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Abstract In second language acquisition research, the psychological factors associated with language learning have been a prominent focus. The affective turn in and introduction of positive psychology in this field have further boosted research on the roles of positive learner psychological factors (e.g. motivation) in performance (e.g. engagement). However, the theoretical lens for investigating these variables requires further clarification, and the roles of some variables (e.g. boredom) in language learning have been under-researched. Guided by this background, this study aims to explore the complex relationships between learners’ basic psychological needs, self-determined motivation, boredom and behavioural engagement among 687 Chinese senior high school EFL learners from the perspective of self-determination theory (SDT). Quantitative data collection and analysis revealed that students’ basic psychological needs directly predicted behavioural engagement. Basic psychological needs also indirectly predicted behavioural engagement through the simple mediation of boredom and the chain mediation of self-determined motivation and boredom. However, the simple mediation of self-determined motivation in the relationship between basic psychological needs and behavioural engagement was non-significant. The findings enrich the application of SDT in the language learning engagement research, providing valuable implications for teachers and educators.

Abstract Insulators, as typical equipment for distribution networks, provide good electrical insulation between live conductors and earth. Timely and accurate detection is essential for insulator detection issues. However, as the complexity of neural networks increases, the detection efficiency is often lower. Therefore, this paper proposes a fast insulator positioning and defect detection method. Firstly, for insulator target localization, the SqueezeNet network is improved using ECA attention mechanism. In addition, to address the issue of low defect detection accuracy, a joint algorithm has been proposed. The integration of convolutional variational autoencoder (CVAE) and generative adversarial network (GAN) solve their own shortcomings due to different image focus angles. The target localization accuracy reaches 94.30%, and the defect detection accuracy reaches 89.60%. It solves the problems of difficulty in locating small targets in a large field of view and inaccurate detection due to a small number of abnormal samples. This method has been tried and tested in practical distribution network systems.

Abstract This open-label, single-arm, phase 2 trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant sintilimab combined with anlotinib and chemotherapy, followed by adjuvant sintilimab, for resectable NSCLC. Forty-five patients received anlotinib (10 mg, QD, PO, days 1–14), sintilimab (200 mg, day 1), and platinum-based chemotherapy of each three-week cycle for 3 cycles, followed by surgery within 4–6 weeks. Adjuvant sintilimab (200 mg) was administered every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was achieving a pathological complete response (pCR). From June 10, 2021 through October 10, 2023, 45 patients were enrolled and composed the intention-to-treat population. Twenty-six patients (57.8%) achieved pCR, and 30 (66.7%) achieved major pathological response (MPR). Forty-one patients underwent surgery. In the per-protocol set (PP set), 63.4% (26/41) achieved pCR, and 73.2% achieved MPR. The median event-free survival was not attained (95% CI, 25.1-NE). During the neoadjuvant treatment phase, grade 3 or 4 treatment-related adverse events were observed in 25 patients (55.6%), while immune-related adverse events were reported in 7 patients (15.6%). We assessed vascular normalization and infiltration of immune-related cells by detecting the expression of relevant cell markers in NSCLC tissues with mIHC. Significant tumor microenvironment changes were observed in pCR patients, including reduced VEGF+ cells and CD4+Foxp3+ Treg cells, and increased perivascular CD4+ T cells, CD39+CD8+ T cells, and M1 macrophages. In conclusion, perioperative sintilimab and neoadjuvant anlotinib plus chemotherapy achieved pCR in a notable proportion of patients with resectable NSCLC and were associated with profound changes in the tumour microenvironment (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05400070).

Abstract This paper aims to investigate the internal structure of student academic resilience in language learning, to assess its global and dimensional levels and to examine the gender and age-related differences. Therefore, 1,653 English as a foreign language (EFL) learners, including junior and senior high school students were selected as participants to complete the questionnaires. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses unveiled a four-factorial structure of student academic resilience in English learning, including positive individual characteristics, family support, teacher support and peer support. In addition, there were no significant differences between male and female students in terms of academic resilience in English learning and its four subdimensions. Only the level of family support for junior high school students was significantly higher than that of senior high school students. The findings, implications, and limitations of language learning academic resilience were discussed.

Abstract Background Cytotoxic lymphocytes (CLs) express potent toxins, including perforin (P) and granzyme-B (G), which brings about target cell death. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the killing capacity of tumor-infiltrating CLs by means of P and G analysis, and explore the association with lymph node metastasis in papillary carcinoma of thyroid (PTC) without Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT). Methods Infiltration of lymphocytes in PTC was observed in frozen sections. Both fresh tumor tissues and paracancerous tissues with lymphocyte infiltration were collected and prepared into a single cell suspension. Flow cytometry was used to detect the percentages of CD3+P+, CD3+G+, CD8+P+, and CD8+G+ T lymphocytes (TLs) and CD16-CD56+P+ and CD16-CD56+G+ natural killer (NK) cells. Finally, we investigated differential expression of P and G in NK cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in paired tumor tissues (group T, n = 44) and paracancerous tissues (group N, n = 44) from patients with PTC with the BRAF V600E mutation. Furthermore, patients were divided into two groups according to whether cervical central lymph node metastasis (CCLNM) existed: group A (with lymph node metastases, n = 27) and group B (with nonlymph node metastases, n = 17). Patients were also divided into three groups according to the total number of positive CCLNM: group B, group C (with low-level lymph node metastases, less than 5, n = 17) and group D (with high-level lymph node metastases, no less than 5, n = 10). Results The percentage of CD3+P+ CTLs was significantly higher in group N than in group T (P 0.05). The percentages of CD3+P+ CTLs in group A and group C were significantly higher in the paracancerous tissue than in the tumor tissue (P

