Diagnosing and promoting learners’ L2 inferential reading development through hybrid computerised dynamic assessment in the Chinese EFL classroom

Dynamic assessment (DA) addresses the limitations of standardised assessments by integrating the understanding and promotion of learners’ emerging abilities during the assessment process for a more comprehensive view of their language performances. However, the conventional interactionist and interventionist DA approaches each have their deficiencies, failing to fulfil both DA practicality and contextualisation in L2 classrooms. Also, there is a scarcity of DA research on exploring learner performances over time. This study aims to address these gaps by putting forward a hybrid computerised dynamic assessment (hybrid C-DA) model implemented as a 7-week pedagogical programme in diagnosing and promoting learners’ L2 inferential reading in the Chinese university EFL classroom. With a quasi-experimental design, two parallel classes of first-year undergraduates participated as the experimental group (n=34) and the control group (n=38). Data were collected from participants’ numerical scores in the online pre-test, post-test, intervention tests and transfer tests centring on TOEFL iBT readings. Statistical analysis revealed the effectiveness of hybrid C-DA in promoting learners’ L2 inferential reading abilities as the experimental group performed significantly better than the control group. Within one-shot hybrid C-DA test, multi-dimensional diagnostic profiles were instantiated through learners’ differentiated responses to mediations and varying mediation levels across question types. Meanwhile, learners’ fluctuated performances across multiple hybrid C-DA tests reflected the non-linear nature of development if viewed dialectically. Overall, we argue that the refined hybrid C-DA model has the capacity to contribute to learners’ L2 development while uncovering fine-grained diagnostic information unobtainable in standardised tests, which significantly informs future L2 instructions

Effects of pH and Sulfonated Lignin on the Enzymatic Saccharification of Acid Bisulfite- and Green Liquor-pretreated Poplar Wood

The effects of pH and sulfonated lignin (SL) on the saccharification of enzymatic hydrolysis were investigated using acid bisulfite (AS)- and green liquor (GL)-pretreated poplar as substrates. The enzymatic sugar conversions of AS- and GL-pretreated poplar could reach high levels at pH 4.8. The sugar conversions of both AS- and GL-pretreated poplar solids increased when hydrophilic SL was used as an additive in the enzymatic hydrolysis. With SL addition, the optimal pH of AS-pretreated poplar moved to 5.1–5.7, while that of GL-pretreated poplar showed no significant difference. The sugar conversions of AS- and GL-pretreated poplar went up and then leveled off with SL charges from 0.05 to 0.3 g/g-substrate. The highest total sugar conversions increased from 76.4% and 86.9% (pH 4.8, without SL) to 83.5% (pH 5.4, SL 0.3 g/g-substrate) and 90.9% (pH 5.0, SL 0.2 g/g-substrate) for AS- and GL-pretreated poplar, respectively

Structural Characterization of Lignin and Lignin-Carbohydrate Complex (LCC) from Ginkgo Shells (Ginkgo biloba L.) by Comprehensive NMR Spectroscopy

Lignin and lignin-carbohydrate complexes are important polymers for lignocellulosic biorefinery and functional materials, but those in ginkgo shells are not effectively analyzed and exploited. Based on this background, milled wood lignins (MWLML and MWLFZ) and lignin-carbohydrate complexes (LCCML and LCCFZ) were isolated from the shells of Ginkgo biloba L. cv. Damaling (ML) and Ginkgo biloba L. cv. Dafozhi (FZ) correspondingly, and were structurally characterized by comprehensive NMR spectroscopy. The results showed that ginkgo shells exhibited higher lignin (42%) and xylan (20%) content than general softwood species. Isolated MWLs were rich in guaiacyl units with the presence of ferulates and p-coumarates, and the molecular formula was C9H7.93O2.73(OCH3)0.81 and C9H7.87O2.76(OCH3)0.88 for MWLML and MWLFZ, respectively. Phenolic hydroxyl of MWLML (1.38 mmol/g) and MWLFZ (1.23 mmol/g) in ginkgo shells was much less than that in general softwoods, suggesting a higher etherification and condensation degree of ginkgo shells lignin, and β-5′, α-O-4′, and 4-O-5′ bonds were the main condensed structures. O-acetylated β-d-xylopyranoside and β-d-mannopyranoside were the main polysaccharides associated with lignin, and the acetyl groups frequently acylate the C2 and C3 positions. LCCML had more phenyl glycoside (0.035/Ar) and less γ-ester (0.026/Ar) linkages than LCCFZ

