A Review of Studies on Languaging and Second Language Learning (2006-2017)

Since Swain postulated the concept “languaging” in 2006 to capture the role of language production in second language (L2) learning, a growing body of empirical studies has been conducted on languaging. However, little research has reviewed these studies. The present paper reviews 15 empirical studies that were conducted over the past decade on languaging in L2 learning, followed Vygotsky’s socioculutral theory of mind, and directly took languaging as the treatment or part of the treatment. We distinguished task-prompted and teacher-imposed languaging in the paper. All studies reviewed focused on teacher-imposed languaging. On the basis of reviewing the foci and findings of the studies, we offer our critical comments and recommendations for future research

Regulation of Embryonic and Induced Pluripotency by Aurora Kinase-p53 Signaling

SummaryMany signals must be integrated to maintain self-renewal and pluripotency in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and to enable induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) reprogramming. However, the exact molecular regulatory mechanisms remain elusive. To unravel the essential internal and external signals required for sustaining the ESC state, we conducted a short hairpin (sh) RNA screen of 104 ESC-associated phosphoregulators. Depletion of one such molecule, aurora kinase A (Aurka), resulted in compromised self-renewal and consequent differentiation. By integrating global gene expression and computational analyses, we discovered that loss of Aurka leads to upregulated p53 activity that triggers ESC differentiation. Specifically, Aurka regulates pluripotency through phosphorylation-mediated inhibition of p53-directed ectodermal and mesodermal gene expression. Phosphorylation of p53 not only impairs p53-induced ESC differentiation but also p53-mediated suppression of iPSC reprogramming. Our studies demonstrate an essential role for Aurka-p53 signaling in the regulation of self-renewal, differentiation, and somatic cell reprogramming

Effects of collaborative output on Chinese EFL learners' lexical learning

published_or_final_versionEducationDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph

L2 learners’ pronunciation of English phonetic sounds: An acoustic analysis with software Praat

Pronouncing English sounds correctly is not an easy task for second language (L2) learners because of the influence of their mother tongue. Empirical studies, based on first language (L1) interference, have investigated L2 learners’ pronunciation problems. However, these studies rarely focused on students’ development in pronunciation, and their results lack validity and reliability because of their mere employment of L2 English teachers as pronunciation assessors. The present study, using the acoustic software Praat as the instrument and taking a native speaker as the comparison, investigated Chinese L2 English learners’ problems and improvement in pronouncing the English sounds that do not have exact counterparts in Chinese. Data analysis revealed that the participants manifested different degrees of pronunciation accuracy with the target English sounds; their mispronunciations of consonants were mainly due to lacking voicing, wrong manners, and wrong places of articulation, while their mispronunciations of vowels were attributed to their improper tongue position, mouth opening, and diphthongization; and that higher-proficiency students tended to have greater pronunciation accuracy. The findings were discussed with reference to the literature, and pedagogical implications were provided at the end

Mechanisms of Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Formation and Regulation in Cancers

As one of the most important components of the innate immune system, neutrophils are always at the forefront of the response to diseases. The immune functions of neutrophils include phagocytosis, degranulation, production of reactive oxygen species, and the production of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). NETs are composed of deconcentrated chromatin DNA, histones, myeloperoxidase (MPO) and neutrophil elastase (NE), playing an important role in the resistance to some pathogenic microbial invasions. Until recent years, when NETs were found to play a critical role in cancer. NETs play bidirectional regulation both positive and negative roles in the development and progression of cancer. Targeted NETs may provide new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer. However, the molecular and cellular regulatory mechanisms underlying the formation and role of NET in cancer remain unclear. This review just summarizes the recent progress in regulatory mechanisms about the formation of NETs and their role in cancers