To explore the influence of sulfur content on the spontaneous combustion characteristics of coal and find efficient ways to prevent and control the spontaneous combustion disaster of high sulfur coal, the oxidation processes of typical high sulfur coal and typical low sulfur coal were analyzed using a comprehensive thermal analyzer (TG/DSC) and a programmed heating experimental system. The complexation of commonly used inhibitors, Ca(OH)2, Na2CO3, MgCl2 and two typical organic sulfur structures, diphenyl sulfide (C12H10S) and benzenethiol (C6H5SH), in high sulfur coal and coal were calculated using quantum chemistry simulation software. The results showed that the mass loss rate during the oxidation process of high sulfur coal was faster, and the heat release was greater. The activation energies of high sulfur coal in the pyrolysis and combustion stages were 9.16% and 15.07% lower than those of low sulfur coal, respectively, indicating a higher tendency to spontaneous combustion. Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+ in the commonly used inhibitors in coal mines can form complexes with diphenyl sulfide and benzenethiol, and the chemical reactivity of the two organic sulfur structures decreases after forming complexes, which can inhibit the spontaneous combustion of coal.

Although burgeoning research has been conducted on the role of negative emotions (e.g., English learning burnout) in affecting students’ academic achievement, there are limited studies on the intricate working mechanism between these two factors. Academic resilience is an adaptive response to academic adversity and might therefore offer protection against negative emotions (e.g., English learning burnout). Hence, this study focused on the complex interplay among students’ English learning burnout, English learning resilience, and academic achievement. A total of 334 senior high school students were recruited in the current study. The findings displayed that students’ English learning resilience mediated the relationship between English learning burnout and English academic achievement. This study may generate suggestions and implications for English teaching and learning.

Students’ motivation and learning behavior are significantly impacted by parents’ participation and investment. It has been demonstrated that parental investment behavior could exert a direct effect on students’ L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) mediated by parental investment belief. Nevertheless, the relationship between components of parental investment behavior and students’ language learning motivation remains a topic necessitating further scholarly investigation. In response to this gap, we conducted a quantitative study involving a survey of 900 high school students to explore the relationship between students’ English learning motivation, as conceptualized by the L2 Motivational Self System and parental investment behavior based on a four-component model. The findings in this study indicated that high school students exhibited moderate levels of L2MSS and relatively low levels of parental investment behavior. Moreover, students’ L2MSS was found to have a significant positive correlation with the global parental investment behavior, with parental emotional investment behavior emerging as a positive predictor of high school students’ L2MSS. These results underscore the importance of parental provision of sufficient economic, relationship, knowledge, and emotional support in cultivating a nurturing and supportive familial context conducive to the development of students’ positive future selves.

Resilience, as a positive personal trait, has been a topic of hot debate in the field of general education with the booming perspective of positive psychology. The exploration of learner resilience is conducive to understanding how learners grapple with setbacks, positively adapt, and function well in the presence of challenging situations. To date, some attention is paid to the structure of learner resilience, its relationships with other psychological variables, and its impacts on academic achievement. However, research on the overall profile of resilience in the field of foreign language (FL) or second language (L2) from a holistic and systematic perspective is still lacking. Against this backdrop, the current study reviewed and synthesized research evidence on resilience in the FL/L2 learning context. Specifically, 27 high-quality empirical studies published between 2017 and 2023 were selected, and then they were analyzed in terms of substantive characteristics of the literature and research participants, models of resilience, methodological features, and research foci. The results revealed a steady increase in language learner resilience research and displayed the detailed distribution of reviewed articles in publication year and sources as well as participants' educational backgrounds. Moreover, the conceptualization of resilience displayed complex and diverse features, the quantitative approach took a dominant position in the reviewed literature, and resilience models from psychology were widely utilized in language learner resilience research directly or indirectly. Finally, the implications of these findings were discussed for the further development of language learner resilience research.

Abstract Background Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors with a high prevalence and poor prognosis. It is an urgent problem to deeply understand the molecular mechanism of ESCC and develop effective diagnostic and prognostic methods. Methods Using tumor tissue and corresponding paracancerous samples from 141 resected ESCC patients, we assessed Jumonji domain-containing protein 6 (JMJD6) expression using Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and univariate or multivariate analysis were used to investigate the relationship between JMJD6 expression and clinicopathological features. The expression status and prognostic value of JMJD6 were analyzed by bioinformatics and enrichment analysis. Results The expression of JMJD6 in ESCC samples was higher than that in the corresponding paracancerous samples, and high expression of JMJD6 was positively associated with poor prognosis of ESCC patients. In addition, bioinformatics analysis of the expression and prognosis of JMJD6 in a variety of tumors showed that high expression of JMJD6 was significantly associated with poor overall survival (OS) in ESCC patients. Enrichment analysis indicated that the high expression of genes similar to JMJD6, such as Conserved oligomeric Golgi 1(COG1), Major facilitator superfamily domain 11 (MFSD11) and Death Effector Domain Containing 2 (DEDD2), was associated with poor prognosis of ESCC, suggesting that JMJD6 might be involved in the occurrence and prognosis of ESCC. Conclusion Our study found that JMJD6 expression was significantly increased in ESCC patients and positively correlated with prognosis, indicating that targeting JMJD6 might be an attractive prognostic biomarker and provides a potential treatment strategy for ESCC. Trial registration The study was approved by Tangdu Hospital ethics committee (No. TDLL-202110-02).

