Vocabulary learning in an automated graded reading program

Adult L2 learners are often encouraged to acquire new words through reading in order to promote language proficiency. Yet preparing suitable reading texts is often a challenge for teachers because the chosen texts must have a high percentage of words familiar to specific groups of learners in order to allow the inference of word meanings from context. With the help of word lists research and advances in quantitative corpus analyses using word frequency computer programs, this study selected sixteen articles from the computer corpus of a local Chinese-English magazine and used them to construct an online English extensive reading program. A preliminary assessment of the reading program was conducted with 38 college students over twelve weeks based upon vocabulary gains from a pretest to a posttest. The results showed that learners improved their vocabulary scores after using the reading program. The online extensive reading syllabus demonstrated that such a design for a reading program is technically feasible and pedagogically beneficial and provides value in both vocabulary gains and learner satisfaction

Machine Learning-based Indoor Positioning Systems Using Multi-Channel Information

The received signal strength indicator (RSSI) is a metric of the power measured by a sensor in a receiver. Many indoor positioning technologies use RSSI to locate objects in indoor environments. Their positioning accuracy is significantly affected by reflection and absorption from walls, and by non-stationary objects such as doors and people. Therefore, it is necessary to increase transceivers in the environment to reduce positioning errors. This paper proposes an indoor positioning technology that uses the machine learning algorithm of channel state information (CSI) combined with fingerprinting. The experimental results showed that the proposed method outperformed traditional RSSI-based localization systems in terms of average positioning accuracy up to 6.13% and 54.79% for random forest (RF) and back propagation neural networks (BPNN), respectively

Machine Learning-based Indoor Positioning Systems Using Multi-Channel Information

The received signal strength indicator (RSSI) is a metric of the power measured by a sensor in a receiver. Many indoor positioning technologies use RSSI to locate objects in indoor environments. Their positioning accuracy is significantly affected by reflection and absorption from walls, and by non-stationary objects such as doors and people. Therefore, it is necessary to increase transceivers in the environment to reduce positioning errors. This paper proposes an indoor positioning technology that uses the machine learning algorithm of channel state information (CSI) combined with fingerprinting. The experimental results showed that the proposed method outperformed traditional RSSI-based localization systems in terms of average positioning accuracy up to 6.13% and 54.79% for random forest (RF) and back propagation neural networks (BPNN), respectively

dbPTM: an information repository of protein post-translational modification

dbPTM is a database that compiles information on protein post-translational modifications (PTMs), such as the catalytic sites, solvent accessibility of amino acid residues, protein secondary and tertiary structures, protein domains and protein variations. The database includes all of the experimentally validated PTM sites from Swiss-Prot, PhosphoELM and O-GLYCBASE. Only a small fraction of Swiss-Prot proteins are annotated with experimentally verified PTM. Although the Swiss-Prot provides rich information about the PTM, other structural properties and functional information of proteins are also essential for elucidating protein mechanisms. The dbPTM systematically identifies three major types of protein PTM (phosphorylation, glycosylation and sulfation) sites against Swiss-Prot proteins by refining our previously developed prediction tool, KinasePhos (). Solvent accessibility and secondary structure of residues are also computationally predicted and are mapped to the PTM sites. The resource is now freely available at

Use of Fomepizole in Pediatric Methanol Exposure: The First Case Report in Taiwan and a Literature Review

Methanol poisoning is rare in the pediatric population, but a delay in diagnosis and intervention may cause severe morbidity and mortality. The current therapy for methanol poisoning is ethanol or fomepizole, which acts as a competitive inhibitor of hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase to inhibit the production of toxic metabolites derived from the oxidation of methanol. However, clinical experience in pediatric methanol poisoning is limited, and the safety profiles of the antidotes have not been established in children, especially in Asian populations. This is the first case to describe the use of fomepizole in a child with methanol exposure in Taiwan

A huge traumatic pulmonary pseudocyst

AbstractTraumatic pulmonary pseudocyst (TPP) is a rare complication following blunt trauma. We report a 26-year-old male patient who presented to the emergency room with internal bleeding and shock. Huge TPP (14 cm in diameter) was seen on whole-body computed tomography scan and complicated with bronchial bleeding. He deteriorated to respiratory failure soon after arriving at the emergency room. TPPs imply high-energy impact on the chest region and frequently complicated with pulmonary contusions, hemo- and pneumo-thorax, multiple rib fractures, flail chest, and concurrent with abdominal injuries. Emergency physicians should be aware of such rare entity and manage correctly

