THE EFFECT OF FORMAL SCHEMA ON COLLEGE ENGLISH LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN EFL

Abstract: Listening comprehension used to be thought of as a passive skill, and listeners were called as“tape-recorder” (Anderson Lynch,1988). But in fact it is an active process, in which what the listener wants to get is an adequate understanding of what the speaker said and what the speaker meant. To achieve this purpose, English listeners should utilize contextual clues, background knowledge and depend on many learning strategies. Active listeners will understand what the speakers said with relevant background knowledge and their particular purpose. In recent years, there has been a lot of progress English listening teaching in China, and studies on application of schema theory into listening comprehension have become more and more popular in both pedagogical theory and experiments. Schema is one of major factors that affect people’s listening comprehension. The present study, with second-year non-English majors as subjects, aimed to investigate the effect of formal schema on college English listening comprehension. It was found that when there is a lack of relevant formal schema, there will be a short-circuit of listening comprehension. It is also proved that activation of formal schema improves college students’ listening comprehension. Therefore, it is necessary to improve college students’ language skills and help them build up relevant formal schema as well. Key words: formal schema, listening comprehension, college English PENGARUH SKEMA FORMAL TERHADAP PEMAHAMAN MENYIMAK BAHASA INGGRIS PADA KELAS BAHASA INGGRIS SEBAGAI BAHASA ASING Abstrak: Pemahaman menyimak sebelumnya seringkali dianggap sebagai keterampilan pasif, dan para pendengarnya disebut “alat rekam” (Anderson Lynch, 1988). Tapi, kenyataannya, menyimak adalah proses aktif, dimana apa yang diinginkan pendengar adalah pemahaman yang memadai terhadap apa yang dikatakan oleh penutur dan maksud dari penutur. Untuk mencapai tujuan ini, para penyimak bahasa Inggris harus memanfaatkan petunjuk-petunjuk kontekstual, pengetahuan latar belakang dan bergantung pada berbagai strategi belajar. Para penyimak aktif akan memahami apa yang dikatakan penutur dengan pengetahuan yang relevan dan tujuan khususnya. Akhir-akhir ini, ada banyak kemajuan dalam pengajaran menyimak di Cina, dan kajian-kajian mengenai penerapan teori skema pada pemahaman menyimak telah menjadi semakin populer baik dalam teori maupun eksperimen pedagogik. Skema adalah salah satu faktor utama yang mempengaruhi pemahaman menyimak orang-orang. Kajian ini, dengan mahasiswa non-bahasa Inggris tingkat dua sebagai subyeknya, bertujuan menyelidiki pengaruh dari skema formal terhadap pemahaman menyimak bahasa Inggris di perguruan tinggi. Ditemukan bahwa ketika ada kekurangan akan skema formal yang relevan, akan ada “hubungan arus pendek” dalam pemahaman menyimak. Terbukti juga bahwa aktivasi skema formal meningkatkan pemahaman menyimak para mahasiswa. Karena itu, penting untuk meningkatkan keterampilan-keterampilan bahasa mahasiswa dan juga membantu mereka membangun skema formal yang relevan. Kata kunci: Skema formal, pemahaman menyimak, bahasa Inggris perguruan tingg

Foreground Segmentation in Video Sequences with a Dynamic Background

Segmentation of a moving foreground from video sequences, in the presence of a rapidly changing background, is a difficult problem. In this paper, a novel technique for an effective segmentation of the moving foreground from video sequences with a dynamic background is developed. The segmentation problem is treated as a problem of classifying the foreground and background pixels of a video frame using the color components of the pixels as multiple features of the images. The gray levels of the pixels and the hue and saturation level components in the HSV representation of the pixels of a frame are used to form a scalar-valued feature image. This feature image incorporating multiple features of the pixels is then used to devise a simple classification scheme in the framework of a support vector machine classifier. Unlike some other data classification approaches for foreground segmentation in which a priori knowledge of the shape and size of the moving foreground is essential, in the proposed method, training samples are obtained in an automatic manner. In order to assess the effectiveness of the proposed method, the new scheme is applied to a number of video sequences with a dynamic background and the results are compared with those obtained by using other existing methods. The subjective and objective results show the superiority of the proposed scheme in providing a segmented foreground binary mask that fits more closely with the corresponding ground truth mask than those obtained by the other methods do