Conclusions: The distribution of pleural metastatic lesions exhibited a nonuniform pattern, primarily concentrated on the spinal aspect below the aortic arch of the costal pleura and the spinal aspect of the diaphragmatic pleura.

Since Electroencephalogram (EEG) is resistant to camouflage, it has been a reliable data source for objective emotion recognition. EEG is naturally multi-rhythm and multi-channel, based on which we can extract multiple features for further processing. In EEG-based emotion recognition, it is important to investigate whether there exist some common features shared by different emotional states, and the specific features associated with each emotional state. However, such fundamental problem is ignored by most of the existing studies. To this end, we propose a Joint label-Common and label-Specific Features Exploration (JCSFE) model for semi-supervised cross-session EEG emotion recognition in this paper. To be specific, JCSFE imposes the $\ell _{\text {2,1}}$ -norm on the projection matrix to explore the label-common EEG features and simultaneously the $\ell _{{1}}$ -norm is used to explore the label-specific EEG features. Besides, a graph regularization term is introduced to enforce the data local invariance property, i.e., similar EEG samples are encouraged to have the same emotional state. Results obtained from the SEED-IV and SEED-V emotional data sets experimentally demonstrate that JCSFE not only achieves superior emotion recognition performance in comparison with the state-of-the-art models but also provides us with a quantitative method to identify the label-common and label-specific EEG features in emotion recognition.

Objective: With the increasing incidence and mortality of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma worldwide, researchers continue to search for novel prognostic factors and treatment methods for preventing early laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma from becoming advanced laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. This study aims to determine if tumor budding is an independent risk factor associated with the survival of patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods: 268 cases of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma were studied, and tumor budding was analyzed for associations with clinicopathological features and clinical outcomes. Results: Tumor budding was divided into low-grade tumor budding (0–6/0.785 mm2) and high-grade tumor budding (≥7/0.785 mm2) based on the results of the receiver operating characteristics curve analysis. Logistic regression analysis showed that smaller tumor cell nests, the low levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, and higher pathological T staging were the risk factors for high-grade tumor budding (p

ObjectivesCeruminous adenoma is a rare benign tumor of the external auditory canal. This study aimed to present the clinical characteristics, imaging findings, pathological results and the management outcomes of the ceruminous adenoma.Study designRetrospective case series review.SettingTertiary referral center.Patients and methodsPatients undergoing surgery for ceruminous adenoma of the external auditory canal between the years 2004 to 2018. All patients with ceruminous adenoma were analyzed for demographic, clinical, radiological features and pathologic findings. The outcomes of the management were also evaluated.ResultsNine patients with ceruminous adenoma were included in the study. Hearing loss was the most common complaint (5/9, 56%), followed by otalgia (4/9, 44%), pruritus (4/9, 44%), and otorrhea (2/9, 22%). The tumors originated mostly from the cartilaginous portion of the external auditory canal (8/9, 89%) and merely from the bony portion of the external auditory canal (1/9, 11%). Pathohistological study indicated that the ceruminous adenomas were divided into three types: the ceruminous gland adenoma (6/9, 67%), the ceruminous pleomorphic adenoma (2/9, 22%) and the ceruminous syringocystadenoma papilliferum (1/9, 11%). No recurrence was found during follow-up for two to fifteen years after surgical resection.ConclusionCeruminous adenomas are rare entities. They originate mainly from the cartilaginous portion of the EAC, but occasionally from the bony portion of the EAC. The surgical section with enough margin is adequate for management of these tumors.

Objective: To generalise the features of PANP in case of potential clinical and pathological pitfall of diagnosis. Methods: Thirteen patients diagnosed as PANP were retrospectively analyzed in the Pathology Department of Capital Medical University from August 2014 to December 2019. Immunohistochemical staining with CD34, CK, Vim, Calponin, Ki67, Bcl-2, and STAT-6 was performed with envision-two steps method. Results: PANP is a benign tumor presenting with gross variegated tan to gray soft fleshy tissue with foci of obvious hemorrhage and necrosis. The imaging shows internal heterogeneous hyperintensity with a peripheral hypointense rim while postcontrast images display a strong nodular and patchy enhancement. Vimentin (Vim) stain was consistently positive, while negative for CD34, STAT-6 and Bcl-2 (focal positive in two cases). Calponin and CK stain was positive in nine cases, respectively. Conclusion: PANP is a clinically rare tumor which may simulate malignancy lesion. Recognizing of characteristic features in these thirteen patients would be beneficial to avoid misdiagnosis and unnecessary aggressive treatment. Level of evidence: This work was Level 2 of evidence according to the Guide for Authors.

Abstract Background As a rare salivary gland malignancy, clear cell carcinoma (CCC) is easily misdiagnosed. This study identified the features that allow better recognition of the clinicopathological and molecular characteristics and the prognosis of CCC, focusing on high-grade transformation (HGT) in this tumor and cases arising in uncommon sites. Methods Clinicopathological and follow-up data for 10 CCC samples were retrieved. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was performed, and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to detect EWSR1 gene rearrangements, EWSR1–ATF1 gene fusions, and MAML2 gene rearrangements. Results Histologically, typical CCCs comprised bland polygonal or round cells with clear cytoplasm. In contrast with typical CCCs, HGT tumor cells exhibited nuclear pleomorphism, high nuclear-to-cytoplasmic ratios, high mitotic activity, and necrosis. Rare morphologic features such as pseudopapillae, gland-like spaces, and entrapped ducts were also observed. Occasionally, tumors involving the oral cavity might arise from the overlying epithelium of the mucosal surface. Immunohistochemically, all the cases expressed p63, p40, and CK5/6, while myoepithelial-related markers were uniformly negative in all cases. HGT exhibited a wild type p53 expression pattern. FISH demonstrated EWSR1 rearrangement (10/10) and EWSR1–ATF1 fusion (4/5); however, MAML2 remained intact (0/3). Conclusions CCCs with HGT or occurring in uncommon sites are extremely rare. Combining morphology based IHC and molecular detection provided reliable evidence that the HGT component represented a transformation of CCC rather than the coexistence of another tumor and helped differentiating CCCs in uncommon sites from their mimics, avoiding potential misdiagnosis and inappropriate therapy. The overall prognosis for CCCs is good, except for the HGT cases, which needed continued treatment.

