114 research outputs found
Cross-strait Variations on Two Near-synonymous Loanwords xie2shang1 and tan2pan4: A Corpus-based Comparative Study
This study attempts to investigate cross-strait variations on two typical
synonymous loanwords in Chinese, i.e. xie2shang1 and tan2pan4, drawn on MARVS
theory. Through a comparative analysis, the study found some distributional,
eventual, and contextual similarities and differences across Taiwan and
Mainland Mandarin. Compared with the underused tan2pan4, xie2shang1 is
significantly overused in Taiwan Mandarin and vice versa in Mainland Mandarin.
Additionally, though both words can refer to an inchoative process in Mainland
and Taiwan Mandarin, the starting point for xie2shang1 in Mainland Mandarin is
somewhat blurring compared with the usage in Taiwan Mandarin. Further on, in
Taiwan Mandarin, tan2pan4 can be used in economic and diplomatic contexts,
while xie2shang1 is used almost exclusively in political contexts. In Mainland
Mandarin, however, the two words can be used in a hybrid manner within
political contexts; moreover, tan2pan4 is prominently used in diplomatic
contexts with less reference to economic activities, while xie2sahng1 can be
found in both political and legal contexts, emphasizing a role of mediation.Comment: To appear in PACLIC 2022. 10 pages, 5 figures, 5 table
BOOK REVIEW: ENGLISH L2 READING: GETTING TO THE BOTTOM (4TH EDITION)
Research in L2 reading, especially the incorporation of insights from reading processing into reading instruction, has gained a standing attention in ELT and recent second language acquisition research has highlighted a complex and dynamic trajectory of reading efficacy development. English L2 Reading: Getting to the Bottom, now in its fourth edition, has timely responded to the psycholinguistic turn in reading studies over decades. With purposefully modified and updated sections on metalinguistic awareness in terms of pedagogical value, the latest edition provides a focused overview of central issues in understanding L2 English reading processors with practical considerations on their direct relevance to pedagogical interventions. This book review will firstly present a brief account of each chapter's underlying concerns and then offer critical comments on the latest version's theoretical implications in relation to current trends in L2 instruction research
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Multistage Infrastructure System Design: An Integrated Biofuel Supply Chain against Feedstock Seasonality and Uncertainty
A biofuel supply chain consists of various interdependent components from feedstock resources all the way to energy demand sites. This study focuses on the design of an efficient biofuel supply chain system against seasonal variations and uncertainties of feedstock supply in an integrative manner. By integrating planning and operational decisions in a stochastic programming framework, we aim at finding an effective design strategy for biofuel supply chain that is economically viable and hedges well against a wide range of future uncertainties. A solution algorithm based on scenario decomposition is designed to overcome computational challenges involved in large-scale applications. A California case study is implemented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methods in evaluating the economic potential, the infrastructure needs, and the risk of wastes-based bioethanol production
Sociodemographic factors and social media use in 9-year-old children:the Generation R Study
Abstract Background We aimed to investigate the associations between sociodemographic factors and instant messaging and social network site exposure among 9-year-old children. Methods Data of 4568 children from the Generation R study, a population-based cohort study performed in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, were analyzed. Instant messaging exposure was defined as using online chat applications such as MSN, chat boxes, WhatsApp, and Ping. Social network site exposure was defined as using Hyves or Facebook. A series of multiple logistic regression analyses were performed, adjusting for covariates. Results Children of low educated mothers had a higher odds ratio (OR) for instant messaging (OR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.86) and social network site exposure (OR: 1.73, 95% CI: 1.13, 2.66) than their counterparts. Being a child from a single-parent family was associated with instant messaging (OR: 1.48, 95% CI: 1.16, 1.88) and social network site exposure (OR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.78) more often than their counterparts. Children of low educated fathers (OR: 1.48, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.95) or from families with financial difficulties (OR: 1.28, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.59) were associated with a higher OR of social network site exposure than their counterparts. Conclusion The findings suggest that several indicators of lower social position are associated with higher social network site and instant messaging exposure among 9-year-old children. More research is needed in younger children to understand the determinants and impact of social media use
Social Media Use and Health-Related Quality of Life Among Adolescents:Cross-sectional Study