An efficient method of cast shadow removal using multiple features

Features of images are often used for cast shadow removal. A technique based on using only a single feature cannot universally distinguish an object pixel from a shadow pixel of a video frame. On the other hand, the use of multiple features increases the computational cost of a shadow removal technique considerably. In this paper, an efficient yet simple method for cast shadow removal from video sequences with static background using multiple features isdeveloped. The basic idea of the proposed technique is that a simultaneous use of a small number of multiple features, if chosen judiciously, can reduce the similarity between object and shadow pixels without an excessive increase in the computational cost. Using the features of gray levels, color composition and gradients of foreground and background pixels, a method is devised to create a complete object mask. First, based on each of the three features, three individual shadow masks are constructed, from which three corresponding object masks are obtained through a simple subtraction operation. The object masks are then merged together to generate a single object mask. Each of the three shadow masks is created so as to cover as many shadow pixels as possible, even if it results in falsely including in them some of the object pixels. As a result, the subsequent object masks may lose some of these pixels. However, the object pixels missed by one of the object masks should be able to be recovered by at least one of the other two, since they are generated based on features complementary to the one used to construct the first one. The final object mask obtained through a logical OR operation of the three individual masks can, therefore, be expected to include most of the object pixels. The proposed method is applied to a number of video sequences. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method provides a mechanism for shadow removal that is superior to some of the recently proposed techniques without imparting an excessive computational cost

LncRNA CERS6-AS1, sponging miR-6838-5p, promotes proliferation and invasion in cervical carcinoma cells by upregulating FOXP2

Cervical cancer (CC) is a common disease in women characterized by high recurrence rate. LncRNA ceramide synthase 6 antisense RNA 1 (CERS6-AS1) has been found to play a crucial role in the progression of breast cancer and pancreatic cancer. Nevertheless, the regulatory role of CERS6-AS1 in CC remains largely unclear. Here, we found that the expression of CERS6- AS1 was upregulated in CC tissues and cell lines compared with adjacent tissues and normal human cervical epithelial cells. CERS6-AS1 overexpression promoted proliferation and invasion, and inhibited apoptosis in CC cells, while silencing of CERS6-AS1 led to the opposite results. CERS6-AS1 was verified as a sponge of miR-6838-5p by RNA pull-down and luciferase reporter gene assays. Functional investigations revealed that CERS6-AS1 knockdown inhibited proliferation and invasion, and promoted apoptosis in CC cells, which was reversed by miR-6838-5p inhibitor. Furthermore, forkhead box P2 (FOXP2) was identified as a target for miR-6838-5p, and overexpression of miR6838-5p decreased the expression level of FOXP2. Besides, CERS6-AS1 was able to sponge miR-6838-5p to accelerate CC cell proliferation and invasion and inhibited cell apoptosis through upregulating FOXP2 expression. In general, CERS6-AS1 was able to regulate CC cell proliferation, invasion and apoptosis by the miR-6838-5p/FOXP2 axis, which suggested that CERS6-AS1 may be a potential target for the treatment of CC

Comparative proteomics of ovaries elucidated the potential targets related to ovine prolificacy