Kidney cancer is a type of urinary system tumor. The incidence of kidney cancer, which is second only to bladder cancer, has shown an overall upward trend in recent years. However, the early judgment of kidney cancer is still in the imaging biomarker discovery stage. Early detection and treatment cannot be achieved. Based on the natural advantages of the Internet of Things in the medical field, we focused on an intelligent early warning model of renal cancer recurrence and built a renal cancer early warning system integrated with the Internet of Things. We integrated the influencing factors of renal cell carcinoma, constructed a sample set, conducted data analysis and optimized the dataset. Aiming at the instability of renal cancer recurrence, five supervised learning prediction algorithms, including multiple linear regression, Bayesian ridge regression, gradient boosting tree, support vector regression, and convolutional neural network were used to develop a renal cancer recurrence prediction model. The predictive performance of these five algorithms were compared and discussed. Finally, the best renal cancer recurrence prediction model was established by combining a convolutional neural network with an Internet of Things medical framework. This design provided an intelligent early warning system to predict the recurrence time of renal cancer patients. In addition, the warning prompts provided in accordance with the model results can assist doctors in making preliminary judgments of the patient’s condition and has a certain auxiliary effect on the clinical diagnosis and treatment of cancer and kidney cancers.

Abstract Background Pituitary carcinomas (PCs), defined as distant metastases of pituitary neoplasms, are very rare malignancies. Because the clinical presentation of PCs is variable, early diagnosis and management remain challenging. PCs are always refractory to comprehensive treatments, and patients with PCs have extremely poor prognoses. Case presentation We describe one case of a prolactin-secreting pituitary adenoma (PA) refractory to conventional therapy that evolved into a PC with intraspinal metastasis. A 34-year-old female was diagnosed with an invasive prolactin-secreting PA in 2009 and was unresponsive to medical treatment with bromocriptine. The tumor was gross totally removed via transsphenoidal surgery (TSS). However, the patient experienced multiple tumor recurrences or regrowth despite comprehensive treatments, including medical therapy, two gamma knife radiosurgeries (GKSs), and four frontal craniotomies. In 2016, she was found to have an intradural extramedullary mass at the level of the fourth lumbar vertebra. The intraspinal lesion was completely resected and was confirmed as a metastatic PC based on histomorphology and immunohistochemical staining. The literature on the diagnosis, molecular pathogenesis, treatment, and prognosis of patients with prolactin-secreting PCs was reviewed. Conclusion PCs are very rare neoplasms with variable clinical features and poor prognosis. Most PCs usually arise from aggressive PAs refractory to conventional therapy. There is no reliable marker to identify aggressive PAs with a risk for progression to PCs; thus, it is difficult to diagnose these PCs early until the presence of metastatic lesions. It is still very challenging to manage patients with PCs due to a lack of standardized protocols for diagnosis and treatment. Establishing molecular biomarkers and the pathobiology of PCs could help in the early identification of aggressive PAs most likely to evolve into PCs.

While there has been considerable research on learning burnout in educational psychology, it has received little attention in language education. To fill this gap, the present study aims at exploring the construct of English learning burnout (ELB) and examining the levels of this complex construct in a large sample of 1,213 Chinese senior high school students utilizing a 15-item Senior High School English Learning Burnout Scale. A two-dimensional structure of ELB comprising exhaustion and demotivation was extracted by exploratory factor analysis and validated by confirmatory factor analysis. A descriptive analysis showed low levels of global ELB and exhaustion and a moderate level of demotivation. The findings suggest that teachers should be mindful of fostering students’ self-regulated strategies to alleviate their ELB.

Language teacher research is conducive to the development of teachers’ teaching skills and professional careers. Thus, many English teacher education programs require student teachers to do research. However, some empirical findings suggest that English as a foreign language (EFL) student teachers lack research motivation. Consequently, finding suitable interventions to increase their research motivation has become increasingly necessary. In light of the importance of research motivation intervention, this study involved designing an experiment to identify the effect of a value and interest intervention including the sharing of positive research experiences to improve student teachers’ research motivation. Quantitative questionnaires and qualitative semi-structured interviews were used to gather evidence on the change in student teachers’ research motivation during the intervention. The interview data revealed that student teachers’ research motivation was influenced by their belief in the value of research to their teaching practice. The experiment results suggested that student teachers’ intrinsic and extrinsic research motivations both increased after the intervention. However, the intervention was not effective in curbing their failure avoidance tendency. Pedagogical implications of the results are discussed at the end of this article.