Effects of Green Liquor Pretreatment on the Chemical Composition and Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Several Lignocellulosic Biomasses

Pretreatment of biomass is an extremely important step in a commercial biorefinery. For realization of lignocellulosic biomass as an alternative fuel source to occur, a fundamental understanding and critical investigation of the chosen pretreatment are essential. In this work, green liquor (GL) pretreatment of four plant species, namely Masson pine, poplar, moso bamboo, and miscanthus, was investigated to understand its effect on the chemical composition and enzymatic hydrolysis of different lignocellulosic materials. The results indicated that herbaceous materials exhibited better delignification selectivity in GL pretreatment than woody materials according to the order: miscanthus > moso bamboo > poplar > Masson pine. The effect of GL pretreatment on the enzymatic sugar yield was rather different depending on the varieties of lignocellulosic materials. Higher lignin removal with less polysaccharide degradation during GL pretreatment improved the enzymatic sugar yield

Screening and Evaluation of Excellent Blackberry Cultivars and Strains Based on Nutritional Quality, Antioxidant Properties, and Genetic Diversity

To screen and evaluate excellent blackberry cultivars and strains, 17 indexes of plant growth and fruit horticultural and nutritional characteristics were measured, 20 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were analyzed, the fingerprints of 23 blackberry cultivars and strains were constructed, and the processing characteristics of 10 excellent cultivars and strains were evaluated. The results showed that ‘Chester’ and ‘Shuofeng’ had the highest plant yield (6.5 kg per plant), of which the ‘Chester’ fruit also had the highest hardness (2.78 kg/cm2). ‘Kiowa’ had the highest single fruit weight (10.43 g). ‘10-5n-2’ had the highest total anthocyanin content (225.4 mg/100 g FW) and total polyphenol content (3.24 mg/g FW), but a low plant yield. These results suggest that ‘Shuofeng’ and ‘Chester’ are the top two blackberry cultivars planted in Nanjing, with the best growth and comprehensive quality. Moreover, a total of 119 alleles were detected with an average number of 6 alleles per locus. The polymorphism information content (PIC) was 0.374~0.844, with an average of 0.739, indicating a high genetic diversity among the 23 blackberry cultivars and strains. This study provides insight into the plant growth, fruit characteristics and genetic diversity of the 23 blackberry cultivars and strains, and is thus conducive to the protection and utilization of blackberry cultivars and strains

A Mini-review on the Applications of Cellulose-Binding Domains in Lignocellulosic Material Utilizations

This manuscript provides a mini review on the fundamentals of cellulose binding domains (CBDs) or cellulose binding modules (CBMs) and their applications using lignocellulosic materials. CBDs, the non-productive part of cellulases, have miscellaneous biological functions and have been widely applied in lignocellulose hydrolysis, protein engineering, structural support, metabolism, energy storage, antibiosis, immunological recognition, targeting, attachment, etc. due to their specific affinity to various substrates of lignocelluloses. Understanding of the properties and mechanisms of CBDs is of vital significance because it provides the basis for fine manipulation of cellulose-CBM interactions and eventually improves the bioconversion performance of lignocelluloses into fuels and desired chemicals. In this short review, the fundamentals of CBD, the definition of CBM family, and the structures of different CBM families are introduced. Then recent findings in the applications of CBDs are discussed relative to the lignocelllulosic utilizations

Lignin Redistribution for Enhancing Barrier Properties of Cellulose-Based Materials

Renewable cellulose-based materials have gained increasing interest in food packaging because of its favorable biodegradability and biocompatibility, whereas the barrier properties of hydrophilic and porous fibers are inadequate for most applications. Exploration of lignin redistribution for enhancing barrier properties of paper packaging material was carried out in this work. The redistribution of nanolized alkali lignin on paper surface showed excellent water, grease, and water vapor barrier. It provided persisted water (contact angle decrease rate at 0.05°/s) and grease (stained area undetectable at 72 h) resistance under long-term moisture or oil direct contact conditions, which also inhibited the bacterial growth to certain degree. Tough water vapor transmission rate can be lowered 82% from 528 to 97 g/m2/d by lignin redistribution. The result suggests that alkali lignin, with multiple barrier properties, has great potential in bio-based application considering the biodegradability, biocompatibility, and recyclability

