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Meibomian gland dysfunction is a chronic and diffuse disease of the meibomian glands, characterized by obstruction and(or)abnormal secretion of the terminal ducts. Clinically, it can lead to tear film abnormalities and inflammation of the ocular surface, resulting in symptoms of ocular irritation and potential corneal damage that may impact visual function. Meibomian gland dysfunction can be classified into two types based on meibomian gland secretion: low secretion type and high secretion type. The low secretion type further includes acinar atrophy type and obstruction type. In recent years, research has revealed that patients with diabetes experience chronic damage to their meibomian gland tissue in the early stages of the disease, leading to structural and functional changes. The incidence and severity of meibomian gland dysfunction are higher in diabetic patients. However, there are numerous complex factors contributing to this condition in diabetes patients, and mechanisms remain unclear at present. This article reviews both domestic and international research progress on the pathological mechanism underlying meibomian gland dysfunction in diabetes.

Abstract Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a multifactorial sleep disorder with a high prevalence in the general population. OSA is associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), particularly hypertension, and is linked to worse outcomes. Although the correlation between OSA and CVDs is firmly established, the mechanisms are poorly understood. Continuous positive airway pressure is primary treatment for OSA reducing cardiovascular risk effectively, while is limited by inadequate compliance. Moreover, alternative treatments for cardiovascular complications in OSA are currently not available. Recently, there has been considerable attention on the significant correlation between gut microbiome and pathophysiological changes in OSA. Furthermore, gut microbiome has a significant impact on the cardiovascular complications that arise from OSA. Nevertheless, a detailed understanding of this association is lacking. This review examines recent advancements to clarify the link between the gut microbiome, OSA, and OSA‐related CVDs, with a specific focus on hypertension, and also explores potential health advantages of adjuvant therapy that targets the gut microbiome in OSA.

Rapidly increasing intraocular pressure(IOP)is a typical manifestation of acute angle-closure glaucoma and an important cause of ocular tissue damage, vision loss and even blindness in glaucoma patients. The sharp increase of intraocular pressure in a short period of time in acute angle-closure glaucoma will cause characteristic damage to the structure and function of retina, choroid and optic nerve. Currently, the diagnosis and evaluation of the course of glaucoma is largely dependent on the state of high IOP, changes in the optic nerve and visual field damage, but irreversible damage to the fundus has already been made in glaucoma patients by this time. The microstructural changes in the posterior segment of the eye are more sensitive to high IOP and often appear before optic nerve and visual field damage, which can indicate the damage of high IOP to the eye earlier. Through the evaluation of the imaging characteristics of the posterior segment of the eye, the morphological characteristics that affect the prognosis of glaucoma can be explored, which is clinically important for the early diagnosis of glaucoma.

Retinopathy of prematurity(ROP), an abnormal vascular proliferative retinopathy of prematurity, is a serious condition that can lead to retinal detachment or blindness. With the development of neonatal medicine, the survival rate of low birth weight and low gestational age infants has been increasing, as well as the incidence of ROP. Therefore, studying ROP's pathogenesis and influencing factors is of great clinical importance. Numerous studies have been conducted on the risk factors for ROP, including gestational age, oxygen intake, mode of delivery, neonatal bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and the use of surfactants. At present, it is widely accepted both at home and abroad that preterm birth, low birth weight, and high oxygen concentration after birth are independent risk factors for ROP. In recent years, more and more scholars have found that abnormalities in blood indicators in preterm infants may be associated with the development of ROP. This article reviews the effects of platelets, haemoglobin, blood glucose, inflammatory cells, and lipids on ROP, providing a reference for identifying and preventing risk factors for ROP.

Dopamine D3 receptor (D3R) is implicated in multiple psychotic symptoms. Increasing the D3R selectivity over dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) would facilitate the antipsychotic treatments. Herein, novel carbazole and tetrahydro-carboline derivatives were reported as D3R selective ligands. Through a structure-based virtual screen, ZLG-25 (D3R Ki = 685 nmol/L; D2R Ki > 10,000 nmol/L) was identified as a novel D3R selective bitopic ligand with a carbazole scaffold. Scaffolds hopping led to the discovery of novel D3R-selective analogs with tetrahydro-β-carboline or tetrahydro-γ-carboline core. Further functional studies showed that most derivatives acted as hD3R-selective antagonists. Several lead compounds could dose-dependently inhibit the MK-801-induced hyperactivity. Additional investigation revealed that 23j and 36b could decrease the apomorphine-induced climbing without cataleptic reaction. Furthermore, 36b demonstrated unusual antidepressant-like activity in the forced swimming tests and the tail suspension tests, and alleviated the MK-801-induced disruption of novel object recognition in mice. Additionally, preliminary studies confirmed the favorable PK/PD profiles, no weight gain and limited serum prolactin levels in mice. These results revealed that 36b provided potential opportunities to new antipsychotic drugs with the multiple antipsychotic-like properties.

