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The present study, through sample analysis and questionnaires, investigates the effects of different types of corrective feedback in 250 essays of the first-year English major students and the students' responses to different feedback strategies. The study shows that 1) the students can improve their writing with the help of the feedback and that different types of errors in the English majors' writing require different feedback strategies; 2) indirect feedback (coded feedback and uncoded feedback) can be mainly used, supplemented by direct correction; and 3) the English majors highly appreciate the teacher's feedback; their preference is coded feedback, followed by direct correction and uncoded feedback This study sheds light on how different feedback strategies can be used in teaching L2 English at the university level.

Latent sensitization is a model of chronic pain in which an injury triggers a period of hyperalgesia followed by an apparent recovery, but in which pain sensitization persists but is suppressed by opioid and adrenergic receptors. One important characteristic of latent sensitization is that hyperalgesia can be triggered by acute stress. To determine whether the effect of stress is mimicked by the activation of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) signaling in the brain, rats with latent sensitization induced by injecting complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA, 50 μl) in one hind paw were given an intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of CRF. The i.c.v. injection of CRF (0.6 μg, 10 μl), but not saline, induced bilateral mechanical hyperalgesia in rats with latent sensitization. In contrast, CRF i.c.v. did not induce hyperalgesia in rats without latent sensitization (injected with saline in the hind paw). To determine whether descending pain inhibition mediates the suppression of hyperalgesia in latent sensitization, rats with CFA-induced latent sensitization received an intrathecal injection of lidocaine (10%, 1 μl) at the cervical-thoracic spinal cord to produce a spinal block. Lidocaine-injected rats, but not rats injected intrathecally with saline, developed bilateral mechanical hyperalgesia. Intrathecal lidocaine did not induce hyperalgesia in rats without latent sensitization (injected with saline in the hind paw). These results show that i.c.v. CRF mimicked the hyperalgesic response triggered by stress during latent sensitization, possibly by blocking inhibitory spinal descending signals that suppress hyperalgesia.

Nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems have become a favourable platform for target specificity in disease treatment, although their side effects and toxicity remain controversial. Plant polysaccharide nanoparticles are safe, natural biomaterials that have become candidate materials for nano-drug delivery systems due to their excellent biodegradability and biocompatibility. In addition to becoming candidate materials, plant polysaccharide nanoparticles show excellent pharmacokinetic and drug delivery characteristics as carrier materials to manipulate small drug molecules at the nanoscale, mainly improving medicine solubility, reducing medicine toxicity and side effects and enhancing biological targeting of medicines. Therefore, the application of plant polysaccharide nanoparticles in the field of drug delivery systems may become the focus of future studies. Here we review the carrier function of plant polysaccharide nanoparticles as a polymeric material in drug delivery. The limitations and challenges of applying plant polysaccharide nanoparticles in drug carrier systems are highlighted with the aim to provide a reference for their precise development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation products with high resolution for urban areas remain an important and challenging issue. The main purposes of this study are to evaluate the accuracy of the China Meteorological Forcing Data Set (CMFD) in the Shanghai megacity and to improve the accuracy of the CMFD precipitation. With the rain gauge observations for the 2013–2018 period, we evaluate the error and detection ability of CMFD at the sub‐daily, daily, and monthly scales, and examine the spatial variation of CMFD performance over the region. The Geographic Differential Analysis (GDA) method is used to calibrate the CMFD precipitation data set. The results show that the performance of CMFD precipitation varies from sub‐daily to monthly time scales with better accuracy at the monthly scale in the study region. The CMFD can capture the spatial variability over the region with less error in the north and outliers in the center. The GDA‐based calibration framework can significantly improve the capability of CMFD products, especially at the sub‐daily and daily scales. The calibrated CMFD can provide reliable precipitation estimates and capture more extreme precipitation events. The improved CMFD products can provide a key basis for applications related to hydrological and meteorological hazard monitoring and assessment in the Shanghai area. The overall framework is scalable and could be readily generalized to other regions, and the calibrated product can be used in the research of urban natural disaster risks and other studies. Key Points: The performance of Meteorological Forcing Data Set (CMFD) precipitation varies from 3‐hourly to monthly time scales with the best accuracy at a monthly scaleThe CMFD can capture the rainfall spatial variability over Shanghai cityThe Geographic Differential Analysis‐based calibration method can significantly improve the performance of CMFD products [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a pH-responsive controlled-release mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) formulation was developed. The MSNs were functionalized with a histidine (His)-tagged targeting peptide (B3int) through an amide bond, and loaded with an anticancer drug (cisplatin (CP)) and a lysosomal destabilization mediator (chloroquine (CQ)). Cu2+ was then used to seal the pores of the MSNs via chelation with the His-tag. The resultant nanoparticles showed pH-responsive drug release, and could effectively target tumor cells via the targeting effect of B3int. The presence of CP and Cu2+ permits reactive oxygen species to be generated inside cells; thus, the chemotherapeutic effect of CP is augmented by chemodynamic therapy. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that the nanoparticles are able to effectively kill tumor cells. An in vivo cancer model revealed that the nanoparticles increase apoptosis in tumor cells, and thereby diminish the tumor volume. No off-target toxicity was noted. It thus appears that the functionalized MSNs developed in this work have great potential for targeted, synergistic anticancer therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer simulation plays an increasingly important role in engineering education as a tool for enhancing classroom learning. This research investigates the efficacy of using simulation in teaching the topic of transportation network growth through an experiment conducted at the Civil Engineering Department of the University of Minnesota. In the experiment, a network growth simulator program (SONG) was incorporated into a senior/graduate class in transportation system analysis. Results of the experiment show that the use of SONG effectively enhanced students' learning in terms of helping students develop in-depth understanding about the development process of network patterns, and helped them develop some aspects of judgment, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. However, the use of SONG may have been more effective had some other barriers to learning been overcome. CE Database subject headings: Simulation; Engineering education; Transportation networks.