The Effects of Cooperative Teaching Reform on Chinese English Learners’ Linguistic Abilities and Non-linguistic Abilities

This paper studies the different effects of co-teaching and traditional teaching on students’ English linguistic abilities and non-linguistic abilities in Chinese context. Ninety-one non-English majors in a college in south-eastern China were involved in this experiment. The results of one-way ANOVA showed that the effects of Chinese-foreign teachers’ cooperative teaching on participants’ linguistic abilities were significantly better than the traditional Chinese teachers’ teaching. The results of questionnaires revealed that co-teaching made a greater contribution to students’ non-linguistic abilities than the traditional way did. In addition, students held more positive attitudes to co-teaching than the traditional teaching. Finally, reasons that may lead to the results have been discussed

ENVIRONMENTAL SURROUNDINGS AND PERSONAL WELL-BEING IN URBAN CHINA

We examine the relationship between atmospheric pollution, water pollution, traffic congestion, access to parkland and personal well-being using a survey administered across six Chinese cities in 2007. In contrast to existing studies of the determinants of well-being by economists, which have typically employed single item indicators to measure well-being, we use the Personal Well-Being Index (PWI). We also employ the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) to measure job satisfaction, which is one of the variables for which we control when examining the relationship between environmental surroundings and personal well-being. Previous research by psychologists has shown the PWI and JSS to have good psychometric properties in western and Chinese samples. A robust finding is that in cities with higher levels of atmospheric pollution and traffic congestion, respondents report lower levels of personal well-being ceteris paribus. We find that a one standard deviation increase in suspended particles or sulphur dioxide emissions is roughly equivalent to a 12-13 percent reduction in average monthly income in the six cities. This result suggests that the personal well-being of China's urban population can be enhanced if China were to pursue a more balanced growth path which curtailed atmospheric pollution.China, Environment, Pollution, Personal Well-Being.

ENVIRONMENTAL SURROUNDINGS AND PERSONAL WELL-BEING IN URBAN CHINA

We examine the relationship between atmospheric pollution, water pollution, traffic congestion, access to parkland and personal well-being using a survey administered across six Chinese cities in 2007. In contrast to existing studies of the determinants of well-being by economists, which have typically employed single item indicators to measure well-being, we use the Personal Well-Being Index (PWI). We also employ the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) to measure job satisfaction, which is one of the variables for which we control when examining the relationship between environmental surroundings and personal well-being. Previous research by psychologists has shown the PWI and JSS to have good psychometric properties in western and Chinese samples. A robust finding is that in cities with higher levels of atmospheric pollution and traffic congestion, respondents report lower levels of personal well-being ceteris paribus. Specifically, we find that a one standard deviation increase in suspended particles or sulphur dioxide emissions is roughly equivalent to a 12-13 per cent reduction in average monthly income in the six cities.China, Environment, Pollution, Personal Well-Being.

Composition Spectrum of Oral Microbiota Diversity in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer: A Systematic Review

Objective To systematically evaluate the diversity of oral flora in patients with pancreatic cancer. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted, focusing on the oral flora diversity profiles of patients with pancreatic cancer. The studies were retrieved from PubMed, Web of science, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP databases, and the search period was from the establishment of the database to July 15, 2023. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, two researchers screened intensive review literature, extracted data and information, and carried out Meta-analysis using qualitative systematic review and Review Manager 5.4. Results Seven cross-sectional studies were reviewed, including 187 patients with pancreatic cancer and 440 healthy controls. The results of meta-analysis showed that the oral microbiota diversity Simpson index of patients with pancreatic cancer was reduced compared with that of healthy controls. Qualitative analysis showed that the relative abundance of Firmicute, Prevotella, Roseburia, and Streptococcus in patients with pancreatic cancer was higher than that in healthy people. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Neisseria, Haemophilus, porphyromonas, and Haemophilus parainfluenza in patients with pancreatic cancer was lower than that in healthy people. Conclusion Patients with pancreatic cancer have distinct oral flora, which has high relative abundance of Firmicutes, Prevotella etc. and low relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Neisseria, etc

Acquisition des voyelles nasales du français et interférences du cantonais

Les voyelles nasalisées par coarticulation sont communément trouvées dans de nombreuses langues ; cependant, les voyelles nasales en tant que phonèmes indépendants n’existent que dans peu de langues. Avec 3 voyelles nasales et une position spécifique de la langue et des lèvres, les voyelles nasales du français constituent une difficulté importante pour les apprenants cantonophones. Cet article vise à examiner les caractéristiques de l’interlangue des voyelles nasales françaises produites par des apprenants cantonophones. En comparant les taux de nasalité, la longueur des voyelles, les pics spectraux (formants) et la position des lèvres entre les apprenants cantonophones et les locuteurs natifs du français, nous avons remarqué des influences de la coarticulation nasale en L1 (le cantonais) sur l’interlangue des voyelles nasales françaises. Les résultats de l’analyse sont les suivants : 1) il existe une différence significative au niveau du taux de nasalité entre les apprenants et les locuteurs natifs enquêtés ; 2) la L1 joue un rôle important sur la longueur des voyelles et les valeurs maximales de la nasalité de la production des voyelles nasales ; 3) les apprenants éprouvent des difficultés dans l’arrondissement au cours de la production de certaines voyelles nasales françaises.The coarticulatory nasalized vowels can be commonly found in many languages in the world. Meanwhile, regarded as independent phoneme, the nasal vowels are present only in few languages. Featured by an important rate of nasalance and the specific position of the tongue and the lips, the French nasal vowels bring about some difficulties for Chinese students. This article aims at examining the characteristics of the interlanguage of French nasal vowels produced by Cantonese learners studying French in China. Experimental phonetics methodologies are used in this research in order to compare the nasalance, the duration of vowels, the formants and the position of the lips between the Cantonophone learners and the native French speakers. The influence of the nasal coarticulation in the learner’s L1 on the interlanguage of the nasal vowels in French is observed. The results of analysis show that: 1) there exists a significant difference in terms of nasalance in nasal vowels between the learners and the native French speakers; 2) L1 plays an important role in the duration of vowels and the maximum values of nasalance of French nasal vowels; 3) the learners experience difficulties in the roundedness of certain vowels

