A Study of the Content Validity of Reading Comprehension Tests in NMET II

Zhen-Jie Liu,Ming-Hao Jin 대한언어학회 2018 언어학 Vol.26 No.4

Liu, Zhen-Jie & Jin, Ming-Hao. (2018). A study of the content validity of reading comprehension tests in NMET II. The Linguistic Association of Korea Journal, 26(4), 103-124. Based on Bachman and Palmer’s (1996) framework of task characteristics, this paper aims to compare the reading comprehension tests of the 2013-2017 National Matriculation English Test II (NMET II) with the requirements of the New Curriculum Standards and Testing Syllabus, in particular, concerning the content validity of the tests in terms of the characteristics of input and expected responses. The implications of this study are discussed for test designers, teachers, and students. The results show that reading comprehension tests from 2013 to 2017 basically meet the requirements of the New Curriculum Standard and Testing Syllabus and have a high content validity. In terms of the characteristics of input, the length, reading speed, and readability of comprehension passages are appropriate for students; however, the distribution of topics and genres in each year is uneven. In terms of the characteristics of expected responses, the wordings of questions and the design of question items are reasonable. However, the response type is mainly restricted to selected response questions (multiple-choice), and the measure of reading skills coverage is unbalanced.

ST6Gal-I Predicts Postoperative Clinical Outcome for Patients with Localized Clear-cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Liu, Hai-Ou,Wu, Qian,Liu, Wei-Si,Liu, Yi-Dong,Fu, Qiang,Zhang, Wei-Juan,Xu, Le,Xu, Jie-Jie Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.23

Hyperactivated ${\alpha}2$-6-sialylation on N-glycans due to overexpression of the Golgi enzyme ${\beta}$-galactoside: ${\alpha}2$-6-sialyltransferase (ST6Gal-I) often correlates with cancer progression, metastasis, and poor prognosis. This study was aimed to determine the association between ST6Gal-I expression and the risk of recurrence and survival of patients with localized clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) following surgery. We retrospectively enrolled 391 patients (265 in training cohort and 126 in validation cohort) with localized ccRCC underwent nephrectomy at a single center. Tissue microarrays were constructed for immunostaining of ST6Gal-I. Prognostic value and clinical outcomes were evaluated. High ST6Gal-I expression was associated with Fuhrman grade (p<0.001 and p=0.016, respectively) and the University of California Los-Angeles Integrated Staging System (UISS) score (p=0.004 and p=0.017, respectively) in both cohorts. Patients with high ST6Gal-I expression had significantly worse overall survival (OS) (p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively) and recurrence free survival (RFS) (p<0.001 and p=0.002, respectively) than those with low expression in both cohorts. On multivariate analysis, ST6Gal-I expression remained associated with OS and RFS even after adjusting for the UISS score. Stratified analysis suggested that the association is more pronounced among patients with low and intermediate-risk disease defined by the UISS score. High ST6Gal-I expression is a potential independent adverse predictor of survival and recurrence in ccRCC patients, and the prognostic value is most prominent in those with low and intermediate-risk disease defined by the UISS score.

De novo assembly of the transcriptome for Greenbug (Schizaphis graminum Rondani) and analysis on insecticide resistance-related genes

Jun-Jie LIU,Liu-Yang LU,Hui-Hui LIU,Ya-She LI,Xu SU,Bai-Zhong ZHANG,Xi-Ling CHEN 한국곤충학회 2019 Entomological Research Vol.49 No.8

The greenbug, Schizaphis graminum Rondani is a major pest species of wheat crops. In this study, a transcriptome sequencing, and the expression of the 12 genes related to insecticide resistance were conducted in S. graminum. The sequencing and subsequent bioinformatics analysis outputed 46,593 unigenes, among which 28,289 unigenes were annotated to corresponding functions by blasting with high homologous genes in database, giving annotation rate of 60.72%. To gain insight into the mechanism of insecticide resistance, the expression of the 12 genes related to insecticide resistance for S. graminum was investigated. The expression level of aminopeptidase N (AN), cytochrome P450 (CYP), acetylcholinesterase 1 (AC), catalase (CAT), cytochrome c oxidas (CCC), GABA receptor (GABA), glutathione S-transferase (GST) were highest in the apterous nymphs among different developmental stages; The expression level of AN, CBL, CYP, CA, SD, and GST were relatively more abundant in the abdomen compared to head and throax. The results could give out the key information about the relationship between the expression of these genes in different developmental stages, tissues, treatments and metabolism of insecticides. These genes that were co-up-regulated significantly in third instar nymphs of S. graminum induced by imidacloprid, were consistent with their putative involvement in insecticide resistance. This provides most comprehensive transcriptome data for S. graminum to further study and managenment.