Effect of fracture risk in inhaled corticosteroids in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background The fracture risk of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treated with inhaled corticosteroids is controversial. And some large-scale randomized controlled trials have not solved this problem. The purpose of our systematic review and meta-analysis including 44 RCTs is to reveal the effect of inhaled corticosteroids on the fracture risk of COPD patients. Methods Two reviewers independently retrieved randomized controlled trials of inhaled corticosteroids or combinations of inhaled corticosteroids in the treatment of COPD from PubMed, Embase, Medline, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. The primary outcome was a fracture event. This study was registered at PROSPERO (CRD42022366778). Results Forty-four RCTs were performed in 87,594 patients. Inhaled therapy containing ICSs (RR, 1.19; 95%CI, 1.04–1.37; P = 0.010), especially ICS/LABA (RR, 1.30; 95%CI, 1.10–1.53; P = 0.002) and triple therapy (RR, 1.49; 95%CI, 1.03–2.17; P = 0.04) were significantly associated with the increased risk of fracture in COPD patients when compared with inhaled therapy without ICSs. Subgroup analyses showed that treatment duration ≥ 12 months (RR, 1.19; 95%CI, 1.04–1.38; P = 0.01), budesonide therapy (RR, 1.64; 95%CI., 1.07–2.51; P = 0.02), fluticasone furoate therapy (RR, 1.37; 95%CI, 1.05–1.78; P = 0.02), mean age of study participants ≥ 65 (RR, 1.27; 95%CI, 1.01–1.61; P = 0.04), and GOLD stage III(RR, 1.18; 95%CI, 1.00–1.38; P = 0.04) were significantly associated with an increased risk of fracture. In addition, budesonide ≥ 320 ug bid via MDI (RR, 1.75; 95%CI, 1.07–2.87; P = 0.03) was significantly associated with the increased risk of fracture. Conclusion Inhalation therapy with ICSs, especially ICS/LABA or triple therapy, increased the risk of fracture in patients with COPD compared with inhaled therapy without ICS. Treatment duration, mean age of participants, GOLD stage, drug dosage form, and drug dose participated in this association. Moreover, different inhalation devices of the same drug also had differences in risk of fracture

Overall survival and short-term efficacy analysis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma with skeletal muscle and 18F-FDG PET/CT parameters

Abstract 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) can provide tumor biological metabolism and skeletal muscle composition information. The aim of this study was to evaluate overall survival (OS) and short-term efficacy of cervical squamous cell carcinoma combining tumor biological metabolism and skeletal muscle composition parameters. Eighty two patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma were included in the study, who received 18F-FDG PET/CT scans before treatment. Clinical characteristics, tumor biological metabolism parameters [standardized uptake value, metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis, heterogeneity of tumors, etc.] and body composition parameters were recorded. The survival analysis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma patients was performed by univariate and multivariate analysis. A combined model included clinical indicators, tumor metabolism parameters and sarcopenia was constructed to evaluate OS of patients. According to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours version 1.1, the relationship between sarcopenia with tumor metabolism parameters and short-term efficacy was investigated in subgroup. The results indicate that sarcopenia and high value of the sum of MTV of lesions and metastases (MTVtotal) were poor prognostic factors in patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma. The combination of sarcopenia, MTVtotal and clinical factors provided an improved prediction of OS especially in the long term after treatment. Nutritional status of the patients and tumor metabolism may not affect the short-term efficacy of chemoradiotherapy in cervical squamous cell carcinoma patients

Sirtuin 2 regulates neutrophil functions through NAD+ synthesis pathway in virus infection

Summary: Neutrophils play an important role in antiviral immunity, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we found that SIRT2 deficiency inhibited the infiltration of neutrophils, as well as the secretion of inflammatory cytokines and the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), ameliorating disease symptoms during acute respiratory virus infection. Mechanistically, SIRT2 deficiency upregulates quinolinic acid (QA)-producing enzyme 3-hydroxyanthranilate oxygenase (3-HAO) and leads to expression of quinolinate phosphoribosyltransferase (QPRT), which promotes the synthesis of QA for NAD+ and limits viral infection when de novo NAD+ synthesis is blocked. Tryptophan-2,3-oxygenase expressed in epithelial cells metabolizes tryptophan to produce kynurenine and 3-hydroxyaminobenzoic acid, which is a source of intracellular QA in neutrophils. Thus, our findings reveal a previously unrecognized QPRT-mediated switch in NAD+ metabolism by exploiting neutrophil-derived QA as an alternative source of replenishing intracellular NAD+ pools induced by SIRT2 to regulate neutrophil functions during virus infection, with implications for future immunotherapy approaches