BACKGROUND: Using social media is a time-consuming activity of children and adolescents. Health authorities have warned that excessive use of social media can negatively affect adolescent social, physical, and psychological health. However, scientific findings regarding associations between time spent on social media and adolescent health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are not consistent. Adolescents typically use multiple social media platforms. Whether the use of multiple social media platforms impacts adolescent health is unclear. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between social media use, including the number of social media platforms used and time spent on social media, and adolescent HRQoL. METHODS: We analyzed the data of 3397 children (mean age 13.5, SD 0.4 years) from the Generation R Study, a population-based cohort study in the Netherlands. Children reported the number of social media platforms used and time spent on social media during weekdays and weekends separately. Children’s HRQoL was self-reported with the EuroQol 5-dimension questionnaire–youth version. Data on social media use and HRQoL were collected from 2015 to 2019. Multiple logistic and linear regressions were applied. RESULTS: In this study, 72.6% (2466/3397) of the children used 3 or more social media platforms, and 37.7% (1234/3276) and 58.3% (1911/3277) of the children used social media at least 2 hours per day during weekdays and weekends, respectively. Children using more social media platforms (7 or more platforms) had a higher odds of reporting having some or a lot of problems on “having pain or discomfort” (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.20 to 1.99) and “feeling worried, sad or unhappy” (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.52 to 2.60) dimensions and reported lower self-rated health (β –3.81, 95% CI –5.54 to –2.09) compared with children who used 0 to 2 social media platforms. Both on weekdays and weekends, children spent more time on social media were more likely to report having some or a lot of problems on “doing usual activities,” “having pain or discomfort,” “feeling worried, sad or unhappy,” and report lower self-rated health (all P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that using more social media platforms and spending more time on social media were significantly related to lower HRQoL. We recommend future research to study the pathway between social media use and HRQoL among adolescents
Change in neighborhood socioeconomic status and childhood weight status and body composition from birth to adolescence
Background: We aim to assess the associations between the change in neighborhood socioeconomic score (SES) between birth and 6 years and childhood weight status and body composition from 6 to 13 years.Methods: Data for 3909 children from the Generation R Study, a prospective population-based cohort in the Netherlands were analyzed. The change in neighborhood SES between birth and 6 years was defined as static-high, static-middle, static-low, upward, and downward mobility. Child body mass index (BMI), overweight and obesity (OWOB), fat mass index (FMI) and lean mass index (LMI) were measured at age 6, 10, and 13 years. The associations were explored using generalized estimating equations. The effect modification by child sex was examined. Results: In total, 19.5% and 18.1% of children were allocated to the upward mobility and downward mobility neighborhood SES group. The associations between the change in neighborhood SES and child weight status and body composition were moderated by child sex (p < 0.05). Compared to girls in the static-high group, girls in the static-low group had relatively higher BMI-SDS (β, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.24, 0.09–0.40) and higher risk of OWOB (RR, 95% CI: 1.98, 1.35–2.91), together with higher FMI-SDS (β, 95% CI: 0.27, 0.14–0.41) and LMI-SDS (β, 95% CI: 0.18, 0.03–0.33). The associations in boys were not significant. Conclusions: An increased BMI and fat mass, and higher risk of OWOB from 6 to 13 years were evident in girls living in a low-SES neighborhood or moving downward from a high- to a low-SES neighborhood. Support for children and families from low-SES neighborhoods is warranted.</p
Povećanje stabilnosti i antioksidacijske aktivnosti antocijana iz ploda duda aciliranjem s jantarnom kiselinom
Research background. Anthocyanins possess valuable health-promoting activities with significant health benefits for humans. However, their instability is a limiting factor for their usage in functional foods and beverages.
Experimental approach. In this work, a new method to enhance the stability of anthocyanins from mulberry fruit through acylation by using succinic acid as a selected acyl donor was explored. The Box-Behnken design of response surface methodology was applied to determine the optimized conditions for the acylation process.
Results and conclusions. The highest acylation conversion rate was 79.04% at anthocyanins to succinic acid mass ratio 1:8.96, acylation duration 3 h and temperature 50 °C. Structural analysis of acylated anthocyanins revealed that succinic acid introduces a C-O-C bond and a hydroxyl group. The thermostability and light stability of mulberry anthocyanins were significantly improved after acylation, and the antioxidant activity expressed as total reducing power and Fe2+-chelating capacity of the acylated anthocyanins was also enhanced.
Novelty and scientific contribution. Succinic acid acylation provides a novel method for stabilizing mulberry anthocyanins, as evidenced by the increased stability and antioxidant ability of anthocyanins, and thus facilitates its use in the food and nutraceutical industries.Pozadina istraživanja. Antocijani imaju pozitivni učinak na ljudsko zdravlje, no njihova im nestabilnost ograničava uporabu u proizvodnji funkcionalne hrane i pića.
Eksperimentalni pristup. U ovom je radu ispitana nova metoda povećanja stabilnosti antocijana iz ploda duda aciliranjem s jantarnom kiselinom kao donorom acilne skupine. Optimalni uvjeti reakcije određeni su pomoću Box-Behnkenovog statističkog plana i metodom odzivnih površina.
