Mixed Methods? Do They Really Work? A Commentary

In this short commentary, I comment on the state and popularity of mixed methods in social sciences in recent decades. While quantitative and qualitative methods are considered complementary, I question the use of mixed methods by scholars without deeper reflections on the epistemological and methodological foundations of these two methods. My contention is that researchers cannot simply combine qualitative and quantitative methods without explicating how they reconcile and negotiate their different foundations. These two methods are not just tools. The act of mixing them without reflections is simply not sufficient. Reconciling and reflecting upon the foundational differences between these two methods would be an essential step

The Relationships between Peer- and Self-Assessment and Teacher Assessment of Young EFL Learners’ Oral Presentations

A uncorrected proof of the manuscript is released here according to Springer author agreement.As the traditional grammar translation approach is being gradually replaced by communicative or task-based approaches, paper-and-pencil tests, commonly used in English classes in Taiwan, do not meet the course goals. Alternative assessment, known for increasing learners’ cognitive and meta-cognitive development as well as empowering students to take ownership of their learning, has been practiced extensively in L1 higher education, but neglected in L2 elementary schools. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate how peer and self-assessment can be implemented to evaluate young EFL learners’ oral presentation and how the students perceive this experience. The study was conducted in two sixth grade classes at a public elementary school in southern Taiwan. After attending a professional development workshop held by the government, a local English teacher practiced peer and self-assessment in her class so as to engage every student in class activities and also to provide an opportunity for them to reflect upon their performance. In the process, the students formed groups of six to discuss and give grades after each individual student’s oral report. Three types of data sources were analyzed. The first was the evaluation rubrics from peer groups, each presenting students, and the teacher. Then, a survey, containing 16 closed-format questions and one open-ended question, was administered to elicit the students’ perceptions of the assessment process. Also, an interview was done with the teacher. The results show that peer and teacher assessment had strong positive correlation, whereas self- and teacher assessment were moderately correlated. The strength of correlation also varied for each evaluation criterion. Though learners responded positively to the assessing experiences in the questionnaires, they expressed concern that some grades assigned by peers were not fair and a few group members dominated the grading process. The findings shed light on benefits of combining peer and self- assessment and suggest training should emphasize self-assessment, evaluation criteria related to content of the presentation, and students’ social skills to work harmoniously in groups. Most of all, students’ traditional way of learning should not be neglected

Infectious Alopecia in a Dog Breeder After Renal Transplantation

Tinea capitis rarely occurs in renal transplant recipients. We report this living-related renal transplant patient receiving cyclosporine-based therapy who initially presented with severe exfoliation of the scalp with yellowish-white scales and marked hair loss. The lesions extended to the frontal area and both cheeks, resulting in several skin ulcers with perifocal erythematous inflammatory changes, and palpable cervical lymph nodes. A biopsy of a skin lesion revealed fungal infection and culture yielded Microsporum canis. The patient mentioned an outbreak of ringworm in her breeding dogs during this period. After adequate treatment of the patient and her infected animals with griseofulvin and disinfection of the environment, her skin lesions resolved dramatically, with regrowth of hair

Upconversion Plasmonic Lasing from an Organolead Trihalide Perovskite Nanocrystal with Low Threshold

The understanding of nonlinear light–matter interactions at the nanoscale has fueled worldwide interest in upconversion emission for imaging, lasing, and sensing. Upconversion lasers with anti-Stokes-type emission with various designs have been reported. However, reducing the volume and lasing threshold of such lasers to the nanoscale level is a fundamental photonics challenge. Here, we demonstrate that the upconversion efficiency can be improved by exploiting single-mode upconversion lasing from a single organo-lead halide perovskite nanocrystal in a resonance-adjustable plasmonic nanocavity. This upconversion plasmonic nanolaser has a very low lasing threshold (10 μJ cm⁻²) and a calculated ultrasmall mode volume (∼0.06 λ³) at 6 K. To provide the unique feature for lasing action, a temporal coherence signature of the upconversion plasmonic nanolasing was determined by measuring the second-order correlation function. The localized-electromagnetic-field confinement can be tailored in titanium nitride resonance-adjustable nanocavities, enhancing the pump-photon absorption and upconverted photon emission rate to achieve lasing. The proof-of-concept results significantly expand the performance of upconversion nanolasers, which are useful in applications such as on-chip, coherent, nonlinear optics, information processing, data storage, and sensing

Using nomogram of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer system for treatment selection in patients with stage C hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract Background The nomogram of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been used for outcome prediction. Patients with BCLC stage C HCC often undergo anti-cancer therapy against current treatment guidelines in real world practice. We aimed to use the nomogram to provide guidance on treatment selection for BCLC stage C patients. Methods A total of 1317 patients with stage C HCC were retrospectively analyzed and divided into four groups by nomogram points. One-to-one matched pairs between patients receiving different treatments were generated by the propensity score with matching model within these groups. Survival analysis was performed by Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank test. Results Patients with higher nomogram points were more often treated with targeted or supportive therapies (p  15, there was no significant difference in survival between patients receiving two different treatment strategies. Conclusions The nomogram of BCLC system is a feasible tool to help stage C HCC patients to select primary anti-cancer treatment in pursuance of better overall survival.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142787/1/12885_2018_Article_4202.pd