Spent nuclear fuel reprocessing is the key step of the nuclear fuel cycle. It also restricts the sustainable development of nuclear power. With the help of external neutron source in an accelerator driven advanced nuclear energy system(ADANES), spent nuclear fuel reprocessing only needs to remove some volatile fission products and neutron poisons, such as rare elements. Moreover, it is not necessary to separate the long-lived minor actinides Np, Am and Cm finely. These minor actinides can be refabricated as new nuclear fuels together with uranium dioxide for burn, transmutation, breeding, and power production in the accelerator driven advanced nuclear energy system. Based on this, our group proposed a technical route for spent nuclear fuel reprocessing and regeneration of accelerator driven advanced nuclear energy system, including high-temperature oxidation pulverization and volatilization, selective dissolution separation, and fuel regeneration. The recent research of our group is summarized, which has a great significance for implementation of accelerator driven advanced nuclear energy system.

Abstract The development of English as a global language has urged the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) to implement some reforms in relation to textbook design and curriculum development as well as the approaches to and goals of English language teaching (ELT). From the multilingual perspective, Global Englishes (GE) and translanguaging have both challenged the traditional native-oriented goal of ELT. Based on the level of language policy planning in the multilingual Greater Bay Area of China, this paper addresses the need to incorporate GE and translanguaging into textbook design and curriculum development. Referring to Byram’s framework of cultural content in textbooks, and to the GE proposal of exposure of multilingualism/multiculturalism and respect of diverse culture and identity in ELT, the paper further reports a case study to analyse the cultural content of the textbook, Speaking Critically: Intercultural Conversation. The paper also explores university students’ attitudes towards the integration of Chinese local culture into textbooks. The paper ends by addressing some challenges associated with translating GE and translanguaging into textbook design and curriculum development, and it provides further implications of such a proposal.

New fluorescent materials with a low cost, hypotoxicity, and concealment are desired for the application of anti-counterfeiting. Herein, we report a CsCu2I3@Cs3Cu2I5 composite with a triple-mode photoluminescence (PL) feature by simply adjusting the excitation wavelengths, which are ascribed to the multiple excited states of different phases in the CsCu2I3@Cs3Cu2I5 composite. The broadband emission and high quantum yield (∼51%) of the composite originate from the structure-oriented self-trapped excitons effect of Cs3Cu2I5 and CsCu2I3 phases. Moreover, the incorporation of polyethylene oxide (PEO) into this composite improves the stability of CsCu2I3@Cs3Cu2I5@PEO against harsh environments. The CsCu2I3@Cs3Cu2I5@PEO composite has a slight decay of ∼5% of its initial PL intensity and only a 3.5% shift of the corresponding color coordinate after 30 days of storage. More importantly, its initial PL intensity shows only 10.3% decay under ultraviolet exposure for 200 h. Our work provides a promising approach to design materials for advanced anti-counterfeiting applications.

Abstract In recent years, the tendency of the number of financial institutions to include cryptocurrencies in their portfolios has accelerated. Cryptocurrencies are the first pure digital assets to be included by asset managers. Although they have some commonalities with more traditional assets, they have their own separate nature and their behaviour as an asset is still in the process of being understood. It is therefore important to summarise existing research papers and results on cryptocurrency trading, including available trading platforms, trading signals, trading strategy research and risk management. This paper provides a comprehensive survey of cryptocurrency trading research, by covering 146 research papers on various aspects of cryptocurrency trading (e.g., cryptocurrency trading systems, bubble and extreme condition, prediction of volatility and return, crypto-assets portfolio construction and crypto-assets, technical trading and others). This paper also analyses datasets, research trends and distribution among research objects (contents/properties) and technologies, concluding with some promising opportunities that remain open in cryptocurrency trading.

Due to the diversity and variability of Chinese syntax and semantics, accurately identifying and distinguishing individual emotions from online texts is challenging. To overcome this limitation, we incorporate a new source of individual sentiment, emojis, which contain thousands of graphic symbols and are increasingly being used for expressing emotion in online conversations. We examined popular sentiment analysis algorithms, including rule-based and classification algorithms, to evaluate the impact of supplementing emojis as additional features to improve the algorithm performance. Emojis were also translated into corresponding sentiment words when constructing features for comparison with those directly generated from emoji label words. In addition, considering different functions of emojis in texts, we classified all posts in the dataset by their emoji usage and examined the changes in algorithm performance. We found that emojis are effective as expanding features for improving the accuracy of sentiment analysis algorithms, and the algorithm performance can be further increased by taking different emoji usages into consideration. In this study, we developed an improved emoji-embedding model based on Bi-LSTM (namely, CEmo-LSTM), which achieves the highest accuracy (around 0.95) when analyzing online Chinese texts. We applied the CEmo-LSTM algorithm to a large dataset collected from Weibo from December 1, 2019 to March 20, 2020 to understand the sentiment evolution of online users during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that the pandemic remarkably impacted individual sentiments and caused more passive emotions (e.g., horror and sadness). Our novel emoji-embedding algorithm creatively combined emojis as well as emoji usage with the sentiment analysis model and can handle emotion mining tasks more effectively and efficiently.

