Rapport-building through call in teaching Chinese as a foreign language: An exploratory study

Technological advances have brought about the ever-increasing utilisation of computer-assisted language learning ( CALL) media in the learning of a second language (L2). Computer-mediated communication, for example, provides a practical means for extending the learning of spoken language, a challenging process in tonal languages such as Chinese, beyond the realms of the classroom. In order to effectively improve spoken language competency, however, CALL applications must also reproduce the social interaction that lies at the heart of language learning and language use. This study draws on data obtained from the utilisation of CALL in the learning of L2 Chinese to explore whether this medium can be used to extend opportunities for rapport-building in language teaching beyond the face-to-face interaction of the classroom. Rapport's importance lies in its potential to enhance learning, motivate learners, and reduce learner anxiety. To date, CALL's potential in relation to this facet of social interaction remains a neglected area of research. The results of this exploratory study suggest that CALL may help foster learner-teacher rapport and that scaffolding, such as strategically composing rapport-fostering questions in sound-files, is conducive to this outcome. The study provides an instruction model for this application of CALL

Explaining cross-cultural pragmatic findings: moving from politeness maxims to sociopragmatic interactional principles (SIPs)

This paper focuses on how culture can be treated as an explanatory variable in cross-cultural pragmatic studies. It starts with a review of pragmatic maxims [Grice, H. Paul, 1989. Logic and Conversation. William James Lectures, 1967. (Reprinted in Grice, H.P. (Ed.), Studies in the Way of Words, pp. 22–40); Leech, Geoffrey N., 1983. Principles of Pragmatics. London: Longman; Journal of Pragmatics 14 (1990)237], discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the concept. It then presents the findings from a British-Chinese replication of Kim's [Human Communication Research 21(1996)128] cross-cultural study of conversational constraints, and argues that the notion of maxims should be reconceptualised as sociopragmatic interactional principles (SIPs). The notion of SIPs is defined and explained, referring to the sociopragmatic-pragmalinguistic distinction [Leech, Geoffrey N., 1983. Principles of Pragmatics. London: Longman; Applied Linguistics 4(1983)91] and other cross-cultural pragmatic approaches [House, Julianne, 2000. Understanding misunderstanding: a pragmatic-discourse approach to analyzing mismanaged rapport in talk across cultures. In: Spencer-Oatey, H. (Ed.), Culturally Speaking. Managing Rapport through Talk across Cultures. Continuum, London; 145–164; Journal of Pragmatics 9 (1985)145]. SIPs are also discussed in relation to Brown and Levinson's [Brown, Penelope, Levinson, Stephen C., 1987. Politeness. Some Universals in Language Usage. CUP, Cambridge (Originally published ad ‘Universals in language usage: politeness phenomenon’ In: Goody, E. (1987), Questions and Politeness: Strategies in Social Interaction. CUP, New York.)] perspectives on the impact of culture on language use. The paper ends with a call for more research to establish on an empirical basis the types of interactional principles that exist, and their interrelationships

How does temperature affect splicing events? Isoform switching of splicing factors regulates splicing of <i>LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL</i> (<i>LHY</i>)

One of the ways in which plants can respond to temperature is via alternative splicing (AS). Previous work showed that temperature changes affected the splicing of several circadian clock gene transcripts. Here we investigated the role of RNA‐binding splicing factors (SFs) in temperature‐sensitive alternative splicing (AS) of the clock gene LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY). We characterised, in wild type plants, temperature‐associated isoform switching and expression patterns for SF transcripts from a high‐resolution temperature and time series RNA‐seq experiment. In addition we employed quantitative RT‐PCR of SF mutant plants to explore the role of the SFs in cooling‐associated AS of LHY. We show that the splicing and expression of several SFs responds sufficiently rapidly and sensitively to temperature changes to contribute to the splicing of the 5’UTR of LHY. Moreover the choice of splice site in LHY was altered in some SF mutants. The splicing of the 5’UTR region of LHY has characteristics of a molecular thermostat, where the ratio of transcript isoforms is sensitive to temperature changes as modest as 2°C and is scalable over a wide dynamic range of temperature. Our work provides novel insight into SF‐mediated coupling of the perception of temperature to post‐transcriptional regulation of the clock

