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

Association between social support and mutual-support needs among the rural adults in China: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundIn rural China, there is now a huge gap between the supply and demand for old-age care. To close the gap, developing rural mutual old-age services is extremely important. The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship among social support, mutual support need, and mutual support willingness.MethodsWe conducted an online questionnaire survey using a Chinese Internet research company; 2,102 valid responses were received. The measures comprised the Social Support Rating Scale, the Mutual Support Willingness Questionnaire, and the Mutual Support Needs Scale. We calculated Pearson correlations to explore the association of social support with mutual-support need and mutual-support-need willingness. Multivariate analyses were also conducted using these factors as dependent variables.ResultsThe total score for the mutual support need for the adults in rural areas was 58.0 ± 12.1 and 36.96 ± 6.40 for social support, approximately 86.8% of the participants were willing to participate in mutual support. Furthermore, mutual support needs were positively correlated with subjective support (p < 0.01) and support utilization (p < 0.01), but negatively correlated with willingness to support each other (p < 0.05). The need for mutual support was also associated with age, sex, education level, dissatisfaction with the current economic situation, health status, and so on.ConclusionIt is necessary for government and health care providers to assess the different needs of rural older people and encourage individuals and organizations to provide mutual support for older people, especially to enhance emotional care for older people and improve their use of support. This is of great significance for developing mutual support services in rural China

Peripheral blood CD19 positive B lymphocytes increase after ischemic stroke and correlate with carotid atherosclerosis

IntroductionAtherosclerosis is the primary pathological basis of ischemic stroke, and dyslipidemia is one of its major etiological factors. Acute ischemic stroke patients exhibit imbalances in lymphocyte subpopulations, yet the correlation between these dynamic changes in lymphocyte subpopulations and lipid metabolism disorders, as well as carotid atherosclerosis in stroke patients remains poorly understood.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the demographic data, risk factors of cerebrovascular disease, laboratory examination (lymphocyte subsets, lipid indexes, etc.), clinical features and c;/]-sity from December 2017 to September 2019 and non-stroke patients with dizziness/vertigo during the same period.ResultsThe results showed that peripheral B lymphocyte proportions are elevated in acute ischemic stroke patients compared with those of the control group (13.6 ± 5.3 vs. 11.7 ± 4.4%, p = 0.006). Higher B lymphocyte proportions are associated with concurrent dyslipidemia, increased levels of vascular risk factors including triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), as well as decreased levels of the protective factor high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Elevated B lymphocyte proportions are independently correlated with carotid atherosclerosis in stroke patients.DiscussionWe found CD19 positive B Lymphocytes increase after ischemic stroke and correlate with Carotid Atherosclerosis. Lymphocyte subpopulations should be highlighted in stroke patients

Using Multispectral Imaging to Reveal the Relationship between UV Absorbance and Sulphur Dioxide Concentration

The sulphur dioxide (SO2) concentration can be monitored via its absorbance in the ultraviolet (UV) region. To address the absence of a systematic study on the UV absorbance of varying SO2 concentrations, a multispectral imaging method was implemented in the present study. SO2 concentrations and various environmental conditions were controlled by a purpose-built environmental control system with a light path of 4.2 m. Five narrow-band-pass filters in front of a UV camera were used to implement multispectral imaging. Regression models of the relationship between UV absorbance and SO2 concentration at each wavelength are presented. Their residuals were kept relatively small by adopting Jenks natural breaks analysis, with a maximum standard deviation of 0.086. Temperature and SO2 concentrations were significantly associated with UV absorbance. Furthermore, smoothed look-up tables were developed to explicitly elucidate the correlation between UV absorbance and SO2. These have been represented as heat maps, showcasing an example of library construction using a combination of abundant research data