H5N1 and H9N2 influenza viruses have been reported to cause human infections and are believed to have pandemic potential. The vaccine is an effective tool to prevent influenza virus infection. However, inactivated influenza vaccines sometimes result in low antigenicity as result leads to generating of incomplete immune protection in the form of low cellular and humoral immunity. While the low temperature adapted, traditional live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) is associated with the potential risk to revert to a virulent phenotype, there appears an essential need for an alternative potent methodology to design and develop influenza vaccines with substantial safety and efficacy which may confer solid protection against H9N2 or H5N1 influenza virus infections. In the present study, a replication-deficient recombinant influenza virus, WM01ma-HA(H5), expressing hemagglutinin (HA) of both H9N2 and H5N1 subtypes was developed. The chimeric gene segment expressing HA(H5), was designed using the sequence of an open reading frame (ORF) of HA adopted from A/wild duck/Hunan/021/2005(H5N1)(HN021ma) which was flanked by the NA packaging signals of mouse-adapted strain A/Mink/Shandong/WM01/2014(H9N2)(WM01ma). Due to the absence of ORF of structural protein NA, the replication of this engineered H9N2 influenza viruses WM01ma-HA(H5) was hampered in vitro and in vivo but was well competent in MDCK cells stably expressing the NA protein of WM01ma. Intranasal vaccination of mice with WM01ma-HA(H5) stimulated robust immune response without any clinical signs and conferred complete protection from infection by H5N1 or H9N2 subtype influenza viruses.

Demotivation is a common psychological phenomenon in foreign language learning. Having a good understanding of learners’ foreign language learning demotivation is conducive to enriching the fruits of psychological research on foreign language learning theoretically and practically by exploring effective ways to improve learners’ foreign language learning motivation. Therefore, this study entails an analysis of the selected literature from 2001 to 2021 to interpret the concept of foreign language learning demotivation, illustrate the research topics from the classification of demotivators and their relationships with other psychological factors, and fully describe the research methods and participants. Future research should expand theoretical perspectives, include more participants of different grades, and adopt multiple research methods.

For several decades, there has been an increase in studies on second language motivation, one of the most salient topics in individual difference research in second language acquisition, guided by theories and methods from related fields. Self-determination theory (SDT) is one of the most influential theories to provide a comprehensive framework for investigating language learning motivation. To date, numerous SDT-related studies have been performed to explore ways to develop more self-determined types of motivation. However, research on the relationship between self-determined types of motivation and other psychological variables has been limited. To address this gap, the present study investigated the complex relationships between autonomous motivation, buoyancy, boredom, and engagement in a sample of 561 Chinese senior high school English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Data were collected through a composite questionnaire measuring students’ autonomous motivation, buoyancy, boredom, and engagement in EFL learning. Chain mediation analysis was used to test the complex relationships among these variables. The results show that autonomous motivation directly affected student engagement in EFL learning and autonomous motivation also indirectly affected student engagement in EFL learning through the separate mediation of buoyancy and boredom in EFL learning as well as the chain mediation of both mediators. The results support SDT and offer some pedagogical implications for teachers and educators.

Teacher beliefs are a pivotal psychological quality for sustainable teacher development. Previous studies have mainly focused on the beliefs of English-as-a-second/foreign-language (ESL/EFL) teachers, while little attention has been paid to those of Chinese-as-an-additional-language (CAL) teachers. Particularly, there is a paucity of effort made to develop and validate instrument for measuring pre-service CAL teacher beliefs. Therefore, to further quantify the beliefs of CAL teachers is increasingly called for as an essential means to help teachers sensitize their beliefs system and promote teacher development as a sustainable goal. To be specific, the present study aims to construct a scale for gauging beliefs of pre-service CAL teachers. It firstly conceptualizes the dimensions of pre-service CAL teacher beliefs by means of semantic analysis with ROST CM6, and then cross-validates the reliability and validity of the scale with psychometric methods. Two independent samples composed of 221 and 222 pre-service CAL teachers participated in a questionnaire survey. The two samples were utilized for later Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), respectively. The two data sets have satisfactory psychometric results, all confirming that the scale subsumes three factors: Beliefs about Chinese Language Teaching (BCLT), Beliefs about Chinese Language (BCL), and Beliefs about Chinese Language Learners (BCLL). The scale validated in the present study contributes to research on pre-service CAL teacher beliefs, and provides implications for sustainable pre-service CAL teacher training.

Oncocytic carcinoma is a malignant tumor characterized by a proliferation of epithelial cells with abundant eosinophilic granular cytoplasm. In this article, we report on the first case of a 61-year-old male patient presenting with oncocytic carcinoma involving the cranio-orbital area. An oncocytic carcinoma in the patient, who reported a sudden decrease in vision in his right eye, was removed through a frontal orbital approach craniotomy. The patient's postoperative development was rapid, and he was admitted to the neurosurgery department for a combined operation after ophthalmological screening. Pathological analysis revealed the tumour cells were large, round or polygonal, and the cytoplasm was finely granular and appeared to be more pleomorphic than the eosinophilic adenoma. Oncocytic carcinoma in the cranio-orbital area is extremely rare. The most effective treatment is early resection to be performed jointly by ophthalmology and neurosurgery, and long-term follow-up and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy are beneficial.

Welcome to the special issue on self-access and the coronavirus pandemic. When we first had the idea to compile this special issue back in March 2020, we did so, not knowing how the year would pan out. Some parts of the world had already been severely impacted by the coronavirus, but others hardly touched. Many students and academics in various countries were waiting for leaders in their institutions to make decisions about how classes and academic support would be offered. We assumed that we would not be able to run our self-access centres as usual and were beginning to think of ways we could adapt our services. Being in unchartered waters, we were genuinely looking for ideas about how to proceed and how to keep supporting students in these unprecedented times. Self-access practitioners tend to be trailblazers by nature (Mynard, 2019), but this was indeed a challenge for all of us. However, as you will see in the various contributions in this special issue, this turbulent time gave us a chance to innovate and overcome many of the challenges. The call for papers resulted in contributions from around the world and one of the most international issues of SiSAL Journal to date. We are grateful to the authors and reviewers for their contributions to this special issue, and also to the two other members of our editorial team: Metin Esen from Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Turkey and Gao Lixiang, a PhD candidate in language education from Northeast Normal University, China. Acknowledgements also go to Robert Werner, the Associate Editor of SiSAL Journal, for his advice and careful copyediting.

