Analysis of EFL Learners’ Writing Process in China: Comparison Between English Major and Non-English Major Learners

EFL learners’ writing is one of the most concerned fields in language teaching and learning. This study approached English major learners and Non-English major learners’ writing process with the help of Inputlog and Range program. The obtained data were processed in SPSS 21 and subsequently analyzed from the following three aspects: time allotment, words produced in the process and production, and ratio and proportion. Results reveal that EFL English major learners are significantly more competent in writing than Non-English major, but their pause and revision pattern differ radically. From the results, some pedagogical implications are proposed for teaching writing and future researches

Influence of Flipped Classroom on Learner's Empowerment -A study based on English Writing Courses in China

Flipped classroom has been claimed as an effective solution to many problems existing in traditional teaching like increasing engagement and triggering positive learning attitude. However, the influence of flipped classroom on student learner's empowerment remains unidentified, though empowerment is believed to be a significant indicator of active learning. This study aimed to probe into the relationship between flipped classroom and student perception of empowerment in English writing courses in China. After one semester's experiment, the data analysis revealed that there is significant difference between experiment class and control class over empowerment. It can be tentatively concluded that flipped classroom can promote more learner perception of empowerment than traditional classroom. Keywords: Flipped classroom; Learner empowerment; English writin

Analysis of EFL Learners’ Writing Process in China: Comparison Between English Major and Non-English Major Learners

EFL learners’ writing is one of the most concerned fields in language teaching and learning. This study approached English major learners and Non-English major learners’ writing process with the help of Inputlog and Range program. The obtained data were processed in SPSS 21 and subsequently analyzed from the following three aspects: time allotment, words produced in the process and production, and ratio and proportion. Results reveal that EFL English major learners are significantly more competent in writing than Non-English major, but their pause and revision pattern differ radically. From the results, some pedagogical implications are proposed for teaching writing and future researches

Noisy Node Classification by Bi-level Optimization based Multi-teacher Distillation

Previous graph neural networks (GNNs) usually assume that the graph data is with clean labels for representation learning, but it is not true in real applications. In this paper, we propose a new multi-teacher distillation method based on bi-level optimization (namely BO-NNC), to conduct noisy node classification on the graph data. Specifically, we first employ multiple self-supervised learning methods to train diverse teacher models, and then aggregate their predictions through a teacher weight matrix. Furthermore, we design a new bi-level optimization strategy to dynamically adjust the teacher weight matrix based on the training progress of the student model. Finally, we design a label improvement module to improve the label quality. Extensive experimental results on real datasets show that our method achieves the best results compared to state-of-the-art methods

PARTNER: Level up the Polar Representation for LiDAR 3D Object Detection

Recently, polar-based representation has shown promising properties in perceptual tasks. In addition to Cartesian-based approaches, which separate point clouds unevenly, representing point clouds as polar grids has been recognized as an alternative due to (1) its advantage in robust performance under different resolutions and (2) its superiority in streaming-based approaches. However, state-of-the-art polar-based detection methods inevitably suffer from the feature distortion problem because of the non-uniform division of polar representation, resulting in a non-negligible performance gap compared to Cartesian-based approaches. To tackle this issue, we present PARTNER, a novel 3D object detector in the polar coordinate. PARTNER alleviates the dilemma of feature distortion with global representation re-alignment and facilitates the regression by introducing instance-level geometric information into the detection head. Extensive experiments show overwhelming advantages in streaming-based detection and different resolutions. Furthermore, our method outperforms the previous polar-based works with remarkable margins of 3.68% and 9.15% on Waymo and ONCE validation set, thus achieving competitive results over the state-of-the-art methods.Comment: ICCV 202

Environmental contamination characteristics of heavy metals from abandoned lead–zinc mine tailings in China