Abstract Background and objective People with psychosis report experiences of highly traumatic events. Positive change or post-traumatic growth (PTG) can occur as a result of traumatic experiences. Yet there is limited attention on PTG in psychosis, possibly due to the negative impact of psychotic symptoms on functioning and quality of life. The aim of this review was to identify significant correlates and mediators of PTG in psychosis, and to develop a conceptual framework synthesising facilitators of PTG in psychosis. Method Ten electronic databases were searched in seven languages, and five journals and grey literature were searched in English. Quantitative studies were eligible if examining correlates, mediators, or the temporal relationship between PTG and one or more variables. Qualitative studies were eligible if describing PTG arising from experiences of psychosis. Findings from quantitative papers were grouped by analysis method, with significant correlates, mediators, and temporal relationships descriptively reported upon. Narrative synthesis was conducted on findings in qualitative papers. Results Thirty-seven papers were included. Significant correlates and mediators of PTG were identified. Mediators of PTG in psychosis included meaning in life, coping self-efficacy, core beliefs, and self-reported recovery. No studies describing the temporal relationship between PTG and psychosis were identified. The narrative synthesis identified seven facilitators of PTG in psychosis: Personal identity and strength, Receiving support, Opportunities and possibilities, Strategies for coping, Perspective shift, Emotional experience, and Relationships, giving the acronym PROSPER. Conclusions Individuals with psychosis can be supported to grow from traumatic experiences. Clinicians can support PTG through the provision of trauma-informed care that supports positively valued identity changes. For researchers, the findings provide an evidence-based theoretical framework for conceptualising PTG, which can be validated through longitudinal cohort studies and underpin the development of new clinical interventions.

With the increasing role of English as a global language, teaching and learning of that language have become a focal point of instruction around the world. Against this background, China has followed the global trend of implementing various language-related policies and practice decisions. This conceptual paper first provides a brief historical overview of language policy in the Chinese context. Given the importance of compulsory education and tertiary education in China, this article links the previous language policy to the recent development of the Double Reduction policy and English as a medium of instruction in relation to English language teaching (ELT). This paper also discusses the culture, ideology, and identity issues involved in ELT in China. It ends by arguing the importance of reflecting on the current situation of language policy and ELT in the Chinese context against the backdrop of globalization. It also suggests that foreign language policy and ELT practice decisions, in China and other countries, should be guided and informed by more robust empirical teaching and research results.

While incomplete non-medical data has been integrated into prediction models for epidemics, the accuracy and the generalizability of the data are difficult to guarantee. To comprehensively evaluate the ability and applicability of using social media data to predict the development of COVID-19, a new confirmed case prediction algorithm improving the Google Flu Trends algorithm is established, called Weibo COVID-19 Trends (WCT), based on the post dataset generated by all users in Wuhan on Sina Weibo. A genetic algorithm is designed to select the keyword set for filtering COVID-19 related posts. WCT can constantly outperform the highest average test score in the training set between daily new confirmed case counts and the prediction results. It remains to produce the best prediction results among other algorithms when the number of forecast days increases from one to eight days with the highest correlation score from 0.98 (P ​< 0.01) to 0.86 (P ​< 0.01) during all analysis period. Additionally, WCT effectively improves the Google Flu Trends algorithm's shortcoming of overestimating the epidemic peak value. This study offers a highly adaptive approach for feature engineering of third-party data in epidemic prediction, providing useful insights for the prediction of newly emerging infectious diseases at an early stage.