Abstract Background A number of studies have demonstrated the critical role of long non-coding RNA gastric cancer high expressed transcript 1 (GHET1) in many cancers. This meta-analysis provides an evidence-based evaluation of the prognostic role of GHET1 in cancer. Materials and methods Literature searches were conducted in several databases including Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE, CNKI, and Wanfang. The pooled odds ratio (OR) and hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to evaluate the role of GHET1 in cancer. The study protocol was registered at PROSPERO (ID: CRD42018111252). Results Sixteen studies, containing 1315 patients, were analyzed in this meta-analysis. The pooled results indicated that GHET1 overexpression was significantly associated with poor overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in cancer. Moreover, up-regulation of GHET1 expression predicted larger tumor size, positive lymph node metastasis, positive distant metastasis, and advanced TNM (tumor-node-metastases) stage in human cancers. Conclusion There is a significant correlation between up-regulation of GHET1 and both poor prognosis and advanced clinicopathological cancer characteristics. GHET1 may be a potential prognostic predictor for human cancers.

BackgroundIn this single-arm study, the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy were evaluated in patients with resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).MethodsThis study included patients with ESCC of clinical stages II–IVA who underwent surgery within 4 to 6 weeks after completing treatment with pembrolizumab (200 mg) combined with a conventional chemotherapy regimen (3 cycles). The safety and efficacy of this combination treatment were evaluated as primary endpoints of the study.ResultsFrom April 2019 to August 2020, a total of 18 patients (including 14 men) were enrolled, of whom 13 patients progressed to surgery. Postoperative pathology revealed a major pathological response (MPR) in 9 cases (9/13, 69.2%) and a pathological complete response (pCR) in 6 cases (6/13, 46.2%). Five patients (5/18, 27.8%) experienced serious treatment-related adverse events (AEs) of grades 3–4. At the time of data cutoff (Mar 25, 2022), the shortest duration of follow-up was 17.8 months. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in pretreatment specimens was not significantly associated with the percentage of residual viable tumor (RVT) (r=−0.55, P=0.08). Changes in counts of CD68+ macrophage between pre- and post-treatment specimens were weakly correlated with RVT (r=0.71; P=0.07), while a positive correlation was observed between postoperative forkhead box P3-positive (Foxp3)+T cells/CD4+Tcells ratios and RVT (r=0.84, P=0.03).ConclusionsThe combination of neoadjuvant immunotherapy and chemotherapy for ESCC is associated with a high pathological response and immunologic effects in the tumor microenvironment (TME). It has acceptable toxicity and great efficacy, suggesting a strong rationale for its further evaluation in randomized clinical trials (RCTs).Trial RegistrationChiCTR2100048917.

While teacher resilience has gained significant attention in recent years, empirical exploration of this issue is still insufficient, particularly with regard to English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher resilience in China. In this context, this study employed a mixed-methods design to investigate Chinese EFL teacher resilience. Specifically, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC)-EFL Teacher Survey was distributed to 330 Chinese senior high school EFL teachers. Five volunteers in the survey sample participated in semi-structured interviews. The results revealed that resilience in Chinese senior high school EFL teachers was at a moderate to high level, and there was no significant difference in teacher resilience in relation to gender and years of teaching experience, but a small significant difference with teachers’ educational background. Possible reasons for interpreting EFL teacher resilience were provided from personal and contextual perspectives. Finally, the implications of these findings were discussed for developing teacher resilience.

In the last 20 years, much attention has been paid to learners’ demotivation. Researchers have conducted many studies on second/foreign language learning demotivation from the perspectives of social culture, social psychology, and so forth. In China, related studies have mainly focused on college students’ demotivation; scant attention has been paid to senior high school students. Regarding scale development, although much progress has been made, there remains a need for a scale with high reliability and validity that is suitable for students in the basic education stage. Therefore, based on previous studies and choosing Chinese senior high school students as participants, this research study developed a scale with 55 items, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to develop a 28-item scale with six dimensions. The six-dimensional construct encompasses teacher knowledge, important others, teacher responsibility, learner-related factors, learning contents, and critical incidents, which are the key factors leading to English learners’ demotivation. Among them, the factor of critical incidents is new and has been overlooked by other researchers. Moreover, the descriptive analysis demonstrated the degree to which the demotivators influence learners, and the independent samples t-test found a significant difference in the impact of critical incidents in terms of the students’ language proficiency. Ultimately, four suggestions are put forward to remotivate and sustain learners’ motivation.

Here, we report a rare case of thymic carcinoma (TC) associated with dermatomyositis (DM) and interstitial pneumonia (IP) in a 68‐year‐old man. The patient presented with the characteristic features of a skin rash with Gottron's papules and increased serum levels of muscle‐associated enzymes. Computed tomography (CT) showed the presence of an anterior mediastinal soft tissue mass with IP, which was diagnosed as TC by CT‐guided tumor biopsy. The patients DM and IP disappeared completely after radical resection of the tumor. After a 20‐month follow‐up period, the patient was in good clinical condition without disease recidivism.