The Arabidopsis Malectin-Like/LRR-RLK IOS1 is Critical for BAK1-Dependent and BAK1-Independent Pattern-Triggered Immunity

Plasma membrane-localized pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) such as FLAGELLIN SENSING2 (FLS2), EF-TU RECEPTOR (EFR) and CHITIN ELICITOR RECEPTOR KINASE 1 (CERK1) recognize microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) to activate pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). A reverse genetics approach on genes responsive to the priming agent beta-aminobutyric acid (BABA) revealed IMPAIRED OOMYCETE SUSCEPTIBILITY1 (IOS1) as a critical PTI player. Arabidopsis thaliana ios1 mutants were hyper-susceptible to Pseudomonas syringae bacteria. Accordingly, ios1 mutants showed defective PTI responses, notably delayed up-regulation of the PTI-marker gene FLG22-INDUCED RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE1 (FRK1), reduced callose deposition and mitogen-activated protein kinase activation upon MAMP treatment. Moreover, Arabidopsis lines over-expressing IOS1 were more resistant to bacteria and showed a primed PTI response. In vitro pull-down, bimolecular fluorescence complementation, co-immunoprecipitation, and mass spectrometry analyses supported the existence of complexes between the membrane-localized IOS1 and BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE1-ASSOCIATED KINASE1 (BAK1)-dependent PRRs FLS2 and EFR, as well as with the BAK1-independent PRR CERK1. IOS1 also associated with BAK1 in a ligand-independent manner, and positively regulated FLS2-BAK1 complex formation upon MAMP treatment. In addition, IOS1 was critical for chitin-mediated PTI. Finally, ios1 mutants were defective in BABA-induced resistance and priming. This work reveals IOS1 as a novel regulatory protein of FLS2-, EFR- and CERK1-mediated signaling pathways that primes PTI activation

S-Petasin, the Main Sesquiterpene of Petasites formosanus, Inhibits Phosphodiesterase Activity and Suppresses Ovalbumin-Induced Airway Hyperresponsiveness

S-Petasin is the main sesquiterpene of Petasites formosanus, a traditional folk medicine used to treat hypertension, tumors and asthma in Taiwan. The aim of the present study was to investigate its inhibitory effects on phosphodiesterase (PDE) 1–5, and on ovalbumin (OVA)-induced airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in a murine model of allergic asthma. S-Petasin concentration-dependently inhibited PDE3 and PDE4 activities with 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of 25.5, and 17.5 μM, respectively. According to the Lineweaver-Burk analysis, S-petasin competitively inhibited PDE3 and PDE4 activities with respective dissociation constants for inhibitor binding (Ki) of 25.3 and 18.1 μM, respectively. Both IC50 and Ki values for PDE3 were significantly greater than those for PDE4. S-Petasin (10–30 μmol/kg, administered subcutaneously (s.c.)) dose-dependently and significantly attenuated the enhanced pause (Penh) value induced by methacholine (MCh) in sensitized and challenged mice. It also significantly suppressed the increases in total inflammatory cells, lymphocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils and levels of cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4 and IL-5, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interferon (IFN)-γ in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of these mice. In addition, S-petasin (10–30 μmol/kg, s.c.) dose-dependently and significantly attenuated total and OVA-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels in the serum and BALF, and enhanced the IgG2a level in serum of these mice. The PDE4H value of S-petasin was >300 μM; therefore, its PDE4H/PDE4L value was calculated to be >17. In conclusion, the present results for S-petasin at least partially explain why Petasites formosanus is used as a folk medicine to treat asthma in Taiwan

Understanding the Impact of Service Failure and Recovery Justice on Consumers’ Satisfaction and Repurchase Intention

This research attempts to explore the impacts of different types of justice and their interactions on the satisfaction toward service failure recovery. We attempt to classify justices into hygiene, motivator, or asymmetric variable, based on the concept of asymmetric effect and two factors theory proposed by Herzberg. Specifically, we predict that procedural and distributive justices are hygiene or performance factor and interpersonal justice is motivator. In addition, based on expectancy-disconfirmation theory (EDT), we also attempt to understand the interaction between paired justices by arguing that motivator can generate more effect when hygiene factor or performance factors meet initial expectation. An experiment, with 3x2x2 between-subjects factorial design consisting of three factors to represent different levels of justice provided by online retailer, will be conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. A two-step approach will be used to (1) confirmation the types (hygiene, performance, or motivator) that each justice dimension belongs to, (2) understand the impact of each justice on satisfaction, and (3) test whether motivator will generate more effect when hygiene and performance factor are satisfied