China holds large-scale lead–zinc mineral resources; however, mining activities often cause severe contamination by heavy metals. This study systemically assessed contamination by eight heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Cr, Hg, Ni, and As) in mine tailings, soil, and groundwater from 27 contaminated sites across China. Regarding mine tailings, 1% of the mine tailing samples were hazardous waste and 20% were class II non-hazardous waste. Regarding soil, Zn and Pb showed the highest mean concentrations, at 5574.67 mg/kg and 2034.88 mg/kg, respectively. The indexes of geo-accumulation (Igeo) of eight heavy metals ranged from −3.62 to 7.67, while Zn, Pb, and Cd showed the highest environmental risk levels as the priority pollutants. The contamination levels of these heavy metals in groundwater were generally in the order of Zn>As>Pb>Ni>Cd>Cu>Hg>Cr. In this study, 20% of the soil and 10% of the groundwater samples exceeded the corresponding quality limits. The content of heavy metals in soil, groundwater, and mine tailing were positively correlated, demonstrating the main pollution source and transport paths. The pollution levels of heavy metals in soil and groundwater were listed in the foremost and moderate positions compared with similar sites from other countries, respectively. These results may help determine the pollution levels of lead–zinc mining regions and direct the remediation activities of target sites to support the environmental management of abandoned mining and tailing waste in China

The role of smoking and alcohol in mediating the effect of gastroesophageal reflux disease on lung cancer: A Mendelian randomization study

Observational studies have suggested a positive association between gastroesophageal reflux disease and lung cancer, but due to the existence of confounders, it remains undetermined whether gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has a causal association with lung cancer. Therefore, Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses were applied to investigate the relationship between the two conditions. Two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis was utilized with summary genetic data from the European Bioinformatics Institute (602,604 individuals) and International Lung Cancer Consortium, which provides information on lung cancer and its histological subgroups. Furthermore, we used two-step Mendelian randomization and multivariable Mendelian randomization to estimate whether smoking initiation (311,629 cases and 321,173 controls) and alcohol intake frequency (n = 462,346) mediate any effect of gastroesophageal reflux disease on lung cancer risk. The Mendelian randomization analyses indicated that gastroesophageal reflux disease was associated with and significantly increased the risk of lung cancer (ORIVW = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.18–1.54; p = 1.36 × 10–5). Smoking initiation and alcohol intake frequency mediated 35% and 3% of the total effect of gastroesophageal reflux disease on lung cancer, respectively. The combined effect of these two factors accounted for 60% of the total effect. In conclusion, gastroesophageal reflux disease is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer, and interventions to reduce smoking and alcohol intake may reduce the incidence of lung cancer

High-frequency rTMS over bilateral primary motor cortex improves freezing of gait and emotion regulation in patients with Parkinson’s disease: a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundFreezing of gait (FOG) is a common and disabling phenomenon in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), but effective treatment approach remains inconclusive. Dysfunctional emotional factors play a key role in FOG. Since primary motor cortex (M1) connects with prefrontal areas via the frontal longitudinal system, where are responsible for emotional regulation, we hypothesized M1 may be a potential neuromodulation target for FOG therapy. The purpose of this study is to explore whether high-frequency rTMS over bilateral M1 could relieve FOG and emotional dysregulation in patients with PD.MethodsThis study is a single-center, randomized double-blind clinical trial. Forty-eight patients with PD and FOG from the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University were randomly assigned to receive 10 sessions of either active (N = 24) or sham (N = 24) 10 Hz rTMS over the bilateral M1. Patients were evaluated at baseline (T0), after the last session of treatment (T1) and 30 days after the last session (T2). The primary outcomes were Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOGQ) scores, with Timed Up and Go Test (TUG) time, Standing-Start 180° Turn (SS-180) time, SS-180 steps, United Parkinson Disease Rating Scales (UPDRS) III, Hamilton Depression scale (HAMD)-24 and Hamilton Anxiety scale (HAMA)-14 as secondary outcomes.ResultsTwo patients in each group dropped out at T2 and no serious adverse events were reported by any subject. Two-way repeated ANOVAs revealed significant group × time interactions in FOGQ, TUG, SS-180 turn time, SS-180 turning steps, UPDRS III, HAMD-24 and HAMA-14. Post-hoc analyses showed that compared to T0, the active group exhibited remarkable improvements in FOGQ, TUG, SS-180 turn time, SS-180 turning steps, UPDRS III, HAMD-24 and HAMA-14 at T1 and T2. No significant improvement was found in the sham group. The Spearman correlation analysis revealed a significantly positive association between the changes in HAMD-24 and HAMA-14 scores and FOGQ scores at T1.ConclusionHigh-frequency rTMS over bilateral M1 can improve FOG and reduce depression and anxiety in patients with PD