RoSE: Roadmaps Towards Sustainable Energy Futures and Climate Protection: A Synthesis of Results from the Rose Project

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Exploring energy demand and supply uncertainty: An exploration of uncertainty on drivers of energy demand and supply is indispensable for better understanding the prospects of long-tern climate stabilization. The RoSE study is the first of its kind to systematically explore the impact of economic growth, population and fossil fuel scarcity, in scenarios with and without climate policy, using a model ensemble. A feature of RoSE is the participation of five established integrated assessment modelling teams from three important regions in international climate policy negotiations: the EU, the USA and China. Economic growth: Neither slow nor rapid economic growth solves the climate problem by itself. In the absence of climate policy and if energy intensity improvements continue along historical trends, higher economic activity implies higher energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. The increase in energy and carbon intensity improvements with higher economic growth is overcompensated by the larger growth in per capita income. Even under slow economic growth assumptions, GDP will rise significantly above today’s level, leading to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Fossil fuel availability: Fossil fuel scarcity is insufficient to slow global warming significantly. Low fossil fuel availability leads to levels of greenhouse gas emissions that are higher than those under climate change stabilization. Nevertheless, fossil fuel availability significantly influences the energy mix and the CO2 emissions in scenarios without climate policy. Energy use: There are robust patterns in projections of energy use in the absence of climate policy. Higher economic growth increases the scale of the energy system, which continues to be mostly supplied by fossil fuels. Structural differences in the energy supply mix occur for variations in fossil resource availability, particularly coal and oil supply. Models unanimously show an electrification of energy end use independently of economic growth and fossil resource assumptions. Emissions phase out: Climate stabilization requires a phase out of global greenhouse gas emissions in the long run. For a stringent stabilization target compatible with the 2°C goal (a level of 450 ppm CO2 equivalent in the atmosphere), net emissions have to be nearly phased out by 2100. For a less ambitious, but still stringent stabilization level of 550 ppm CO2e, emissions would need to be more than halved by the end of the century, and decline towards zero in the 22nd century. Energy systems transformation: Climate stabilization implies a fundamental transformation of global energy systems. Climate stabilization requires a transformation to a low carbon energy system in the 21st century with historically unprecedented decarbonization rates. Models tell different stories when and what to reduce, but some robust patterns emerge. On the supply side, coal is rapidly replaced with non-fossil energy sources. On the demand side, models foresee a larger share of electricity and gases coupled with a strong reduction of solids. The structure of the energy transformation is largely unaffected by variations in fossil fuel availability and economic growth. The effect of fossil fuel availability on fossil fuel use is negligible in climate stabilization scenarios. Thus, climate policy effectively limits uncertainty about future fossil fuel use. Carbon prices and mitigation costs: Variations in economic growth and fossil fuel availability can alter carbon prices and mitigation costs substantially. A supply push of fossil energy can be more easily neutralized with a carbon price signal than a demand pull due to higher levels of economic output. Thus, carbon prices vary more strongly with growth projections than with fossil fuel availability. Mitigation cost estimates are sensitive to economic growth and fossil fuel assumptions. Costs increase by approximately 30 to 100% from low to high economic growth, and from low to high fossil fuel availability Weak policies: Current climate policies are insufficient for 2°C stabilization With the currently planned climate policies and pledged emissions reductions the world is not on track towards the 2°C target. If current trends of weak and globally uncoordinated climate policies continue, global mean temperatures are likely to increase by more than 3°C by 2100. Delayed action: Delaying action greatly increases the challenge of keeping warming below 2°C. In case of a further delay in the implementation of comprehensive global emissions reductions the transformation effort needs to be compressed into a shorter period of time. These higher emission reduction rates required in such later-action scenarios imply, inter alia, i) faster decarbonization of the energy system, ii) faster reductions of energy demand, iii) more stranded investments due to