Teacher self-efficacy has long been researched in the context of face-to-face teaching, but it has received less attention with regard to online teaching. To address this gap, the current study utilized a questionnaire adapted from Lin and Zheng as the major instrument and supplementary interviews to examine teacher self-efficacy in livestream teaching in the Chinese context. Exploratory factor analysis results from 486 senior high school English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in China yielded a two-factor structure of teacher self-efficacy comprising instructional self-efficacy and technological self-efficacy. Across the sample, EFL teachers had moderate-to-high self-efficacy in general, and they showed higher levels of technological self-efficacy than instructional self-efficacy. The interview data also indicated a fluctuation in technological self-efficacy at the onset of livestream teaching compared to 1 month into livestream teaching. This study results offer some useful suggestions for enhancing teacher self-efficacy.

Teachers' emotional labor strategies have been explored in different cultural contexts. However, beginning English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers have received scant research attention. This study seeks to conceptualize emotional labor strategies among Chinese beginning EFL teachers and investigate their general profiles. The developed Beginning EFL Teachers' Emotional Labor Strategy Scale was assessed among 484 Chinese beginning secondary school EFL teachers. A final 20-item scale was obtained after a series of reliability (e.g., item analysis, internal consistency, composite reliability) and validity tests (e.g., construct validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity). The confirmatory factor analysis results supported the four-dimensional structure of emotional labor strategies in the beginning EFL teacher sample, encompassing surface acting, deep acting, positive consonance, and negative consonance. In addition, participants reported high levels of positive consonance and deep acting, and low levels of surface acting and negative consonance. Possible reasons for this are discussed in reference to the EFL educational context in China. The findings provide insights into sustainable development for Chinese beginning secondary school EFL teachers.

Atomically thin layered tungsten diselenide (WSe2) has attracted tremendous research attention for its potential applications in next-generation electronics. This article reports the synthesis method of high-quality monolayer to trilayer WSe2 by molten-salt-assisted chemical vapor deposition. With the optimization of different types of molten salts and depths of corundum boat, large trilayer WSe2 films can be grown with domain size up to 80 µm for the first time. A systematic study of the electrical properties of the n-type field-effect transistor has been carried out based on WSe2 with the above three different layer thicknesses. The trilayer WSe2 devices exhibit higher drive current, mobility, on/off ratio, and lower contact resistance than both bilayer and monolayer counterparts. Moreover, short channel transistors using the trilayer WSe2 with a channel length of 230 nm have been fabricated, exhibiting an excellent on/off ratio up to 108 and a high current density of 187 µA/μm. This facile synthesis of high-quality large-area multilayer WSe2 provides a pathway for future high-performance two-dimensional electronic devices.

In this paper, SiO2 capping layers were introduced to improve the ferroelectric properties of Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO) thin films. HZO thin films with the SiO2 capping layers exhibit excellent ferroelectric characteristics. The largest remnant polarization (2Pr) was about 35.6 µC/cm2 for the HZO film with the SiO2 capping layer. The remnant polarization was larger than that for the film with the W capping layer after annealing at 550 °C and 600 °C and there was more oxygen content in the film with the SiO2 capping layer.

Elevated CO2 (eCO2) often reduces leaf stomatal aperture and density thus impacts plant physiology and productivity. We have previously demonstrated that the Arabidopsis BIG protein distinguishes between the processes of eCO2-induced stomatal closure and eCO2-inhibited stomatal opening. However, the mechanistic basis of this action is not fully understood. Here we show that eCO2-elicited reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in big mutants was compromised in stomatal closure induction but not in stomatal opening inhibition. Pharmacological and genetic studies show that ROS generated by both NADPH oxidases and cell wall peroxidases contribute to eCO2-induced stomatal closure, whereas inhibition of light-induced stomatal opening by eCO2 may rely on the ROS derived from NADPH oxidases but not from cell wall peroxidases. As with JA and ABA, SA is required for eCO2-induced ROS generation and stomatal closure. In contrast, none of these three signals has a significant role in eCO2-inhibited stomatal opening, unveiling the distinct roles of plant hormonal signaling pathways in the induction of stomatal closure and the inhibition of stomatal opening by eCO2. In conclusion, this study adds SA to a list of plant hormones that together with ROS from distinct sources distinguish two branches of eCO2-mediated stomatal movements.

Abstract Background Myxoid liposarcoma has a distinct migration aptitude; however, pancreatic metastasis is rare. Case presentation We report on the case of a 40-year-old female patient who suffered solitary pancreatic metastasis of myxoid liposarcoma and had a right thigh myxoid liposarcoma radical resection 5 years ago. The patient underwent a medial pancreatectomy and pancreaticojejunostomy for solitary pancreatic metastasis of myxoid liposarcoma. After 12 months of disease-free survival, the patient underwent an extended radical resection for the recurrence of the right thigh primary myxoid liposarcoma and received postoperative radiotherapy. Currently, the disease-free survival time after the last operation has been 22 months. Conclusions We reviewed the relevant literature and suggest that radical surgery might result in a good prognosis for patients with solitary pancreatic metastasis of myxoid liposarcoma.