Intermolecular self-assembly of dopamine-conjugated carboxymethylcellulose and carbon nanotubes toward supertough filaments and multifunctional wearables

The utilization of smart textiles, mainly in the form of yarns and wovens, requires high structural toughness and flexibility. To this end, we introduce a strategy based on the intermolecular self-assembly of dopamine-conjugated carboxymethyl cellulose (DA-CMC) with carbon nanotubes (CNT). Upon coagulation in a nonsolvent, the DA-CMC/CNT suspensions readily form composite filaments by the effects of hydrogen bonding, H-pi, anion-pi, and pi-pi interactions, as demonstrated by molecular dynamic simulation. The DA-CMC/CNT filaments display super-toughness (~76.2 MJ m−3), extensibility (strain to failure of ~14.8% at 90% RH, twice that of dopamine-free analogous systems) and high electrical conductivity. Moreover, the composite filaments form conductive networks that effectively support bending, strain and compression in air or fluid media. As such, they are suitable for application in wearables devices designed for sensing and electrothermal heating. Our proposed, scalable synthesis of multifunctional filaments opens new opportunities given their electroactivity and suitability for human interfacing.Peer reviewe

Bio-Based Carbon Materials for High-Performance Supercapacitors

Lignin, one of the components of natural plant biomass, is a rich source of carbon and has excellent potential as a valuable, sustainable source of carbon material. Low-cost lignosulfonate (LS) doped with polyaniline (PANI) has been used as a precursor to produce porous carbon. LS has a highly dispersed and sparse microstructure and can be accidentally doped with S atoms. N and S double-doped carbon can be directly synthesized with abundant mesopores and high surface area in a lamellar network using PANI as another doping source. This study explored the optimal conditions of LS/PANI material with different amounts of lignosulfonate and different carbonization temperatures. When the amount of lignosulfonate was 4 g and the carbonization temperature was 700 °C, graded porous carbon was obtained, and the electrochemical performance was the best. At 0.5 A/g, the specific capacitance reached 333.50 F/g (three-electrode system) and 242.20 F/g (two-electrode system). After 5000 charge/discharge cycles at 5 A/g, the material maintained good cycling stability and achieved a capacitance retention rate of 95.14% (three-electrode system) and 97.04% (two-electrode system). The energy and power densities of the SNC700 samples were 8.33 Wh/kg and 62.5 W/kg at 0.25 A/g, respectively, values that meet the requirements of today’s commercially available supercapacitor electrode materials, further demonstrating their good practicality. This paper provides an efficient double-doping method to prepare layered structures. Porous carbon is used for electrochemical energy storage devices

A mild iodocyclohexane demethylation for highly enhancing antioxidant activity of lignin

Lignin, as a natural antioxidant, shows great potential in food engineering and medicine. However, the inherent macromolecular structure, high polydispersity, and few phenolic hydroxy seriously limit its antioxidant activity. In this work, a mild iodocyclohexane demethylation for highly improving the antioxidant activity of lignin was proposed. The results showed –OCH3 content exhibited an almost linear decrease as a function of treating time, and the demethylation and cleavage of β–aryl ether bonds prompt an obvious increase in phenolic hydroxyl content (4.01 mmol/g) and a significant decline in aliphatic hydroxyl (∼0.03 mmol/g). Meanwhile, attributing to the fragmentation of β–O–4, β–β, and β–5 substructures, the polydispersity of lignin molecular weight decreases from 2.7 to 2.2. As a result, the formed catechol-typed lignin showed an outstanding antioxidant activity, with the radical (DPPH·) scavenging index (inverse of concentration for 50% of maximal effect (EC50) value) over 2 000 mL/mg, much superior to the commercial antioxidants (< 500 mL/mg). Further structure-activity relationship analysis implied that the Ph–OH/–OCH3 ratio might act as a key factor influencing the antioxidant activity of lignin. This mild demethylation demonstrates a facile and effective method for highly enhancing the antioxidant activity of lignin and makes the catechol-typed lignin a green and promising product for practical use in food, medicine, and pharmacy