Learners’ Motivation and the Implications for Classroom Teaching

Motivation accounts for remarkable and significant places in individual differences and L2 acquisition. Moreover, its implications for classroom teaching seem to be more practical, which makes a great difference to teachers who can completely understand and take advantage of the implications. Keywords: motivation; classroom teaching Résumé: La motivation joue un rôle remarquable et signifiant dans les différences individuelles et l’acquissions de L2. Pourtant, ses implications pour l’apprentissage en classe apparaissent plus pratiques, ce qui engendre une grande différence dans les enseignants qui peuvent comprendre complètement et en bien profiter. Mots-clés: motivation, apprentissage en classe

A scheme for tunable quantum phase gate and effective preparation of graph-state entanglement

A scheme is presented for realizing a quantum phase gate with three-level atoms, solid-state qubits--often called artificial atoms, or ions that share a quantum data bus such as a single mode field in cavity QED system or a collective vibrational state of trapped ions. In this scheme, the conditional phase shift is tunable and controllable via the total effective interaction time. Furthermore, we show that the method can be used for effective preparation of graph-state entanglement, which are important resources for quantum computation, quantum error correction, studies of multiparticle entanglement, fundamental tests of non-locality and decoherence.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

4-Amino-3-(4-pyrid­yl)-1,2,4-triazole-5(4H)-thione

In the title mol­ecule, C7H7N5S, the pyridyl and triazole rings form a dihedral angle of 20.07 (6)°. Inter­molecular N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into chains extended in the direction [10]. Further stability is provided by π⋯π stacking inter­actions, indicated by short distances between the centroids of triazole rings [3.480 (5) Å] and pyridyl rings [3.574 (5) Å] of neighbouring mol­ecules

Do Bird Assemblages Predict Susceptibility by E-Waste Pollution? A Comparative Study Based on Species- and Guild-Dependent Responses in China Agroecosystems

Indirect effects of electronic waste (e-waste) have been proposed as a causal factor in the decline of bird populations, but analyses of the severity impacts on community assembly are currently lacking. To explore how population abundance/species diversity are influenced, and which functional traits are important in determining e-waste susceptibility, here we surveyed breeding and overwintering birds with a hierarchically nested sampling design, and used linear mixed models to analyze changes in bird assemblages along an exposure gradient in South China. Total bird abundance and species diversity decreased with e-waste severity (exposed < surrounding < reference), reflecting the decreasing discharge and consequent side effects. Twenty-five breeding species exclusively used natural farmland, and nine species decreased significantly in relative abundance at e-waste polluted sites. A high pairwise similarity between exposed and surrounding sites indicates a diffuse effect of pollutants on the species assembly at local scale. We show that sensitivity to e-waste severity varies substantially across functional guild, with the prevalence of woodland insectivorous and grassland specialists declining, while some open farmland generalists such as arboreal frugivores, and terrestrial granivores were also rare. By contrast, the response of waterbirds, omnivorous and non-breeding visitors seem to be tolerable to a wide range of pollution so far. These findings underscore that improper e-waste dismantling results in a severe decline of bird diversity, and the different bird assemblages on polluted and natural farmlands imply species- and guild-dependent susceptibility with functional traits. Moreover, a better understanding of the impact of e-waste with different pollution levels, combined multiple pollutants, and in a food-web context on bird is required in future

CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Vitellogenin Receptor Knockout Leads to Functional Deficiency in the Reproductive Development of Plutella xylostella

The vitellogenin receptor (VgR) belongs to the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) gene superfamily and plays an indispensable role in Vg transport, yolk deposition, and oocyte development. For this reason, it has become a promising target for pest control. The involvement of VgR in Vg transport and reproductive functions remains unclear in diamondback moths, Plutella xylostella (L.), a destructive pest of cruciferous crops. Here, we cloned and identified the complete cDNA sequence of P. xylostella VgR, which encoded 1805 amino acid residues and contained four conserved domains of LDLR superfamily. PxVgR was mainly expressed in female adults, more specifically in the ovary. PxVgR protein also showed the similar expression profile with the PxVgR transcript. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated PxVgR knockout created a homozygous mutant of P. xylostella with 5-bp-nucleotide deletion in the PxVgR. The expression deficiency of PxVgR protein was detected in the ovaries and eggs of mutant individuals. Vg protein was still detected in the eggs of the mutant individuals, but with a decreased expression level. However, PxVg transcripts were not significantly affected by the PxVgR knockout. Knockout of PxVgR resulted in shorter ovarioles of newly emerged females. No significant difference was detected between wild and mutant individuals in terms of the number of eggs laid in the first 3 days after mating. The loss of PxVgR gene resulted in smaller and whiter eggs and lower egg hatching rate. This study represents the first report on the functions of VgR in Vg transport, ovary development, oviposition, and embryonic development of P. xylostella using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. This study lays the foundation for understanding molecular mechanisms of P. xylostella reproduction, and for making use of VgR as a potential genetic-based molecular target for better control of the P. xylostella

Identification of Halloween Genes and RNA Interference-Mediated Functional Characterization of a Halloween Gene shadow in Plutella xylostella

