Analyzing experiences of using effective feedback in the ESL classroom through the use of digital technologies

This article of systematic literature review presents the analysis of a series of experiences that use effective feedback in educational activities through the use and integration of digital technologies, specifically, in the classes of English as a second language in higher education. The revision analyzed 14 different experiences. As part of the analysis, criteria are defined to describe and compare them, linked with the possibilities of feedback to favor the formative processes at the higher education level. Criteria include: country of origin and level of education, design of feedback used, the timing of the feedback, the means of providing feedback, and the consideration of digital technologies. The main results indicate that the use of feedback, in the ESL classroom, allows learners to boost their capacity of analysis, critical thinking, and the resolution of problems linked with interlanguage. As a conclusion, the salience and positive impact of digital technologies are highlighted in favoring the positive and effective feedback, in the particular case of English as a second language. Finally, it is evident the use of computer -mediation, screencast, and web-based learning environments as the primary sources of authors used more frequently to implement effective feedback in higher education. It concludes that the set of experiences analyzed provides light in terms of the considerations needed to design and adjust formative processes that allow boosting effective feedback mediated by digital technologies. As future work, there will be the elaboration of a methodological proposal that helps to adjust the formative processes that enable the integration of digital technologies as mediators in the process of feedback between teachers and learners.UCR::Sedes Regionales::Sede del Atlántico::Recinto de GuápilesUCR::Sedes Regionales::Sede del Carib

Clinical and pathological correlates of severity classifications in trigger fingers based on computer-aided image analysis

BACKGROUND: The treatment of trigger finger so far has heavily relied on clinicians’ evaluations for the severity of patients’ symptoms and the functionality of affected fingers. However, there is still a lack of pathological evidence supporting the criteria of clinical evaluations. This study’s aim was to correlate clinical classification and pathological changes for trigger finger based on the tissue abnormality observed from microscopic images. METHODS: Tissue samples were acquired, and microscopic images were randomly selected and then graded by three pathologists and two physicians, respectively. Moreover, the acquired images were automatically analyzed to derive two quantitative parameters, the size ratio of the abnormal tissue region and the number ratio of the abnormal nuclei, which can reflect tissue abnormality caused by trigger finger. A self-developed image analysis system was used to avoid human subjectivity during the quantification process. Finally, correlations between the quantitative image parameters, pathological grading, and clinical severity classification were assessed. RESULTS: One-way ANOVA tests revealed significant correlations between the image quantification and pathological grading as well as between the image quantification and clinical severity classification. The Cohen’s kappa coefficient test also depicted good consistency between pathological grading and clinical severity classification. CONCLUSIONS: The criteria of clinical classification were found to be highly associated with the pathological changes of affected tissues. The correlations serve as explicit evidence supporting clinicians in making a treatment strategy of trigger finger. In addition, our proposed computer-aided image analysis system was considered to be a promising and objective approach to determining trigger finger severity at the microscopic level

Electronic band structures of Ge1−xSnx semiconductors: A first-principles density functional theory study

[[abstract]]We conduct first-principles total-energy density functional calculations to study the band structures in Ge 1− x Sn x infrared semiconductor alloys. The norm-conserving optimized pseudopotentials of Ge and Sn have been constructed for electronic structure calculations. The composition-bandgap relationships in Ge 1−x Sn x lattices are evaluated by a detailed comparison of structural models and their electronic band structures. The critical Sn composition related to the transition from indirect- to direct-gap in Ge 1−x Sn x alloys is estimated to be as low as x∼ 0.016 determined from the parametric fit. Our results show that the crossover Sn concentration occurs at a lower critical Sn concentration than the values predicted from the absorption measurements. However, early results indicate that the reliability of the critical Sn concentration from such measurements is hard to establish, since the indirect gap absorption is much weaker than the direct gap absorption. We find that the direct band gap decreases exponentially with the Sn composition over the range 0 0.375, in very good agreement with the theoretical observed behavior [D. W. Jenkins and J. D. Dow, Phys. Rev. B 36, 7994, 1987]. For homonuclear and heteronuclear complexes of Ge 1−x Sn x alloys, the indirect band gap at L-pointis is found to decrease homonuclear Ge-Ge bonds or increase homonuclear Sn-Sn bonds as a result of the reduced L valley. All findings agree with previously reported experimental and theoretical results. The analysis suggests that the top of valence band exhibits the localization of bond charge and the bottom of the conduction band is composed of the Ge 4s4p and/or Sn 5s5p atomic orbits.[[booktype]]紙本[[booktype]]電子

