An analysis of formal errors in a corpus of l2 English produced by Chinese students

This paper describes the investigation of a small corpus of writing of English for academic purposes produced by L1 speakers of Mandarin. The investigation involved the development of a tagset for the identification of formal errors in the corpus, and the subsequent analysis of these errors with a view to creating remedial grammar materials for Chinese students studying in the medium of English. Some past approaches to error analysis are discussed, the process of developing the tagging system is described, and error types are identified, categorised, quantified, described and (as far as possible) explained

The Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service Ocean State Report

The Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) Ocean State Report (OSR) provides an annual report of the state of the global ocean and European regional seas for policy and decision-makers with the additional aim of increasing general public awareness about the status of, and changes in, the marine environment. The CMEMS OSR draws on expert analysis and provides a 3-D view (through reanalysis systems), a view from above (through remote-sensing data) and a direct view of the interior (through in situ measurements) of the global ocean and the European regional seas. The report is based on the unique CMEMS monitoring capabilities of the blue (hydrography, currents), white (sea ice) and green (e.g. Chlorophyll) marine environment. This first issue of the CMEMS OSR provides guidance on Essential Variables, large-scale changes and specific events related to the physical ocean state over the period 1993–2015. Principal findings of this first CMEMS OSR show a significant increase in global and regional sea levels, thermosteric expansion, ocean heat content, sea surface temperature and Antarctic sea ice extent and conversely a decrease in Arctic sea ice extent during the 1993–2015 period. During the year 2015 exceptionally strong large-scale changes were monitored such as, for example, a strong El Niño Southern Oscillation, a high frequency of extreme storms and sea level events in specific regions in addition to areas of high sea level and harmful algae blooms. At the same time, some areas in the Arctic Ocean experienced exceptionally low sea ice extent and temperatures below average were observed in the North Atlantic Ocean

Mobilise-D insights to estimate real-world walking speed in multiple conditions with a wearable device

This study aimed to validate a wearable device’s walking speed estimation pipeline, considering complexity, speed, and walking bout duration. The goal was to provide recommendations on the use of wearable devices for real-world mobility analysis. Participants with Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Proximal Femoral Fracture, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Congestive Heart Failure, and healthy older adults (n = 97) were monitored in the laboratory and the real-world (2.5 h), using a lower back wearable device. Two walking speed estimation pipelines were validated across 4408/1298 (2.5 h/laboratory) detected walking bouts, compared to 4620/1365 bouts detected by a multi-sensor reference system. In the laboratory, the mean absolute error (MAE) and mean relative error (MRE) for walking speed estimation ranged from 0.06 to 0.12 m/s and − 2.1 to 14.4%, with ICCs (Intraclass correlation coefficients) between good (0.79) and excellent (0.91). Real-world MAE ranged from 0.09 to 0.13, MARE from 1.3 to 22.7%, with ICCs indicating moderate (0.57) to good (0.88) agreement. Lower errors were observed for cohorts without major gait impairments, less complex tasks, and longer walking bouts. The analytical pipelines demonstrated moderate to good accuracy in estimating walking speed. Accuracy depended on confounding factors, emphasizing the need for robust technical validation before clinical application. Trial registration: ISRCTN – 12246987

Parallel and antiparallel A*A-T intramolecular triple helices.

Intramolecular triple helices have been obtained by folding back twice oligonucleotides formed by decamers bound by non-nucleotide linkers: dA10-linker-dA10-linker-dT10 and dA10-linker-dT10-linker-dA10. We have thus prepared two triple helices with forced third strand orientation, respectively antiparallel (apA*A-T) and parallel (pA*A-T) with respect to the adenosine strand of the Watson-Crick duplex. The existence of the triple helices has been shown by FTIR, UV and fluorescence spectroscopies. Similar melting temperatures have been obtained in very different oligomer concentration conditions (micromolar solutions for thermal denaturation classically followed by UV spectroscopy, milimolar solutions in the case of melting monitored by FTIR spectroscopy) showing that the triple helices are intramolecular. The stability of the parallel triplex is found to be slightly lower than that of the antiparallel (deltaT(m) = 6 degrees C). The sugar conformations determined by FTIR are different for both triplexes. Only South-type sugars are found in the antiparallel triplex whereas both South- and North-type sugars are detected in the parallel triplex. In this case, thymidine sugars have a South-type geometry, and the adenosine strand of the Watson-Crick duplex has North-type sugars. For the antiparallel triplex the experimental results and molecular modeling data are consistent with a reverse-Hoogsteen like third-strand base pairing and South-type sugar conformation. An energetically optimized model of the parallel A*A-T triple helix with a non-uniform distribution of sugar conformations is discussed

Knee immobilization reproduces key arthrofibrotic phenotypes in mice

AimsAs has been shown in larger animal models, knee immobilization can lead to arthrofibrotic phenotypes. Our study included 168 C57BL/6J female mice, with 24 serving as controls, and 144 undergoing a knee procedure to induce a contracture without osteoarthritis (OA).MethodsExperimental knees were immobilized for either four weeks (72 mice) or eight weeks (72 mice), followed by a remobilization period of zero weeks (24 mice), two weeks (24 mice), or four weeks (24 mice) after suture removal. Half of the experimental knees also received an intra-articular injury. Biomechanical data were collected to measure passive extension angle (PEA). Histological data measuring area and thickness of posterior and anterior knee capsules were collected from knee sections.ResultsExperimental knees immobilized for four weeks demonstrated mean PEAs of 141°, 72°, and 79° after zero, two, and four weeks of remobilization (n = 6 per group), respectively. Experimental knees demonstrated reduced PEAs after two weeks (p < 0.001) and four weeks (p < 0.0001) of remobilization compared to controls. Following eight weeks of immobilization, experimental knees exhibited mean PEAs of 82°, 73°, and 72° after zero, two, and four weeks of remobilization, respectively. Histological analysis demonstrated no cartilage degeneration. Similar trends in biomechanical and histological properties were observed when intra-articular violation was introduced.ConclusionThis study established a novel mouse model of robust knee contracture without evidence of OA. This was appreciated consistently after eight weeks of immobilization and was irrespective of length of remobilization. As such, this arthrofibrotic model provides opportunities to investigate molecular pathways and therapeutic strategies.Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2023;12(1):58–71