Engineering Interfaces toward High-Performance Polypropylene/Coir Fiber Biocomposites with Enhanced Friction and Wear Behavior

High-performance natural plant fibers reinforced polymer biocomposites with excellent friction and wear properties hold significant practical applications in industry. Unfortunately, it remains a major challenge to engineer the interfacial interactions between the fibers and the polymer matrix, which determines the mechanical and wear properties of the final composites. Herein, we engineer the coir fiber surface by depositing polyethylenimine (PEI) and graphene nanosheets and then prepare the polypropylene/coir fiber biocomposites. As compared with unmodified coir fibers, graphene decorated coir fibers can remarkably reduce the friction and wear, with the lowest friction coefficient at 0.19 and wear rate at 3.5 × 10–7 g/r. The excellent friction-reducing and wear-resistance performances are mainly attributed to three factors, namely the enhanced interfacial bonding, optimized crystallinity, and the formation of a transfer film. The transfer film is comprised of a polypropylene, PEI, and graphene nanosheets. This work provides a facile methodology for the design of high-performance polymer biocomposites with enhanced friction and wear behaviors. The results can also contribute to expand the practical applications of polymer biocomposites in industry

Effects of Bacillus coagulans supplementation on the growth performance and gut health of broiler chickens with Clostridium perfringens-induced necrotic enteritis

Abstract Background The poultry industry is in need of effective antibiotic alternatives to control outbreaks of necrotic enteritis (NE) due to Clostridium perfringens. Methods This study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding Bacillus coagulans on the growth performance and gut health of broiler chickens with C. perfringens-induced NE. Two hundred and forty 1-day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with two dietary B. coagulans levels (0 or 4 × 109 CFU/kg of diet) and two disease challenge statuses (control or NE challenged). Results NE-induced reduction in body weight gain was relieved by the addition of B. coagulans into broiler diets compared with the NE-infected birds. NE infection damaged intestinal morphological structure, promoted intestinal C. perfringens growth and liver invasion, and enhanced anti-C. perfringens specific sIgA concentrations in the gut and specific IgG levels in serum compared with the uninfected birds. NE infection significantly (P < 0.05) decreased mucin-2 (at 14 d post-infection (DPI), toll -like receptor 2 (TLR2, at 7 and 14 DPI), TLR4 (at 7 and 14 DPI), tumor necrosis factor super family 15 (TNFSF15, at 7 and 14 DPI), lysozyme (LYZ, at 14 DPI) and fowlicidin-2 (at 7 and 14 DPI) mRNA levels, whereas it dramatically (P = 0.001) increased IFN-γ mRNA levels at 7 DPI. However, challenged birds fed diets supplemented with B. coagulans showed a significant (P < 0.01) decrease in gut lesion scores, decreased C. perfringens numbers in the cecum and liver, and an increase in fowlicidin-2 mRNA levels in compared with the uninfected birds. In addition, compared with the non-supplemented group, dietary inclusion of B. coagulans improved intestinal barrier structure, further increased specific sIgA levels and alkaline phosphatase (IAP) activity in the jejunum, enhanced the expression of jejunum lysozyme mRNA, and inhibited the growth, colonization, and invasion of C. perfringens; in contrast, it reduced serum-specific IgG concentrations and jejunum IFN-γ mRNA levels. Conclusion These results indicated that dietary B. coagulans supplementation appeared to be effective in preventing the occurrence and reducing the severity of C. perfringens-induced NE in broiler chickens