Exploring Chinese EFL teachers\u27 knowledge and beliefs relating to the teaching of English reading in public primary schools in China

© 2019 The Authors. Dyslexia published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd The present study explored knowledge and beliefs about reading instruction of Chinese teachers teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile and the Survey of Basic Language Constructs Related to Literacy Acquisition were administered to 262 EFL teachers in the south-eastern part of China. Additionally, three teachers were interviewed, and their instructional practices were observed. The results showed that there was no correlation between teachers\u27 self-efficacy beliefs and the performance on the knowledge of basic language construct survey. However, it was found that teachers\u27 knowledge, beliefs, and instructional practices were mediated by the Chinese EFL contextual factors. Educational and practical implications are discussed

The mediating effect of body mass index on the relationship between cigarette smoking and atopic sensitization in Chinese adults

Background: It is unclear whether the relationship between cigarette smoking and atopy is mediated by body fat mass, such as the Body Mass Index (BMI). We assessed the mediating role of BMI on the relationship between smoking and atopy in Chinese adults. Methods: A hospital-based case-control study of 786 atopic cases and 2771 controls was conducted in adults aged 18 years or older from March 2010 to September 2014 in Harbin, China. Mediation models were used to estimate the indirect effects of smoking on atopic sensitization through BMI. Results: Compared to non-smokers, light smokers and moderate smokers had a lower risk of inhalant allergen sensitization. The indirect effect of smoking and sensitization to aeroallergens were only observed in light smokers (point estimate, -0.026; 95% CI, -0.062 to -0.004). The mediating roles of BMI on the relationships between smoking and other types of allergic sensitization were not statistically significant. Conclusion: BMI appeared to partially mediate the effect of light smoking on sensitization to aeroallergens. However, considering the other harmful health effects of cigarette smoking, the effective method to lower the incidence of atopy would be to decrease body fat mass by physical exercise and employing other more healthy ways of living rather than smoking

ChatKBQA: A Generate-then-Retrieve Framework for Knowledge Base Question Answering with Fine-tuned Large Language Models

Knowledge Base Question Answering (KBQA) aims to derive answers to natural language questions over large-scale knowledge bases (KBs), which are generally divided into two research components: knowledge retrieval and semantic parsing. However, three core challenges remain, including inefficient knowledge retrieval, retrieval errors adversely affecting semantic parsing, and the complexity of previous KBQA methods. In the era of large language models (LLMs), we introduce ChatKBQA, a novel generate-then-retrieve KBQA framework built on fine-tuning open-source LLMs such as Llama-2, ChatGLM2 and Baichuan2. ChatKBQA proposes generating the logical form with fine-tuned LLMs first, then retrieving and replacing entities and relations through an unsupervised retrieval method, which improves both generation and retrieval more straightforwardly. Experimental results reveal that ChatKBQA achieves new state-of-the-art performance on standard KBQA datasets, WebQSP, and ComplexWebQuestions (CWQ). This work also provides a new paradigm for combining LLMs with knowledge graphs (KGs) for interpretable and knowledge-required question answering. Our code is publicly available.Comment: Preprin

Text2NKG: Fine-Grained N-ary Relation Extraction for N-ary relational Knowledge Graph Construction

Beyond traditional binary relational facts, n-ary relational knowledge graphs (NKGs) are comprised of n-ary relational facts containing more than two entities, which are closer to real-world facts with broader applications. However, the construction of NKGs still significantly relies on manual labor, and n-ary relation extraction still remains at a course-grained level, which is always in a single schema and fixed arity of entities. To address these restrictions, we propose Text2NKG, a novel fine-grained n-ary relation extraction framework for n-ary relational knowledge graph construction. We introduce a span-tuple classification approach with hetero-ordered merging to accomplish fine-grained n-ary relation extraction in different arity. Furthermore, Text2NKG supports four typical NKG schemas: hyper-relational schema, event-based schema, role-based schema, and hypergraph-based schema, with high flexibility and practicality. Experimental results demonstrate that Text2NKG outperforms the previous state-of-the-art model by nearly 20\% points in the $F_1$ scores on the fine-grained n-ary relation extraction benchmark in the hyper-relational schema. Our code and datasets are publicly available.Comment: Preprin