pre-maturely retired fossil capacities, and iv) higher transitory economic losses during the phase-in of climate policies. The implications of delaying action until 2030 are considerably more severe than those of a delay until 2020. While the models are able to compute low-stabilization scenarios with a prolonged delay of action, the dramatic increase in mitigation challenges in case of policy delay until 2030 make it seem unlikely that such pathways can be implemented in the real world. China: Climate stabilization implies a fundamental energy transformation for China. Carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion in China are expected to double from 2005 levels by 2020. Different assumptions on climate policy driven carbon intensity reductions lead to a large range of 6-12 Gt CO2 emissions by 2050, as calculated with an energy system model of the Chinese economy (China-TIMES model). Climate stabilization scenarios from global models show emissions in China below or at the low end of this range in 2050. The emission trajectories differ across models but all peak during 2020-2025 for the 450 ppm CO2e target and 2025-2030 for the 550 ppm CO2e target. This indicates that stringent climate targets would imply ambitious emission reductions in China. Africa: The rates of economic and population growth in Africa have profound implications for energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Today Africa accounts for a modest 3% of global energy system CO2 emissions. The evolution of Africa’s emissions over the coming century depends critically on future population and income. Absent any climate policy, Africa could become a major emitter in the second half of the 21st century if economic growth in this part of the world is steady. In the shorter term, the extent of energy poverty and improvements in access to modern energy in Africa are also driven by assumptions regarding future population and economic growth. Slower economic growth and larger population growth result in a significantly slower transition to modern energy access and use on the continent. Climate policies have a strong impact on energy resource markets, resource rents and energy security. Climate policies interfere with fossil fuel markets and reallocate rent incomes from providing scarce goods. The global losses of fossil fuel rents are overcompensated by revenues from carbon pricing. The losses of rents from coal are much smaller than those for oil, though coal is the fossil fuel that needs to be reduced the most. Achieving the 2°C target still allows using conventional and unconventional oil reserves. Large part of the coal reserve needs to be left underground. Energy security is significantly improved by climate policy under all assumptions about resource availability and GDP growth. That is due to a reduction of risks associated with energy trade and an increase in the resilience of energy systems through higher diversity. Climate policy also makes total energy supply, the energy mix and energy trade more predictable and possibly easier to manage. Climate policies may also entail certain risks for energy security. In particular, deep penetration of solar energy in the electricity sector or biofuels in the liquid fuels sector may reduce the diversity of these energy systems by the end of the century. Land use: Population, economic growth, and fossil fuel scarcity all have implications for land use. Larger populations require more food, increasing the extent of cropland area. Wealthier populations tend to eat more meat, a landintensive commodity, increasing cropland and pasture cover. Growing, wealthier populations also demand more energy. Fossil fuel scarcity drives increased consumption of bioenergy and land devoted to its production. All three of these effects lead to reductions in forest cover and increases in land-use change CO2 emissions. Investments and innovation: Economic growth and fossil fuel scarcity can both stimulate clean energy innovation and non-fossil-fuel investments. When economies grow faster energy resources are used more efficiently, but fossil fuels would remain the prevalent source of energy. In contrast, the expectation of high energy prices could redirect ample financial resources to R&D programs aimed at developing new energy sources. Although economic growth and fossil fuel prices can create an economic opportunity for more investments in non-fossil energy technologies and clean energy R&D, still they would lag behind the levels observed in stabilization scenarios and would not induce emission reductions compatible with climate stabilization objectives. On average, baseline total R&D investments amount to about 67 billion 2005 US$/yr while they increase to almost twice as much (113 billion 2005 US$/yr) in the 450 ppm CO2e stabilization scenario. The availability of cheap gas resources would increase gas investments, mostly to substitute coal especially in coal-intensive countries. Yet, it would only marginally displace investments in clean energy innovation