Research progress on correction techniques for coincidence summing effect in γ-ray spectrometry

As a passive nondestructive nuclear technique, gamma ray spectrometry is used in many radioactivity laboratories. Gamma-ray spectrometry enables the identification of radionuclides in a sample from their emitted photon energy and calculation of their activities from the number of photons collected for each energy. However coincidence summing effects will influence the reliability of both radionuclide identification and calculation of activity. Coincidence summing effects appear when sources emitting coincident gamma rays are measured via gamma-ray spectrometry. Those effects that result in losses from the full energy peaks and enhancement of sum peaks influence the accuracy of the spectral analysis. To eliminate this influence, many correction methods have been established. Research on the coincidence summing effect (CSE) originated in the 1960s. Subsequently, many algorithm-based generation mechanisms of CSE have been built together with the development of corresponding correction software. Massive amounts of technological information on and achievements about coincidence summing correction have been reported by researchers from different countries, hence several intercomparisons of these methods, and self-consistency testing of cascaded additive effect correction algorithm were organized by the International Committee for Radionuclide Metrology (ICRM). Based on a detailed summary of the development history of correction methods, the CSE mechanisms, correction algorithms, correction software, and application of correction techniques were reviewed in this paper. Cobalt-60 was taken as an example to illustrate the influence of the summing-in and summing-out effects, with correction equations based on different measurement geometries and considering the impact of angular correlations. Meanwhile, the performance of different algorithms and software were compared and analyzed. Combined with the current research status, some suggestions are presented for future research for domestic researchers on the coincidence summing effect correction. First, the efficiency must be accurately established for the geometrical conditions of the measurement. Second, the number of cascades in the algorithm must be taken into account owing to its influence on the results. Third, correction software with a user-friendly interface and database of accurate decay schemes should be developed

Subunit vaccine consisting of multi-stage antigens has high protective efficacy against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in mice.

To search for more effective tuberculosis (TB) subunit vaccines, antigens expressed in different growth stages of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis), such as RpfE (Rv2450c) produced in the stage of resuscitation, Mtb10.4 (Rv0288), Mtb8.4 (Rv1174c), ESAT6 (Rv3875), Ag85B (Rv1886c) mainly secreted by replicating bacilli, and HspX (Rv2031c) highly expressed in dormant bacilli, were selected to construct six fusion proteins: ESAT6-Ag85B-MPT64190-198-Mtb8.4 (EAMM), Mtb10.4-HspX (MH), ESAT6-Mtb8.4, Mtb10.4-Ag85B, ESAT6-Ag85B, and ESAT6-RpfE. The six fusion proteins were separately emulsified in an adjuvant composed of N,N'-dimethyl-N, N'-dioctadecylammonium bromide (DDA), polyribocytidylic acid (poly I:C) and gelatin to construct subunit vaccines, and their protective effects against M. tuberculosis infection were evaluated in C57BL/6 mice. Furthermore, the boosting effects of EAMM and MH in the adjuvant of DDA plus trehalose 6,6'-dimycolate (TDM) on BCG-induced immunity were also evaluated. It was found that the six proteins were stably produced in E. coli and successfully purified by chromatography. Among them, EAMM presented the most effective protection against M. tuberculosis. Interestingly, the mice that received EAMM+MH had significantly lower bacterial counts in the lungs and spleens than the single protein vaccinated groups, and had the same effect as those that received BCG. In addition, EAMM and MH could improve BCG-primed protective efficacy against M. tuberculosis infection in mice. In conclusion, the combination of EAMM and MH containing antigens from both replicating and dormant stages of the bacilli could induce robust immunity against M. tuberculosis infection in mice and may serve as promising subunit vaccine candidate