The Apostasia genome and the evolution of orchids

Constituting approximately 10% of flowering plant species, orchids (Orchidaceae) display unique flower morphologies, possess an extraordinary diversity in lifestyle, and have successfully colonized almost every habitat on Earth(1-3). Here we report the draft genome sequence of Apostasia shenzhenica(4), a representative of one of two genera that form a sister lineage to the rest of the Orchidaceae, providing a reference for inferring the genome content and structure of the most recent common ancestor of all extant orchids and improving our understanding of their origins and evolution. In addition, we present transcriptome data for representatives of Vanilloideae, Cypripedioideae and Orchidoideae, and novel third-generation genome data for two species of Epidendroideae, covering all five orchid subfamilies. A. shenzhenica shows clear evidence of a whole-genome duplication, which is shared by all orchids and occurred shortly before their divergence. Comparisons between A. shenzhenica and other orchids and angiosperms also permitted the reconstruction of an ancestral orchid gene toolkit. We identify new gene families, gene family expansions and contractions, and changes within MADS-box gene classes, which control a diverse suite of developmental processes, during orchid evolution. This study sheds new light on the genetic mechanisms underpinning key orchid innovations, including the development of the labellum and gynostemium, pollinia, and seeds without endosperm, as well as the evolution of epiphytism; reveals relationships between the Orchidaceae subfamilies; and helps clarify the evolutionary history of orchids within the angiosperms

Changes of Adult Population Health Status in China from 2003 to 2008

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the change in health status of China’s adult population between the years of 2003 and 2008 due to rapid economic growth and medical system improvement. Methods: Data from the third and fourth Chinese national health services surveys covering 141,927 residents in 2003 and 136,371 residents in 2008 who were aged.18 years were analyzed. Results: Chinese respondents in 2008 were more likely to report disease than in 2003. Smoking slightly decreased among men and women, and regular exercise showed much improvement. Stratified analyses revealed significant subpopulation disparities in rate ratios for 2008/2003 in the presence of chronic disease, with greater increases among women, elderly, the Han nationality, unmarried and widow, illiterate, rural, and regions east of China than other groups. Conclusions: Chinese adults in 2008 had worse health status than in 2003 in terms of presence of chronic disease. China’s reform of health care will face more complex challenges in coming years from the deteriorating health status in Chinese adults

The genome sequence of the orchid Phalaenopsis equestris

Orchidaceae, renowned for its spectacular flowers and other reproductive and ecological adaptations, is one of the most diverse plant families. Here we present the genome sequence of the tropical epiphytic orchid Phalaenopsis equestris, a frequently used parent species for orchid breeding. P. equestris is the first plant with crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) for which the genome has been sequenced. Our assembled genome contains 29,431 predicted protein-coding genes. We find that contigs likely to be underassembled, owing to heterozygosity, are enriched for genes that might be involved in self-incompatibility pathways. We find evidence for an orchid-specific paleopolyploidy event that preceded the radiation of most orchid clades, and our results suggest that gene duplication might have contributed to the evolution of CAM photosynthesis in P. equestris. Finally, we find expanded and diversified families of MADS-box C/D-class, B-class AP3 and AGL6-class genes, which might contribute to the highly specialized morphology of orchid flowers. (Résumé d'auteur

Exploring Chinese English-as-a-foreign-language teachers’ beliefs about effective teaching of English reading in primary schools in Zhejiang Province of China and the impact of these beliefs on the teachers’ instructional practices

