Readability Assessment of Business English Textbooks

Business English: An Integrated Course published in 2010 is the first series of textbook compiled in accordance with the National Teaching Curriculum for BA Program in Business English of China. This paper uses Flesch Reading Ease to conduct a readability assessment of its textual difficulty. The quantitative analysis indicates that there is room for improvement: 1) the four books in the series lack a scientific hierarchy of readability, 2) the readability in the same book covers an unreasonably wide range, 3) some texts are too difficult. These defects prove the important role readability can play in the compilation of business English textbooks. This research is hoped to shed light on the use of readability assessment in the compilation, revision and evaluation of business English textbooks.

Short video social media use and subjective wellbeing among young adults in rural China: The mediating roles of upward social comparison and online social capital

This paper aims to describe how videos affect human behavior, especially teenagers and other major human beings. Given the large number of young adults who use short video social media (e.g., TikTok, Douyin, and Kuaishou) in rural China, understanding how the use of such platforms affects their subjective wellbeing is crucial. This study examines the mediating roles of online social capital and upward social comparison in the relationships between short video social media use (intensity, active vs. passive use) and subjective wellbeing using data gathered from a web-based survey of 412 young adults living in rural China. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that active short video use is associated with a greater level of online social capital, which in turn is related positively to subjective wellbeing. Passive short video use is negatively associated with online social capital. Active short video use is also associated with a greater level of upward social comparison, whereas passive short video use is negatively associated with upward social comparison. Nevertheless, the relationship between upward social comparison and subjective wellbeing is not statistically significant. Use intensity was associated with neither online social capital nor upward social comparison. The findings extend the understanding of the psychologically powerful nature of short video social media platforms and their effects on subjective wellbeing among Chinese rural young adults

Meta-analysis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma microarray data explores mechanism of EBV-regulated neoplastic transformation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) presumably plays an important role in the pathogenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), but the molecular mechanism of EBV-dependent neoplastic transformation is not well understood. The combination of bioinformatics with evidences from biological experiments paved a new way to gain more insights into the molecular mechanism of cancer.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We profiled gene expression using a meta-analysis approach. Two sets of meta-genes were obtained. Meta-A genes were identified by finding those commonly activated/deactivated upon EBV infection/reactivation. These genes could be key players for pathways de-regulated by EBV during latent infection and lytic proliferation. Meta-B genes were obtained from differential genes commonly expressed in NPC and PEL (primary effusion lymphoma). We then integrated meta-A, meta-B and associated factors into an interaction network using acquired information. Our analysis suggests that NPC transformation depends on timely regulation of DEK, CDK inhibitor(s), p53, RB and several transcriptional cascades, interconnected by E2F, AP-1, NF-κB, STAT3 among others during latent and lytic cycles.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In conclusion, our meta-analysis strategy re-analyzed EBV-related tumor data sets and identified sets of meta-genes possibly involved in maintaining latent or switching to lytic cycles of EBV in NPC. The results of this analysis may shed new lights to further our understanding of the EBV-led neoplastic transformation.</p

The impact of the digital economy on enterprise innovation behavior: Based on CiteSpace knowledge graph analysis

IntroductionAs a new trend, the digital economy will promote “digital industrialization” in the process of promoting “industrial digitalization.” It can accelerate technological innovation by adjusting managerial behavior and strategic decisions, promoting and protecting technological research and development, and providing technological infrastructure. While technological innovation, which generally occurs in enterprises, will promote a new round of upgrading, optimization, and even reshaping of the whole industry. The two are highly synergistic. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to study the impact of the digital economy era on enterprise innovation behavior.MethodsWe analyzed the impact of the digital economy era on corporate innovation behavior in the Web of Science database from 2010 to 2020 through bibliometric and scientific knowledge mapping methods.Results and discussionOur study found that: the research on enterprise innovation behavior in the digital economy era has formed eight research directions, such as expertise, human capital FSA, integration in global value chains, financial innovation, fintech, people preference shift, internet of everything, and consumer co-creation. In addition, the research hotspots on enterprise innovation behavior in the digital economy era range from enterprises’ perception of digital economy contact, to enterprises’ familiarity with digital technology and its application, to enterprises’ attempted evolution of digital transformation, reflecting the potential of both theoretical and practical characteristics. Finally, we present an outlook on the future cross-sectional development of research on enterprise innovative behavior in the digital economy era and propose a research trend based on the Chinese context