Small Tail Han (STH) sheep, a unique Chinese breed, is recognized for its early maturity, year-round estrus, and prolificacy. However, the molecular mechanism of its high prolificacy has not been fully elucidated. The Proteomics approach is feasible and effective to reveal the proteins involved in the complex physiological processes of any organism. Given this, we performed the protein expression profiling of ovarian tissues during the luteal phase using polytocous STH sheep (litter size ≥2, three consecutive lambings) and monotocous STH sheep (litter size =1, three consecutive lambings) (PL vs. ML), and the follicular phase using polytocous STH sheep (litter size ≥2, three consecutive lambings) and monotocous STH sheep (litter size =1, three consecutive lambings) (PF vs. MF), respectively. Parallel Reaction Monitoring (PRM) was conducted to validate the differentially abundant proteins (DAPs). The tandem mass tag (TMT) quantitative proteomic results showed that a total of 5,237 proteins were identified, of which 49 and 44 showed differential abundance in the PL vs. ML and PF vs. MF groups, respectively. Enrichments analyses indicated that the DAPs including TIA1 cytotoxic granule-associated RNA-binding protein-like 1 (TIAL1), nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), and cellular retinoic acid-binding protein 1 (CRABP1) were enriched at the luteal phase, while TIAL1, inhibin beta-a-subunit (A2ICA4), and W5PG55 were enriched at the follicular phase, potentially mediating reproductive processes in polytocous ewes. Furthermore, six DAPs were verified using PRM, confirming the accuracy of the TMT data acquired in this study. Together, our work expanded the database of indigenous sheep breeds and provided new ovarian candidate molecular targets, which will help in the study of the genetic mechanisms of ovine prolificacy

Expression characteristics of piRNAs in ovine luteal phase and follicular phase ovaries

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), as a novel class of small non-coding RNAs that have been shown to be indispensable in germline integrity and stem cell development. However, the expressed characteristics and regulatory roles of piRNAs during different reproductive phases of animals remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the piRNAs expression profiles in ovaries of sheep during the luteal phase (LP) and follicular phase (FP) using the Solexa sequencing technique. A total of 85,219 and 1,27,156 piRNAs tags were identified in ovine ovaries across the two phases. Most expressed piRNAs start with uracil. piRNAs with a length of 24 nt or 27–29 nts accounted for the largest proportion. The obvious ping-pong signature appeared in the FP ovary. The piRNA clusters in the sheep ovary were unevenly distributed on the chromosomes, with high density on Chr 3 and 1. For genome distribution, piRNAs in sheep ovary were mainly derived from intron, CDS, and repeat sequence regions. Compared to the LP ovary, a greater number of expressed piRNA clusters were detected in the FP ovary. Simultaneously, we identified 271 differentially expressed (DE) piRNAs between LP and FP ovaries, with 96 piRNAs upregulated and 175 piRNAs downregulated, respectively. Functional enrichment analysis (GO and KEGG) indicated that their target genes were enriched in reproduction-related pathways including oocyte meiosis, PI3K-Akt, Wnt, and TGF-β signaling pathways. Together, our results highlighted the sequence and expression characteristics of the piRNAs in the sheep ovary, which will help us understand the roles of piRNAs in the ovine estrus cycle

Clustered Distribution of Natural Product Leads of Drugs in the Chemical Space as Influenced by the Privileged Target-Sites

10.1038/srep09325Scientific Reports

Wide-spectrum optical synthetic aperture imaging via spatial intensity interferometry

High resolution imaging is achieved using increasingly larger apertures and successively shorter wavelengths. Optical aperture synthesis is an important high-resolution imaging technology used in astronomy. Conventional long baseline amplitude interferometry is susceptible to uncontrollable phase fluctuations, and the technical difficulty increases rapidly as the wavelength decreases. The intensity interferometry inspired by HBT experiment is essentially insensitive to phase fluctuations, but suffers from a narrow spectral bandwidth which results in a lack of effective photons. In this study, we propose optical synthetic aperture imaging based on spatial intensity interferometry. This not only realizes diffraction-limited optical aperture synthesis in a single shot, but also enables imaging with a wide spectral bandwidth, which greatly improves the optical energy efficiency of intensity interferometry. And this method is insensitive to the optical path difference between the sub-apertures. Simulations and experiments present optical aperture synthesis diffraction-limited imaging through spatial intensity interferometry in a 100 nm spectral width of visible light, whose maximum optical path difference between the sub-apertures reaches 69λ. This technique is expected to provide a solution for optical aperture synthesis over kilometer-long baselines at optical wavelengths