The English curriculum standards in China have shifted towards cultivating core competencies in students’ English language to incorporate a more constructivist approach than was used previously. This has posed challenges for Chinese English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers because it is necessary for them to hold the requisite knowledge and skills themselves before they can cultivate students’ core competencies. English reading plays an important role in facilitating students’ acquisition of these core competencies. Thus, there is a need to ensure that Chinese EFL teachers have the knowledge and skills to align with the curriculum changes and evidence based teaching practices that support reading development. A wealth of literature has documented that teachers’ knowledge and beliefs influence their instructional practices. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore Chinese primary school EFL teachers’ knowledge and beliefs concerning effective teaching of English reading in the Chinese context, and how these relate to their instructional practices. The methodology of this research focused on a constructivist epistemology with interpretivism as the theoretical perspective. A case study design was selected, using a mixed methods approach, with case study teachers drawn from 262 survey participants who were teaching English in public primary schools in Zhejiang Province, China. Three teachers from two schools located in the suburban areas of Zhejiang volunteered to participate in the qualitative phase of the research. The survey results provided broad contextual information for the case studies; the interviews, classroom observations and document analysis revealed the case study teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and instructional practices. The findings from this research indicated a preference for a skills perspective in English reading instruction by the majority of the survey participants, including the case study teachers. The case study teachers identified pedagogy, teaching materials, a supportive environment, motivation and the status of English as a school subject as key components in effective English reading instruction, but did not perceive their own knowledge and beliefs as influential on their practices. This research identified a number of effective instructional practices highlighting teacher led-activities, including the use of explicit instruction with frequent modelling and scaffolding, first language with multiple purposes, strategies to motivate students to learn, and integration of contemporary technology in reading instruction. In particular, teacher-led explicit instruction was among the repertoire of pedagogical content knowledge held by the case study teachers. However, the findings from this research also indicated that knowledge of the basic language constructs related to literacy acquisition was generally insufficient among all participating teachers, thereby hindering the case study teachers’ use of metalanguage as a tool for instruction. Overall, the case study teachers’ reading instruction tended to converge with their beliefs, but there were also a considerable number of inconsistencies in their knowledge, beliefs, instruction and evidence-based teaching practices. It was found that the dynamic interplay and mutual influence between teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and teaching practices was mediated by the EFL context, including curriculum mandates, school context and teacher education. This research calls for teachers to examine and reflect on their knowledge and beliefs in daily teaching practices, continue to value what succeeds from the traditional Confucian teaching approach, and simultaneously incorporate current evidence-based teaching practices—for example, highlighting teachers’ essential role in using explicit instruction of key components of English reading and improving teacher knowledge. It is recommended that policy development, practices of EFL reading instruction, and preservice and in-service EFL teacher development programs in China consider incorporating teachers’ knowledge and beliefs to improve the effectiveness of English language pedagogy

A Probe into Cultivation Path of Students’ Ability in Innovative Digital Technology Design Based on Design Thinking

Having risen to the height of the future development of the country, the cultivation of innovative digital technology design talents has become the general trend of the development of the education industry of the world. How to cultivate students’ innovative ability is a huge challenge for the current education circle. Design thinking is a creative problem-solving thinking model and methodology separated from design. The Paper started with the essence of design thinking. The application and practice of all institutions on the innovation process of design thinking were analyzed, and its modes and ideas in the fields of industry, commerce, and design were combined. The innovative curriculum design was carried out based on the five foundations of the design thinking model of Stanford University, and the operability of teaching links, the iterative cycle of the process, and the effectiveness of students’ hands-on actions were emphasized. In the Paper, effective operation guidance for the cultivation of students’ innovation ability was provided. Besides, a cyclic and iterative co-creation ecosystem in colleges and universities can be built to link the integration of industry and education with digital technology design innovation. In the Paper, the “three innovations” (creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship) were focused to explore a new path to cultivate students’ ability in innovative digital technology design, which is of great significance to the cultivation of innovative talents in digital technology design, the reform of teaching forms, and teaching contents