Abstract Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent type of arthritis, which commonly involves inflammation in the articular cartilage in OA pathogenesis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play essential roles in the regulation and pathophysiology of various diseases including OA. MiR-410-3p has been demonstrated to mediate inflammatory pathways, however, the regulatory functions of miR-410-3p in OA remain largely unknown. Methods The regulations of miR-410-3p were investigated in OA. Mouse primary chondrocytes and mouse in vivo models were used. The expression levels of miR-410-3p and HMGB1 were measured by qPCR. The transcription activity of NF-κB was assessed by luciferase reporter assay. MTT assay was performed to assess cellular proliferation. Cell apoptosis was evaluated with the Fluorescein Isothiocyanate (FITC) Annexin V assay. Expression levels of proteins were determined by Western blot. Results The results demonstrated that miR-410-3p was markedly downregulated in articular cartilage tissues as well as in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated chondrocytes in OA mice. In addition, upregulation of miR-410-3p markedly inhibited LPS-induced apoptosis of chondrocytes. The results also demonstrated that the high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) was a target of miR-410-3p. LPS-induced upregulated expression of HMGB1 significantly suppressed expression of miR-410-3p. Furthermore, upregulation of miR-410-3p markedly inhibited HMGB1 expression, the nuclear factor (NF)-kB activity and pro-inflammatory cytokines production. Taken together, the results suggested that miR-410-3p targeted HMGB1 and modulated chondrocytes apoptosis and inflammation through the NF-κB signaling pathway. Conclusions These findings provide insights into the potential of miR-410-3p/ HMGB1 as therapeutic targets for OA treatment.

In an era of increasing global connectivity, acquiring a global perspective (GP) and being able to communicate in English are important for both personal and professional development. People with a GP are expected to be more willing to engage in intercultural activities, and more willing to communicate in English. Although previous studies have focused on having a GP and willingness to communicate (WTC) in English, few have investigated whether there is a correlation between these two variables. This study, conducted at a Chinese university, aimed to determine the relationship between GP and WTC in English. Data were collected from students via a questionnaire (n = 114) and interviews (n = 7) at the end of the autumn semester in 2018. The findings demonstrate that the students’ GP and their WTC in English through the English curriculum did not progress to a significant extent, and their GP and WTC in English were correlated. Furthermore, three themes that affected the interviewees’ WTC were extracted from the interviews: global cognition, self-actualization, and intercultural experience. These findings suggest that it would be beneficial to learn English by developing a GP, and that educators can enhance students’ WTC by helping them cultivate that perspective.

Objective To determine the effect of Polygonum multiflorum extract (PME) on DNA methylation and transcriptome levels in the brain tissue of D-galactose-induced senescence C57BL/6 mice, and explore its mechanism of delaying aging. Methods Fifty C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 5 groups, that is, normal control group (CC), aging group (MC), high-, medium- and low-dosed PME groups (MH, MM and ML). Except the CC group, the mice of the other 4 groups were induced to establish an aging model by D-galactose. Sixty days later, the mice of the MH, MM and ML groups were given intragastrical infusion with PME at 1, 0.6 and 0.3 g·mL-1·kg-1 for 60 d, and those of CC group and the MC group received same volume of normal saline. All the mice were anesthetized, and the eyeballs were removed to collect blood samples for malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities to determine the establishment of aging model and the effect of Polygonum multiflorum in delaying aging in mice. The DNA methylation level and transcription level in brain tissue of each group of mice were detected by reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) and RNA-seq sequencing. And bioinformatics analysis was used to analyze the differentially methylated region (DMR) and differentially expressed genes in the brain samples of each group. The related genes in the promoter region of DMR were analyzed by GO clustering and KEGG pathway analysis. Real-time qPCR was used to verify the expression of some genes. Results Compared with the CC group, the activities of SOD and GSH-Px were decreased obviously (P < 0.05), and the content of MDA was increased significantly in the MC group (P < 0.05). After PME treatment, the activities of antioxidant enzymes and MDA content in aging mice were distinctly relieved, especially in the MM group (P < 0.05). In DNA methylation sequencing, there were 52 related genes in the promoter region of DMR with methylation changes between the CC group and the MC group, and between the MC group and the MM group. Among these genes, the methylation levels of 7 genes were negatively correlated with transcriptome results, including Synpo and Mapkapk5 (associated with senescence), while the methylation levels of 13 genes were positively correlated with the transcriptome, including Tcf7 and Rab15 (associated with senescence). The mRNA levels of these 4 genes were consistent with the transcriptome sequencing results. Conclusion PME exerts a delaying senescence effect probably by regulating the methylation of Synpo, Mapkapk5, Tcf7 and Rab15 genes, and thereby regulating their transcription levels in senescent mice.