A theoretical framework of immune cell phenotypic classification and discovery

Immune cells are highly heterogeneous and show diverse phenotypes, but the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. In this study, we proposed a theoretical framework for immune cell phenotypic classification based on gene plasticity, which herein refers to expressional change or variability in response to conditions. The system contains two core points. One is that the functional subsets of immune cells can be further divided into subdivisions based on their highly plastic genes, and the other is that loss of phenotype accompanies gain of phenotype during phenotypic conversion. The first point suggests phenotypic stratification or layerability according to gene plasticity, while the second point reveals expressional compatibility and mutual exclusion during the change in gene plasticity states. Abundant transcriptome data analysis in this study from both microarray and RNA sequencing in human CD4 and CD8 single-positive T cells, B cells, natural killer cells and monocytes supports the logical rationality and generality, as well as expansibility, across immune cells. A collection of thousands of known immunophenotypes reported in the literature further supports that highly plastic genes play an important role in maintaining immune cell phenotypes and reveals that the current classification model is compatible with the traditionally defined functional subsets. The system provides a new perspective to understand the characteristics of dynamic, diversified immune cell phenotypes and intrinsic regulation in the immune system. Moreover, the current substantial results based on plasticitomics analysis of bulk and single-cell sequencing data provide a useful resource for big-data–driven experimental studies and knowledge discoveries

Ontology based cooperative intrusion detection system

Abstract. As malicious intrusions span sites more frequently, network security plays the vital role in internet. Intrusion detection system(IDS) is expected to provide powerful protection against malicious behaviors. However, high false negative and false positive prevent intrusion detection system from practically using. After survey of present intrusion detection systems, we believe more accurate and efficient detection result can be obtained by using multi-sensor cooperative detection. To aiding cooperative detection, an ontology consisting of attribute nodes and value nodes is presented after analysis of IDSs rules and various classes of computer intrusions. On the basis of ontology, a matchmaking method is given to improve flexibility of detection. Cooperative detection framework based on the ontology is also discussed. The ontology proposed in paper has two advantages. First, it makes the detection more flexible and second it provides global locality information to support cooperation

Cloning of a gene encoding glycosyltransferase from Pueraria lobata (Wild.) Ohwi and its expression in Pichia pastoris

The key enzyme of puerarin biosynthesis in Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi was unclear but may involve glycosylation. To investigate the regulation of puerarin biosynthesis, a putative UDP-dependent glycosyltransferase (UGT) gene, PlUGT1 was isolated from P. lobata root, which contained abundant puerarin. PlUGT1 encoded 480 deduced amino acid residues with a conserved UDP-glucose-binding domain, which has 61 to 84% similarity to homologues from other plant species. SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and western blotting results showed that, fusion protein migrated as a single protein band with a molecular weight of 55 kDa. A yeast expression vector pPICZA-PlUGT1 was constructed and was transformed into Pichia pastoris strain GS115. Several recombinants containing multi-copy expression cassettes were obtained on the zeocin-YPD plate and confirmed by southern dot blotting. The yield of PlUGT1 attained 0.05 g/l when recombinant cells were cultured at pH 5.5, 30°C and induced with 0.5% methanol for 72 h. The expression of PlUGT1 protein correlates positively with the copy numbers of PlUGT1 in transformed yeast cells. These results suggest that, the PlUGT1 protein can be expressed efficiently in the P. pastoris expression system and may supply a new economic and convenient way for the production of PlUGT1 protein.Keywords: Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi, glycosyltransferase, cloning, expression, Pichia pastori