Comparative pharmacokinetics of polymyxin B in critically ill elderly patients with extensively drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria infections

Introduction: Elderly patients are more prone to develop acute kidney injury during infections and polymyxin B (PMB)-associated nephrotoxicity than young patients. The differential response to PMB between the elderly and young critically ill patients is unknown. We aimed to assess PMB exposure in elderly patients compared with young critically ill patients, and to determine the covariates of PMB pharmacokinetics in critically ill patients.Methods: Seventeen elderly patients (age ≥ 65 years) and six young critically ill patients (age &lt; 65 years) were enrolled. Six to eight blood samples were collected during the 12 h intervals after at least six doses of intravenous PMB in each patient. PMB plasma concentrations were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The primary outcome was PMB exposure as assessed by the area under the concentration-time curve over 24 h at steady state (AUCss, 0–24 h).Results and Discussion: The elderly group had lower total body weight (TBW) and higher Charlson comorbidity scores than young group. Neither AUCss, 0–24 h nor normalized AUCss, 0–24 h (adjusting AUC for the daily dose in mg/kg of TBW) was significantly different between the elderly group and young group. The half-life time was longer in the elderly patients than in young patients (11.21 vs 6.56 h respectively, p = 0.003). Age and TBW were the covariates of half-life time (r = 0.415, p = 0.049 and r = −0.489, p = 0.018, respectively). TBW was the covariate of clearance (r = 0.527, p = 0.010) and AUCss, 0–24 h (r = −0.414, p = 0.049). Patients with AUCss, 0–24 h ≥ 100 mg·h/L had higher baseline serum creatinine levels and lower TBW than patients with AUCss, 0–24 h &lt; 50 mg·h/L or patients with AUCss, 0–24 h 50–100 mg·h/L. The PMB exposures were comparable in elderly and young critically ill patients. High baseline serum creatinine levels and low TBW was associated with PMB overdose.Trial registration: ChiCTR2300073896 retrospectively registered on 25 July 2023

Residues 318 and 323 in capsid protein are involved in immune circumvention of the atypical epizootic infection of infectious bursal disease virus

Recently, atypical infectious bursal disease (IBD) caused by a novel variant infectious bursal disease virus (varIBDV) suddenly appeared in immunized chicken flocks in East Asia and led to serious economic losses. The epizootic varIBDV can partly circumvent the immune protection of the existing vaccines against the persistently circulating very virulent IBDV (vvIBDV), but its mechanism is still unknown. This study proved that the neutralizing titer of vvIBDV antiserum to the epizootic varIBDV reduced by 7.0 log2, and the neutralizing titer of the epizootic varIBDV antiserum to vvIBDV reduced by 3.2 log2. In addition, one monoclonal antibody (MAb) 2-5C-6F had good neutralizing activity against vvIBDV but could not well recognize the epizootic varIBDV. The epitope of the MAb 2-5C-6F was identified, and two mutations of G318D and D323Q of capsid protein VP2 occurred in the epizootic varIBDV compared to vvIBDV. Subsequently, the indirect immunofluorescence assay based on serial mutants of VP2 protein verified that residue mutations 318 and 323 influenced the recognition of the epizootic varIBDV and vvIBDV by the MAb 2-5C-6F, which was further confirmed by the serial rescued mutated virus. The following cross-neutralizing assay directed by MAb showed residue mutations 318 and 323 also affected the neutralization of the virus. Further data also showed that the mutations of residues 318 and 323 of VP2 significantly affected the neutralization of the IBDV by antiserum, which might be deeply involved in the immune circumvention of the epizootic varIBDV in the vaccinated flock. This study is significant for the comprehensive prevention and control of the emerging varIBDV

Taking stock of national climate policies to evaluate implementation of the Paris Agreement

Many countries have implemented national climate policies to accomplish pledged Nationally Determined Contributions and to contribute to the temperature objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate change. In 2023, the global stocktake will assess the combined effort of countries. Here, based on a public policy database and a multi-model scenario analysis, we show that implementation of current policies leaves a median emission gap of 22.4 to 28.2 GtCO2eq by 2030 with the optimal pathways to implement the well below 2 °C and 1.5 °C Paris goals. If Nationally Determined Contributions would be fully implemented, this gap would be reduced by a third. Interestingly, the countries evaluated were found to not achieve their pledged contributions with implemented policies (implementation gap), or to have an ambition gap with optimal pathways towards well below 2 °C. This shows that all countries would need to accelerate the implementation of policies for renewable technologies, while efficiency improvements are especially important in emerging countries and fossil-fuel-dependent countries