Background: The measurement and identification of changes in the social structure in response to an exceptional event like COVID-19 can facilitate a more informed public response to the pandemic and provide fundamental insights on how collective social processes respond to extreme events.Objective: In this study, we built a generalized framework for applying social media data to understand public behavioral and emotional changes in response to COVID-19.Methods: Utilizing a complete dataset of Sina Weibo posts published by users in Wuhan from December 2019 to March 2020, we constructed a time-varying social network of 3.5 million users. In combination with community detection, text analysis, and sentiment analysis, we comprehensively analyzed the evolution of the social network structure, as well as the behavioral and emotional changes across four main stages of Wuhan's experience with the epidemic.Results: The empirical results indicate that almost all network indicators related to the network's size and the frequency of social interactions increased during the outbreak. The number of unique recipients, average degree, and transitivity increased by 24, 23, and 19% during the severe stage than before the outbreak, respectively. Additionally, the similarity of topics discussed on Weibo increased during the local peak of the epidemic. Most people began discussing the epidemic instead of the more varied cultural topics that dominated early conversations. The number of communities focused on COVID-19 increased by nearly 40 percent of the total number of communities. Finally, we find a statistically significant “rebound effect” by exploring the emotional content of the users' posts through paired sample t-test (P = 0.003).Conclusions: Following the evolution of the network and community structure can explain how collective social processes changed during the pandemic. These results can provide data-driven insights into the development of public attention during extreme events.

The influences of four drying methods (hot air drying (HAD), vacuum freeze drying (VFD), vacuum drying (VD) and intermittent microwave combined with hot air drying (MW-HAD)) on the taste profile and flavor characteristic of Cordyceps militaris were investigated. MW-HAD samples had the highest levels of umami taste 5′-nucleotides, bitter taste amino acids, and equivalent umami concentration (EUC) value. The aroma fingerprints and differences of dried Cordyceps militaris were established by GC-MS with odor activity values (OAVs) and GC-IMS with principal component analysis (PCA). GC-MS data showed that the predominant volatiles of dried samples were aldehydes, alcohols, and ketones. VFD samples had the highest amount of total aroma compounds and C8 compounds. Moreover, 21 aroma-active components (OAVs ≥ 1) were the main contributors to the flavor of dried Cordyceps militaris. The OAVs of 1-octen-3-one and 3-octanone associated with mushroom-like odor in VFD were significantly higher than other samples. Furthermore, a significant difference in flavor compounds of four dried samples was also clearly demonstrated by GC-IMS analysis with PCA. GC-IMS analysis revealed that VFD samples had the most abundant flavor compounds. Overall, MW-HAD was an effective drying method to promote umami taste, and VFD could superiorly preserve volatiles and characteristic aroma compounds in dried Cordyceps militaris.

Previous studies have suggested that certain personality characteristics are associated with emotional distress during pregnancy. However, the underlying mechanism of this association is rarely understood. The current study investigated the links between personality and pregnant women's emotional distress (depressive and anxiety symptoms), tested the chain mediating effects of two resilience factors—social support and positive coping, and explored whether socioeconomic status (SES) could moderate the effects (including direct and/or indirect effects) of personality on their emotional distress. Results of a relatively large sample of pregnant women in China (N = 1157) showed positive associations for psychoticism and neuroticism with depressive and anxiety symptoms as well as negative associations for extraversion with depression and anxiety. After controlling for four important variables (the first pregnancy or not, having adverse pregnancy experience or not, being pregnant as planned or not, and number of weeks of pregnancy), social support and positive coping acted as chain mediators on the associations of personality with depressive symptoms as well as of personality with anxiety. Overall, the association of personality and depressive symptoms demonstrated invariance across socioeconomic status (SES). However, SES moderated the relationship between personality and anxiety. Specifically, the negative association of positive coping with anxiety symptoms was weaker for low SES women than for high SES ones. Results highlight the importance of social support and positive coping to decrease personality-related depressive and anxiety symptom among pregnant women. Furthermore, identifying other resilience factors that alleviate anxiety in women with low SES is urgently called for.

In this study, we propose a method of evaluating the spectral resolution of crossed-asymmetric Czerny-Turner spectrometers by comparing the impact of different slit functions on the optical transfer function, and different slit widths, through simulation and experiments. The results show that, the Gaussian function is suitable for narrower slit widths, such as 25 μm, and the rectangle function or convolution of slit-scattering function with rectangle function is suitable for wider slit widths, such as 50 μm, 150 μm, and 200 μm. The proposed method can provide guidance in the evaluation of spectral resolution in the preliminary optical design process of spectrometers.

Against the backdrop of globalisation, many English language teaching (ELT) curricula emphasise the need to promote awareness of intercultural communication. However, in many settings, the current ELT practices still predominantly focus on Anglophone cultures or interactions with Anglophone speakers, as the teachers and materials may not fully anticipate the cultural complexity and diversity the students will encounter in the future. This paper reports on a case study designed to build teachers’ critical intercultural literacy through a series of workshops at a university located in southeast China, specifically aiming to train Chinese university teachers in how to challenge textbook content from a critical perspective. Through an analysis of interviews with teachers and their reflective journal entries, this paper examines how teachers made sense of critically-oriented teaching and it discusses the implications for developing a critical stance beyond the classroom informed by critical pedagogy and Global Englishes language teaching.