Rezultati i zaključci. Najveći postotak konverzije od 79,04 % postignut je pri masenom omjeru antocijana i jantarne kiseline od 1:8,96; trajanju acilacije od 3 h i temperaturi od 50 °C. Analizom strukture aciliranih antocijana utvrđeno je da sadržavaju C-O-C vezu i hidroksilnu skupinu iz jantarne kiseline. Aciliranje je bitno povećalo stabilnost antocijana pri izlaganju povišenim temperaturama i svjetlosti, te njihovu antioksidacijsku aktivnost, izraženu kroz ukupnu reducirajuću snagu i sposobnost keliranja Fe2+ iona.
Novina i znanstveni doprinos. Aciliranje jantarnom kiselinom predstavlja novu metodu stabilizacije antocijana iz duda, što potvrđuje njihova povećana stabilnost i antioksidacijska sposobnost, čime je olakšana njihova primjena u proizvodnji hrane i nutraceutika
CG-fusion CAM: Online segmentation of laser-induced damage on large-aperture optics
Online segmentation of laser-induced damage on large-aperture optics in
high-power laser facilities is challenged by complicated damage morphology,
uneven illumination and stray light interference. Fully supervised semantic
segmentation algorithms have achieved state-of-the-art performance, but rely on
plenty of pixel-level labels, which are time-consuming and labor-consuming to
produce. LayerCAM, an advanced weakly supervised semantic segmentation
algorithm, can generate pixel-accurate results using only image-level labels,
but its scattered and partially under-activated class activation regions
degrade segmentation performance. In this paper, we propose a weakly supervised
semantic segmentation method with Continuous Gradient CAM and its nonlinear
multi-scale fusion (CG-fusion CAM). The method redesigns the way of
back-propagating gradients and non-linearly activates the multi-scale fused
heatmaps to generate more fine-grained class activation maps with appropriate
activation degree for different sizes of damage sites. Experiments on our
dataset show that the proposed method can achieve segmentation performance
comparable to that of fully supervised algorithms
Elevated Systemic Neutrophil Count Is Associated with Diabetic Macroalbuminuria among Elderly Chinese
Background. This study investigated an association between systemic absolute neutrophil count (ANC) and albuminuria in elderly Chinese people. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 2265 participants attending a routine medical examination in Minhang District as part of a Platform of Chronic Disease program. Their drug history, waist circumference, height, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, ANC, and urine albumin levels were recorded. This study conformed to the requirements of the STROBE statement. Results. Of the 2265 subjects, 1254 (55.4%) were diabetic and 641 (28.3%) had albuminuria. The mean ANC of patients with diabetes comorbid with macroalbuminuria was significantly higher than that of both the nondiabetic patients and patients with diabetes with lower levels of albuminuria; the latter 2 groups had statistically similar ANC. ANC significantly and positively correlated with levels of urine albumin. Based on multivariate analysis, with each 10 9 /L increase in ANC, the increase in rates of macroalbuminuria was significant but not in rates of albuminuria positivity. Based on areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve, ANC was the strongest factor predicting macroalbuminuria. Conclusions. Elevated ANC was associated with macroalbuminuria in diabetes, indicating that neutrophil-mediated inflammation may be involved in the exacerbation of albuminuria
Short-interval second ejaculation improves sperm quality, blastocyst formation in oligoasthenozoospermic males in ICSI cycles: a time-lapse sibling oocytes study
BackgroundDoes short-interval second ejaculation improve sperm quality, embryo development and clinical outcomes for oligoasthenozoospermia males received intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment?MethodsAll enrolled male patients underwent short-interval secondary ejaculation on the day of oocyte retrieval, and 786 sibling MII oocytes from 67 cycles were equally divided into two groups based on whether the injected spermatozoons originated from the first or second ejaculation. Semen parameters, embryo development efficiency, morphokinetic parameters and clinical outcomes were compared between the two groups to assess the efficiency and clinical value of short-interval second ejaculation in ICSI cycles.ResultsShort-interval second ejaculation significantly improved sperm motility, normal morphological rate, and sperm DNA integrity both before and after sperm swim-up. The high-quality blastocyst rate (24.79% versus 14.67%), available blastocyst rate (57.56% versus 48.44%), and oocyte utilization rate (52.93% versus 45.29%) were significantly higher in the second ejaculation group (P<0.05). The clinical pregnancy rate (59.09% versus 47.37%), implantation rate (42.11% versus 32.35%) and live birth rate (40.91% versus 31.58%) were higher in the second ejaculation group, but the differences were not significant (P>0.05). Time-lapse analysis showed that morphokinetic time points after the 7-cell stage were earlier in the second ejaculation group but without a significant difference (P>0.05), and abnormal embryo cleavage patterns between the two groups were not significantly different (P>0.05).ConclusionsShort-interval second ejaculation significantly improves sperm quality in oligoasthenozoospermic males, and is beneficial for blastocyst formation efficiency in ICSI cycles. This study suggested a non-invasive and simple but effective strategy for improving ICSI treatment outcomes
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