Ecdysteroids play an essential role in controlling insect development and reproduction. Their pathway is regulated by a group of enzymes called Halloween gene proteins. The relationship between the Halloween genes and ecdysteroid synthesis has yet to be clearly understood in diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), a worldwide Lepidoptera pest attacking cruciferous crops and wild plants. In this study, complete sequences for six Halloween genes, neverland ( nvd ), shroud ( sro ), spook ( spo ), phantom ( phm ), disembodied ( dib ), shadow ( sad ), and shade ( shd ), were identified. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a strong conservation in insects, including Halloween genes of P. xylostella that was clustered with all other Lepidoptera species. Three Halloween genes, dib , sad , and shd were highly expressed in the adult stage, while nvd and spo were highly expressed in the egg and pupal stages, respectively. Five Halloween genes were highly expressed specifically in the prothorax, which is the major site of ecdysone production. However, shd was expressed predominantly in the fat body to convert ecdysone into 20-hydroxyecdysone. RNAi-based knockdown of sad , which is involved in the last step of ecdysone biosynthesis, significantly reduced the 20E titer and resulted in a longer developmental duration and lower pupation of fourth-instar larvae, as well as caused shorter ovarioles and fewer fully developed eggs of P. xylostella . Furthermore, after the knockdown of sad , the expression levels of Vg and VgR genes were significantly decreased by 77.1 and 53.0%. Meanwhile, the number of eggs laid after 3 days was significantly reduced in sad knockdown females. These results suggest that Halloween genes may play a critical role in the biosynthesis of ecdysteroids and be involved in the development and reproduction of P. xylostella . Our work provides a solid basis for understanding the functional importance of these genes, which will help to screening potential genes for pest management of P. xylostella

The LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area (LaCoSSPAr) in the Southern Galactic Cap I. The Spectroscopic Redshift Catalog

We present a spectroscopic redshift catalog from the LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area (LaCoSSPAr) in the Southern Galactic Cap (SGC), which is designed to observe all sources (Galactic and extra-galactic) by using repeating observations with a limiting magnitude of $r=18.1~mag$ in two $20~deg^2$ fields. The project is mainly focusing on the completeness of LAMOST ExtraGAlactic Surveys (LEGAS) in the SGC, the deficiencies of source selection methods and the basic performance parameters of LAMOST telescope. In both fields, more than 95% of galaxies have been observed. A post-processing has been applied to LAMOST 1D spectrum to remove the majority of remaining sky background residuals. More than 10,000 spectra have been visually inspected to measure the redshift by using combinations of different emission/absorption features with uncertainty of $\sigma_{z}/(1+z)<0.001$. In total, there are 1528 redshifts (623 absorption and 905 emission line galaxies) in Field A and 1570 redshifts (569 absorption and 1001 emission line galaxies) in Field B have been measured. The results show that it is possible to derive redshift from low SNR galaxies with our post-processing and visual inspection. Our analysis also indicates that up to 1/4 of the input targets for a typical extra-galactic spectroscopic survey might be unreliable. The multi-wavelength data analysis shows that the majority of mid-infrared-detected absorption (91.3%) and emission line galaxies (93.3%) can be well separated by an empirical criterion of $W2-W3=2.4$. Meanwhile, a fainter sequence paralleled to the main population of galaxies has been witnessed both in $M_r$/$W2-W3$ and $M_*$/$W2-W3$ diagrams, which could be the population of luminous dwarf galaxies but contaminated by the edge-on/highly inclined galaxies ($\sim30\%$).Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, 2 MRT, accepted by ApJ

Prognostic Significance of Tumor-Associated Macrophages in Chondroblastoma and Their Association with Response to Adjuvant Radiotherapy

Objective: Chondroblastoma (CB) is a rare and locally growing cartilage-derived tumor. Currently, clinical implications of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in CB remain unclear. In this study, we sought to analyze the relationship between TAM parameters (including densities of CD68+ and CD163+ cells as well as the CD163+/CD68+ ratio) and clinicopathological characteristics and survival of patients. Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to assess TAM subtypes for CD68 and CD163, as well as the expression levels of p53, CD34, and Ki-67 on tumor cells in 132 tissue specimens retrieved between July 2002 and April 2020. Then, TAM parameters were retrospectively analyzed for their associations with patient outcomes (local recurrence-free survival [LRFS] and overall survival [OS]) and clinicopathological features. Results: TAM densities were significantly higher in axial chondroblastoma tissue than in extra-axial chondroblastoma tissue. Moreover, the number of CD163+ TAMs was positively correlated with tumor invasion of surrounding tissues and high expression of CD34 and Ki-67 on tumor cells, whereas CD163+ cell density and the CD163/CD68 ratio were negatively associated with patient response to adjuvant radiotherapy. Univariate Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the number of CD68+ and CD163+ lymphocytes was significantly associated with both LRFS and OS. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that CD163+ and CD68+ cell levels were independent prognostic factors of LRFS, while TAM data independently predicted OS. More importantly, in subgroup analysis based on three significant factors in univariate survival analysis (including tumor location, adjuvant radiotherapy, and surrounding tissue invasion by tumors), the TAM parameters still displayed good prognostic performance. Conclusion: These data suggest that TAM may significantly affect the biological behavior of CB. We hypothesize that modulating the TAM level or polarization status in the microenvironment may be an effective approach for CB treatment