Due to the spread of the English language in various domains and the fact that English is used as a global language, researchers and educators have started to rethink the models and aims of English language teaching in different settings. From the World Englishes (WE) perspective, this study investigated the attitudes of Chinese university students toward the localized variety of “China English,” as well as the students’ identity construction and negotiation during their English language learning journey. Data were collected through a questionnaire completed by 190 respondents and interviews conducted with 20 participants. The findings revealed the students’ positive attitudes toward China English and non-conformity to English as a native language (ENL). This further reflected the communicative function of English and the students’ interest in forming a Chinese cultural identity. However, the students also showed self-contradictory attitudes toward China English, as most did not want to be clearly identified as Chinese when using English. The data revealed some important reasons for this attitudinal conflict, including the belief that ENL is the standard form of English, as well as the students’ desire to develop an identity as competent second language learners of English. The findings suggest the importance of increasing awareness of the global spread of English and reforming English curricula and assessment in contexts where local varieties of English are emerging.

Many studies have explored learner psychology in relation to second language acquisition (SLA) in order to understand the effectiveness and difficulties of language learning. In the last two decades, emotional factors in students' language learning have garnered much attention in the field of SLA. However, more recently, studies have begun to focus on enjoyment and its relationship with anxiety. By collecting data at a provincial key university in southeast China, the study discussed in this paper investigated English major university students' emotions related to learning English. By collecting questionnaire responses from 140 English major undergraduates and conducting interviews with six students, the findings revealed that the participants' levels of foreign language enjoyment (FLE) were significantly higher than their levels of foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) and that they experienced FLE more frequently than FLCA. It was also found that the participants' FLE was more related to their teachers and peers and their FLCA was more related to their emotions, such as fear of a negative evaluation and speaking without sufficient preparation. In addition, this study also provides a few pedagogical implications for improving foreign language learning outcomes and teaching efficiency in English teaching and learning.

The concept of intercultural communication has become a focus in English language teaching (ELT) against the backdrop of globalization, as English is now used as a lingua franca (ELF) among people with different first languages (L1s). However, the current linguistic landscape of ELF does not reflect well in ELT practices in which native speakerism ideology persists and curriculum design and teaching materials largely remain oriented to native speakerism. To address this gap, data drawn from a participatory action research were analyzed to discuss students’ understanding and reflection of critical intercultural literacy. Several training activities in an adaptive English as a foreign language (EFL) course of intercultural communication that involved reading academic articles related to intercultural literacy were first implemented and two follow-up workshops were conducted with 10 Chinese university students as participants. Data from further interviews and reflective journals from the students in relation to critically evaluate the textbook contents of this course were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis. The results revealed that students acquired a sense of intercultural literacy and that they learnt to challenge textbook content from a critical perspective through the training. This article further addresses the importance of critical pedagogy in teaching linguistic and cultural literacy and concludes that ELT must be conducted from a multilingual and multicultural perspective.

Based on the acid–base neutralization, the (1-methylimidazolium)(tetrazol-1-yl)borane was successfully synthesized by taking advantage of the acidity of the tetrazole and the basicity of the 1-methylimidazole borane complex. Through HRMS, NMR, and FT−IR, the structure of synthetic compounds was characterized in detail. Concerning about the (1-methylimidazolium)(tetrazol-1-yl)borane, it had an ignition−delay time of about 25 ms and a density specific impulse over 351 s·g/cm3, making it a suitable candidate for green hypergolic fuels. Moreover, it also demonstrated that introducing tetrazole into the borane could be an appropriate strategy to adjust the performance of the energy of those borane compounds.

Zero-dimension (0-D) lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have attracted a sight of interest in the field of optoelectronic devices due to their outstanding properties, such as high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and size- and composition-controlled tunable emission wavelengths. However, the toxicity of lead (Pb) element in the lead perovskite NCs is the bottleneck for the commercial application of perovskite NCs. Herein, we report a facile ligand-assisted synthesis to achieve lead-free Cs3Cu2Cl5 NCs with a high PLQY of ∼70% and good stability against environmental oxygen/moisture as a promising down-conversion material. It has good merits of high PLQY and large Stokes shift (∼300 nm) originated from the effect of Jahn–Teller distortion and self-trapped excitons (STEs). Furthermore, the Cs3Cu2Cl5 NCs embedded composite films (NCCFs) were utilized to enhance the ultraviolet (UV) response of silicon (Si) photodetectors. External quantum efficiency (EQE) measurements show that the UV response can be greatly improved from 3.3 to 19.9% @ 295 nm based on NCCFs combined with Si photodiodes. Our work offers an effective approach to develop highly efficient and stable lead-free Cs3Cu2Cl5 NCs for the application in the solar-blind UV photodetector.