Novel Sb−SnO2 Electrode with Ti3+ Self-Doped Urchin-Like Rutile TiO2 Nanoclusters as the Interlayer for the Effective Degradation of Dye Pollutants

Stable and efficient SnO2 electrodes are very promising for effectively degrading refractory organic pollutants in wastewater treatment. In this regard, we firstly prepared Ti3+ self-doped urchin-like rutile TiO2 nanoclusters (TiO2-xNCs) on a Ti mesh substrate by hydrothermal and electroreduction to serve as an interlayer for the deposition of Sb−SnO2. The TiO2-xNCs/Sb−SnO2 anode exhibited a high oxygen evolution potential (2.63 V vs. SCE) and strong ⋅OH generation ability for the enhanced amount of absorbed oxygen species. Thus, the degradation results demonstrated its good rhodamine B (RhB), methylene blue (MB), alizarin yellow R (AYR), and methyl orange (MO) removal performance, with the rate constant increased 5.0, 1.9, 1.9, and 4.7 times, respectively, compared to the control Sb−SnO2 electrode. RhB and AYR degradation mechanisms are also proposed based on the results of high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and quenching experiments. More importantly, this unique rutile interlayer prolonged the anode lifetime sixfold, given its good lattice match with SnO2 and the three-dimensional concave–convex structure. Consequently, this work paves a new way for designing the crystal form and structure of the interlayers to obtain efficient and stable SnO2 electrodes for addressing dye wastewater problems

13.4 % Efficiency from All-Small-Molecule Organic Solar Cells Based on a Crystalline Donor with Chlorine and Trialkylsilyl Substitutions

How to simultaneously achieve both high open-circuit voltage (Voc) and high short-circuit current density (Jsc) is a big challenge for realising high power conversion efficiency (PCE) in all-small-molecule organic solar cells (all-SM OSCs). Herein, a novel small molecule (SM)-donor, namely FYSM−SiCl, with trialkylsilyl and chlorine substitutions was designed and synthesized. Compared to the original SM-donor FYSM−H, FYSM−Si with trialkylsilyl substitution showed a decreased crystallinity and lower highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level, while FYSM−SiCl had an improved crystallinity, more ordered packing arrangement, significantly lower HOMO level, and predominant “face-on” orientation. Matched with a SM-acceptor Y6, the FYSM−SiCl-based all-SM OSCs exhibited both high Voc of 0.85 V and high Jsc of 23.7 mA cm−2, which is rare for all-SM OSCs and could be attributed to the low HOMO level of FYSM−SiCl donor and the delicate balance between high crystallinity and suitable blend morphology. As a result, FYSM−SiCl achieved a high PCE of 13.4 % in all-SM OSCs, which was much higher than those of the FYSM−H- (10.9 %) and FYSM−Si-based devices (12.2 %). This work demonstrated a promising method for the design of efficient SM-donors by a side-chain engineering strategy via the introduction of trialkylsilyl and chlorine substitutions

Abnormal Mammary Gland Development and Growth Retardation in Female Mice and MCF7 Breast Cancer Cells Lacking Androgen Receptor

Phenotype analysis of female mice lacking androgen receptor (AR) deficient (AR−/−) indicates that the development of mammary glands is retarded with reduced ductal branching in the prepubertal stages, and fewer Cap cells in the terminal end buds, as well as decreased lobuloalveolar development in adult females, and fewer milk-producing alveoli in the lactating glands. The defective development of AR−/− mammary glands involves the defects of insulin-like growth factor I–insulin-like growth factor I receptor and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signals as well as estrogen receptor (ER) activity. Similar growth retardation and defects in growth factor–mediated Ras/Raf/MAPK cascade and ER signaling are also found in AR−/− MCF7 breast cancer cells. The restoration assays show that AR NH2-terminal/DNA-binding domain, but not the ligand-binding domain, is essential for normal MAPK function in MCF7 cells, and an AR mutant (R608K), found in male breast cancer, is associated with the excessive activation of MAPK. Together, our data provide the first in vivo evidence showing that AR-mediated MAPK and ER activation may play important roles for mammary gland development and MCF7 breast cancer cell proliferation

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among middle-aged and elderly adults in China: current status and temporal trends

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. We aimed to estimate prevalence and distribution of MetS among middle-aged and elderly adults in China. Methods: The present analysis used data from a national study in 2014–2015. We defined MetS by different definitions, and compared results of the present study and previous nationally representative studies to illustrate possible temporal changes in MetS prevalence. Results: The estimated prevalence of MetS was 18.4% by the ATP III criteria, 34.0% by the revised ATP III criteria, and 26.9% by IDF criteria. The prevalence was higher in women, older adults, those with lower education level, and in economically developed regions. Contrasting with previous national studies, adults in urban areas had a lower rate of MetS than those in rural areas (odds ratio 0.94; 95% CI 0.92−0.97). Rural adults had worse deterioration or less improvement in abdominal obesity, overweight, hypertension, and high fasting plasma glucose, than urban adults, which was particularly striking for women. Conclusion: While measures to prevent and control cardiovascular diseases need to be strengthened in China, rapid increasing risk factors among rural residents and women should be prioritized in making public health policy decisions