Abstract Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide. The five-year survival rate of HNSCC has not improved even with major technological advancements in surgery and chemotherapy. Currently, docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluoruracil (TPF) treatment has been the most popular chemotherapy method for HNSCC; but only a small percentage of HNSCC patients exhibit a good response to TPF treatment. Unfortunately, at present, no reasonably effective prediction model exists to assist clinicians with patient treatment. For this reason, patients have no other alternative but to risk neoadjuvant chemotherapy in order to determine their response to TPF. In this study, we analyzed the gene expression profile in TPF-sensitive and non-sensitive patient samples. We identified a gene expression signature between these two groups. We further chose 10 genes and trained a support vector machine (SVM) model. This model has 88.3% sensitivity and 88.9% specificity to predict the response to TPF treatment in our patients. In addition, four more TPF responsive and four more TPF non-sensitive patient samples were used for further validation. This SVM model has been proven to achieve approximately 75.0% sensitivity and 100% specificity to predict TPF response in new patients. This suggests that our 10-genes SVM prediction model has the potential to assist clinicians to personalize treatment for HNSCC patients.

Recent research has unveiled the critical roles of self-efficacy and buoyancy in teachers' work engagement. However, there has been limited research on the intricate links between teacher self-efficacy, buoyancy and engagement in the online English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching context. To address the underexplored relationships among these variables, the current study adopted a quantitative approach to verify the direct and indirect paths from online EFL teacher self-efficacy to engagement via the mediating effect of teacher buoyancy. We invited 978 Chinese high school EFL teachers to take part in the current study and answer questions about their self-efficacy, buoyancy and work engagement. The results of the structural equation modelling indicate that teacher self-efficacy could directly and indirectly predict online EFL teacher work engagement via the mediation of teacher buoyancy. The results of this study shed light on ways of improving EFL teachers' online teaching experience and educational outcomes.

The positive bias temperature instability (PBTI) reliability of buried InGaAs channel n-MOSFETs with an InP barrier layer and Al2O3 gate dielectric under medium field (2.7 MV/cm) and high field (5.0 MV/cm) are investigated in this paper. The Al2O3/InP interface of the insertion of an InP barrier layer has fewer interface and border traps compared to that of the Al2O3/InGaAs interface. The subthreshold slope, transconductance, and shift of Vg are studied by using the direct-current Id-Vg measurements under the PBTI stress. The experimental results show that the degradation of positive ΔVg under the medium field stress is mainly caused by the acceptor trap, while the donor trap under the high field stress become dominant in the subthreshold region, which leads to the negative shift in Vg. The medium field stress-induced acceptor traps are attributed by the InP barrier layer in the subthreshold region, resulting that the low leakage current can be achieved in the buried InGaAs channel n-MOSFETs with an InP barrier layer compared to the surface InGaAs channel n-MOSFETs.

Low-power, nonvolatile transistors are demanded in the digital electronics development. In our work, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) acts as the channel material integrated with TiN, which is used as a floating gate to build a floating gate transistor. Our transistor exhibits a large hysteresis of 4 V (Vd = 0.1 V), high on/off ratio of 105, and symmetry writing and erase voltage. The excellent device characteristics such as nondestructive data readout, low operation voltage, and wide memory window inherent in single-layer MoS2 show their great potential to be applied in nonvolatile memory cells.

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plays an important role in tumorigenesis. However, the expression pattern and function of lncRNAs in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) are still unclear. To investigate the aberrantly expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs in advanced LSCC, we screened lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles in 9 pairs of primary Stage IVA LSCC tissues and adjacent non-neoplastic tissues by lncRNA and mRNA integrated microarrays. Gene Ontology and pathway analysis were performed to find out the significant function and pathway of the differentially expressed mRNAs, gene-gene functional interaction network and ceRNA network were constructed to select core mRNAs, and lncRNA-mRNA expression correlation network was built to identify the interactions between lncRNA and mRNA. qRT-PCR was performed to further validate the expressions of selected lncRNAs and mRNAs in advanced LSCC. We found 1459 differentially expressed lncRNAs and 2381 differentially expressed mRNAs, including 846 up-regulated lncRNAs and 613 down-regulated lncRNAs, 1542 up-regulated mRNAs and 839 down-regulated mRNAs. The mRNAs ITGB1, HIF1A, and DDIT4 were selected as core mRNAs, which are mainly involved in biological processes, such as matrix organization, cell cycle, adhesion, and metabolic pathway. LncRNA-mRNA expression correlation network showed LncRNA NR_027340, MIR31HG were positively correlated with ITGB1, HIF1A respectively. LncRNA SOX2-OT was negatively correlated with DDIT4. qRT-PCR further validated the expression of these lncRNAs and mRNAs. The work provides convincing evidence that the identified lncRNAs and mRNAs are potential biomarkers in advanced LSCC for further future studies.

Background. Eosinophilic angiocentric fibrosis (EAF) is a rare benign condition of unknown aetiology that causes stenosis of the upper respiratory tract. It is most commonly found at the nasal septum and sinus mucosa causing mucosal thickening and nasal obstructive symptoms. The diagnosis is mainly based on characteristic histologic findings. Case Report. A 27-year-old young woman presented with a slow growing mass at her anterior nasal septum for over eight years. She complained of persistent nasal obstruction, epistaxis, sometimes diffused facial pain, and chronic headache. 3 years ago, the tumor was partially resected for ventilation and a nasal septum perforation was left. Imaging findings indicated soft-tissue thickening of the anterior part of septum and adjacent lateral nasal walls. Pathological examination showed numerous inflammatory cells infiltrates containing eosinophils, fibroinflammatory lesion with a whorled appearance fibrosis which typically surrounded vessels. A diagnosis of eosinophilic angiocentric fibrosis was made. All laboratory tests were unremarkable. Skin prick test was positive. The tumor-like lesion was totally resected. Conclusions. EAF is a rare benign and progressive disorder causing destruction. Combined with radiological imaging of EAF historical findings contribute to the diagnosis. It is important to prevent tumor from recurrence by total resection of the lesion.