BackgroundClonorchis sinensis, a fluke dwelling in the intrahepatic bile ducts causes clonorchiasis, which affect about 15 million people wide-distributed in eastern Asia. During C. sinensis infection, worm-host interaction results in activation of patterns recognition receptors (PRRs) such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and further triggers immune responses, which determines the outcome of the infection. However, the mechanisms by which pathogen-associated molecules patterns from C. sinensis interact with TLRs were poorly understood. In the present study, we assumed that the molecules from C. sinensis may regulate host immune responses via TLR2 signaling pathway.Methodology/principal findingsIn the present study, we have identified a ~34 kDa CsHscB from C. sinensis which physically bound with TLR2 as demonstrated by molecular docking and pull-down assay. We also found that recombinant CsHscB (rCsHscB) potently activates macrophage to express various proteins including TLR2, CD80, MHCII, and cytokines like IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-10, but rCsHscB failed to induce IL-10 in macrophages from Tlr2-/- mice. Moreover, ERK1/2 activation was required for rCsHscB-induced IL-10 production in macrophages. In vivo study revealed that rCsHscB triggered a high production of IL-10 in the wild-type (WT) but not in Tlr2-/- mice. Consistently, the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 was also attenuated in Tlr2-/- mice compared to the WT mice, after the treatment with rCsHscB.Conclusions/significanceOur data thus demonstrate that rCsHscB from C. sinensis interacts with TLR2 to be endowed with immune regulatory activities, and may have some therapeutic implications in future beyond parasitology.

With a theory-driven interest in the factors that make some language learners more successful than others, this study attempts to measure the cognitive diversity level of EFL learners at a Saudi university. To achieve this purpose, the Ehrman and Leaver's questionnaire of learners' cognitive profiles (Ehrman & Leaver, 2003) was adapted, translated into Arabic, and then randomly distributed to foundation year students taking English as a Foreign Language as a main course. The overall results reveal that the cognitive diversity among students is considerable. It ranges between moderate to high, according to the Simpson Diversity Index (Simpson, 1949). On this account, several implications are suggested to improve the quality of EFL teaching at the university level. These implications and recommendations are mostly directed to the committees concerned with qualification assurance or professional development.

The conventional sequential dependence model (SDM) has been proved to perform better than the bag of words model for biomedical article search because it pays attention to the sequence information within queries. Meanwhile, introducing lexical semantic relations into query expansion becomes a hot topic in IR research. However, a few research have been conducted on combining semantic and sequence information together. Hence, we propose the semantic sequential dependence model in this paper, which provides an innovative combination of semantic information and the conventional SDM. Specifically, our synonyms are obtained automatically through the word embeddings which are trained on the domain-specific corpus by selecting an appropriate language model. Then, these synonyms are utilized to generate possible sequences with the same semantics as the original query and these sequences are fed into SDM to obtain the final retrieval results. The proposed approach is evaluated on 2016 and 2017 BioASQ benchmark test sets and the experimental results show that our query expansion approach outperforms the baseline and other participants in the BioASQ competitions.

Light traps are used to determine the temporal and spatial dynamics of the migratory brown planthoppers (BPHs) Nilaparvata lugens. But very little is known whether newly emerged adults respond to local light traps during the emigration period. Thus, it is important to evaluate the efficiency of light traps in attracting emigrant and immigrant populations to improve forecasting and control of this pest. The migration periods of N. lugens were determined by field surveys in Fuyang, Zhejiang province in 2012 and Yongfu, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 2013. Mark-release-recapture experiments with both newly emerged (unflown) and flight experienced (flown) N. lugens were conducted at the two study sites. The marking method did not have any significant effect on the survival or flight capability of the N. lugens. A total of 4800 marked flown and 8400 unflown BPHs were released at a distance of 10, 20 and 30 m from 45-watt fluorescent actinic light traps. The results showed that without wind (< 3.2 m/s) or rainfall conditions, the overall recapture rate of flown BPHs was higher than that of unflown BPHs (9.60% and 0.92%, respectively; χ21 = 589.66, P < 0.0001). Curve estimation regression analysis showed that flown BPHs were attracted to the light source at a distance of 19.77 m, and unflown BPH at a distance of 5.35 m, with these distances corresponding to a 5% recapture rate. Given that the population dynamics of BPHs in the light traps were not synchronous with that in the fields, our results indicate that only a few emerging BPHs in an infested site can be captured locally by light traps. Therefore, care must be taken in estimating the abundance of the sample to absolute local abundance during sedentary and emigration period.

