating epigastric pain, acupuncture combined with moxibustion proved to be the most effective treatment, while moxibustion emerged as the optimal choice for addressing burning sensations. Warming needle was identified as the preferred method for promoting motilin levels. Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrate that acupuncture, both independently and in conjunction with other modalities, emerged as a secure and effective treatment option for patients with functional dyspepsia