Evolution‐informed modeling improves outcome prediction for cancers

Despite wide applications of high‐throughput biotechnologies in cancer research, many biomarkers discovered by exploring large‐scale omics data do not provide satisfactory performance when used to predict cancer treatment outcomes. This problem is partly due to the overlooking of functional implications of molecular markers. Here, we present a novel computational method that uses evolutionary conservation as prior knowledge to discover bona fide biomarkers. Evolutionary selection at the molecular level is nature’s test on functional consequences of genetic elements. By prioritizing genes that show significant statistical association and high functional impact, our new method reduces the chances of including spurious markers in the predictive model. When applied to predicting therapeutic responses for patients with acute myeloid leukemia and to predicting metastasis for patients with prostate cancers, the new method gave rise to evolution‐informed models that enjoyed low complexity and high accuracy. The identified genetic markers also have significant implications in tumor progression and embrace potential drug targets. Because evolutionary conservation can be estimated as a gene‐specific, position‐specific, or allele‐specific parameter on the nucleotide level and on the protein level, this new method can be extended to apply to miscellaneous “omics” data to accelerate biomarker discoveries.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135247/1/eva12417_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135247/2/eva12417.pd

RhoGDIβ-induced hypertrophic growth in H9c2 cells is negatively regulated by ZAK

We found that overexpression of RhoGDIβ, a Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor, induced hypertrophic growth and suppressed cell cycle progression in a cultured cardiomyoblast cell line. Knockdown of RhoGDIβ expression by RNA interference blocked hypertrophic growth. We further demonstrated that RhoGDIβ physically interacts with ZAK and is phosphorylated by ZAK in vitro, and this phosphorylation negatively regulates RhoGDIβ functions. Moreover, the ZAK-RhoGDIβ interaction may maintain ZAK in an inactive hypophosphorylated form. These two proteins could negatively regulate one another such that ZAK suppresses RhoGDIβ functions through phosphorylation and RhoGDIβ counteracts the effects of ZAK by physical interaction. Knockdown of ZAK expression in ZAK- and RhoGDIβ-expressing cells by ZAK-specific RNA interference restored the full functions of RhoGDIβ

Enhancing National Chi Nan University Campus’s Ecological Friendliness by Creating a Butterfly Habitat Using Reclaimed Water

The campus of National Chi Nan University (NCNU), Taiwan is about 150 hectares, and surrounded by dense valleys and forests that provides a habitat for many wild animals. In order to further enhance the ecological friendliness of the campus, the school implemented courses to create habitats for butterflies around the Sun Pond in the campus. The reclaimed water, originated from Water Treatment Factory, in the Sun Pond is used to irrigate the vegetation in the habitat to enhance the ecological conservation value. From 2019 to 2020, a number of 17 species with 670 individuals and food plants for butterflies was planted, and special instruction signs focusing on butterfly ecology were set up, so that staff and students can better understand the actions and goals in ecological conservation of green university. From 2020 to mid-2021, a total of 6 courses with 750 students (13% of the total number of students) visited the wonderful habit. The number of 22 species of butterflies was recorded in the habitat and this number was an average of 132 per 30 minutes, which shows that the construction of the habitats is successful. The creation of the butterfly habitat is in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 and SDG 15. The habitat has become a distinguished place for environmental education in the university. In the future, more community residents and tourists can experience this fantastic place and realize the efforts and achievements in ecological conservation succeeded by NCNU.Keyword: Butterfly Habitat, Reclaimed Water, Green University, Environmental Education, Community Resident

Spectral flow of non-hermitian Heisenberg spin chain with complex twist

We investigate the spectral flow of the integrable non-hermitian Heisenberg spin chain under boundary conditions with complex twist angle. It is shown that the period of the spectral flow is $4\pi$ up to a certain critical imaginary twist, beyond which the period jumps successively to higher values. We argue that this phenomenon caused by non-hermitian properties of the system is closely related to the metal-insulator transition caused by non-hermitian hoppings for the one-dimensional insulator.Comment: 10 pages, revtex, to appear in NP