"The Transporters" intervention contains 15 animated episodes that autistic children watch daily for a month and learn emotion recognition through stories depicting social interactions between vehicle characters with grafted human faces, expressing emotions. Its automated, home-based format is cost-effective. This study included four groups of young Chinese children in Hong Kong: two intervention groups (an autism intervention group and an autism + attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) intervention group), an autism control group and a non-autistic group. The autism + ADHD intervention group was one that had not been separately examined before. In this study, "The Transporters" episodes were delivered via an App instead of the dated DVD technology. Following "The Transporters" intervention, both autism and autism + ADHD intervention groups improved significantly and similarly on emotion recognition and were more like the non-autistic group, while the autism control group did not. Learning was generalizable to novel situations/characters. There was no dosage effect, with the standard recommended number of episodes viewed as sufficient for significant improvement. Besides confirming the effectiveness of "The Transporters" for young Chinese autistic children, this study contributes to the literature/practice by expanding the range of applicability of "The Transporters" to autistic children with ADHD, which is important given the high co-occurrence rate between autism and ADHD.

The spread of English and its increasing importance in intercultural encounters have challenged essentialist perspectives of culture in English language teaching. In addition to using English as a means of communication, students are expected to develop intercultural awareness, which allows them to analyse and reflect on their intercultural encounters and to participate in social activities. Such a need draws great attention to language teachers' perceptions of and engagement in intercultural teaching. As a narrative inquiry, this paper examines the reflections of English language practitioners who have returned from an overseas study experience and have become English language teachers in China. It focuses on their study abroad experiences, encompassing both their achievements and challenges in the context of intercultural learning, and examines how these experiences have influenced their current involvement in intercultural teaching. The findings help shed light on the shifts in teachers' perceptions of intercultural encounters and how the processes of making sense of intercultural experiences inform their orientation towards intercultural learning. The paper considers the importance of helping teachers use their experiential understanding of language and culture to generate a critical pedagogical stance to promote intercultural education.

The complexity of language contact and intercultural communication has generated various issues in relation to language use and education. As one of the many Chinese dialects ("fangyans"), the Chaoshan dialect ("Teochew") has been affected by the extensive promotion of Putonghua, the key lingua franca across China, and English, the lingua franca for international communication. Therefore, it is worth exploring the current situation and sustainability of Teochew from the perspective of multilingualism. This study used a questionnaire and interviews with local Chaoshan people as the research instruments with which to investigate the perspective of family language policy, the usage frequency of Teochew on different occasions and among different groups, parents' and students' levels of Teochew mastery and the factors influencing the family language policy of Teochew. It also aimed to determine the participants' first-language practices and attitudes towards Teochew. The findings reveal that the majority of the participants have positive attitudes regarding the inheritance and development of Teochew; however, the future of sustainable development shows a weakening trend. The paper concludes by emphasising the significance of maintaining Teochew as one of the many fangyans in China, in addition to the "lingua franca," as seen from a multilingual perspective.

The spread of English as a global language has led to discussions and debates about English language teaching and whether language teacher education should prepare pre- and in-service teachers to teach English from the global Englishes (GE) perspective. This thematic review first addresses the need to move from traditional assumptions about native speakerism in language teaching and then links it to individual cognition in GE-informed teacher education. The review then presents cases of GE teacher education in various contexts and addresses challenges in and future directions for GE-aware teacher education. The implications for GE language teacher education from the perspectives of "looking inward," "looking around," and "looking forward" are discussed at the end of this review.

In this study, polylactic acid (PLA) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) were used to fabricate composite materials with different raster orientations by a 3D printing process. The idea of this study came from the fact that in nature, many plants have vertical or horizontal lines on their leaves or branches. The authors made use of the composite material of a material structure under a thermal effect to achieve the material concept. Finally, their characteristics were observed by applying a thermal effect, tensile tests (to evaluate toughness), and a dynamic mechanical analysis (tan [delta] to evaluate energy absorption). After a thermal effect (temperature) from a heat source was applied, it was found that the material exhibited negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) characteristic. A single material with two layers on 0[degrees] raster orientation of a material in this study had the maximum tan [delta] (energy absorption), an NPR, and toughness regardless of the kind of material. Among the composite materials, 0[degrees] raster orientation of them also had a larger NPR, and the absolute value of Poisson's ratio decreased as the temperature increased. Highlights * The innovative two-layer composite material fabricated by 3D printing. * The material characteristics with various raster orientations are discussed. * PLA0 has the largest tan [delta], toughness, and negative Poisson's ratio. KEYWORDS 3D printing, additive manufacturing, composite material, energy absorption, negative Poisson's ratio, raster orientation, thermal effect, 1 | INTRODUCTION Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a method of additive manufacturing (AM); it is also called rapid prototyping (RP) because it can quickly fabricate good finished products. The stereolithographic [...]