The Clinical Observation of Inflammation Theory for Depression: The Initiative of the Formosa Long COVID Multicenter Study (FOCuS)

Shu-Tsen Liu(Shu-Tsen Liu),Sheng-Che Lin(Sheng-Che Lin),Jane Pei-Chen Chang(Jane Pei-Chen Chang),Kai-Jie Yang(Kai-Jie Yang),Che-Sheng Chu(Che-Sheng Chu),Chia-Chun Yang(Chia-Chun Yang),Chih-Sung Liang( 대한정신약물학회 2023 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.21 No.1

There is growing evidence that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is associated with increased risks of psychiatric sequelae. Depression, anxiety, cognitive impairments, sleep disturbance, and fatigue during and after the acute phase of COVID-19 are prevalent, long-lasting, and exerting negative consequences on well-being and imposing a huge burden on healthcare systems and society. This current review presented timely updates of clinical research findings, particularly focusing on the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying the neuropsychiatric sequelae, and identified potential key targets for developing effective treatment strategies for long COVID. In addition, we introduced the Formosa Long COVID Multicenter Study (FOCuS), which aims to apply the inflammation theory to the pathogenesis and the psychosocial and nutrition treatments of post-COVID depression and anxiety.

Contribution of Shear Reinforcements and Concrete to the Shear Capacity of Interfaces between Concretes Cast at Different Times

Jie Liu,Yangmin Bu,Juanjuan Chen,Qing Wang 대한토목학회 2021 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.25 No.6

Currently, shear transfer models have diverse assumptions about the contribution of shear reinforcements and concrete to the shear capacity of interfaces between concretes cast at different times (that is, cold joints). Furthermore, the knowledge about the effect of high–strength shear reinforcements (HSSR) having a nominal yield strength exceeding 414 MPa (60 ksi), is still limited. This study aims to determine the extent to which shear reinforcements and concrete contribute to the shear capacity of cold joints and explore the effect of HSSR on shear transfer behavior. To this end, nine cold joint push–off specimens were tested to investigate the effects of yield strength of shear reinforcement (YSSR) and concrete compressive strength (CCS) on the interface shear strength and stiffness. In addition, code provisions evaluation was used to identify the degree of concrete contribution, based on a database of 108 cold joint push–off test results established in this study. Test results indicate that the increase of YSSR (rising from 400 MPa to 600 MPa) has no evident effect on the shear strength and stiffness of cold joints, whereas the increase of CCS can significantly increase them. Moreover, when CCS rises from 20 MPa to 50 MPa, the interface shear capacity of push–off specimens increases by approximately 110%, i.e., from 103.5 kN to 217.5 kN. Hence, concrete has a considerable contribution, whereas the contribution of shear reinforcements is not as great as expected. Code provisions evaluation results also indicate that concrete considerably contributes to the shear capacity in the form of cohesion. On the basis of these findings and current design equations, a shear capacity equation, which accounts for the effect of CCS and the limited participation of shear reinforcements, is proposed. This equation is found to provide reasonable prediction of cold joint shear capacity, especially for the cold joint composed of high–strength concrete.

Distributed cooperative communication nodes control and optimization reliability for resource-constrained WSNs

Liu, Xiao,Liu, Anfeng,Li, Zhetao,Tian, Shujuan,Choi, Young-june,Sekiya, Hiroo,Li, Jie Elsevier 2017 Neurocomputing Vol.270 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>The utilization of distributed control and optimization is still a challenge issue to achieve reliable communication for resource-constrained networked systems. In this paper, a distributed cooperative communication nodes control (DCCNC) approach is proposed to achieve higher reliability communication and longer network lifetime for resource-constrained wireless sensor network (WSNs). A DCCNC scheme adopts feedback control approach to determine the appropriate number of node which participates in cooperative communication according to the application reliability requirements. A residue energy notification mechanism is used to notice the minimum residual energy of nodes in a network, then the number of cooperative communication nodes is adjusted according to the difference between the residual energy of nodes and the minimum residual energy of network. In a DCCNC scheme, larger number of participate cooperative communication nodes are adopted in non-hotspots area to achieve high reliability, while less number of participate cooperative communication nodes are adopted in hotspots area to achieve high network lifetime. The theoretical analysis and experimental results show that comparing with previous communications schemes, DCCNC scheme can reduce end to end Data Fail delivering Ratio (DFR) by 57.16–93.29% while retaining network lifetime, and DCCNC approach can also improves lifetime by 3.89–18.75% while retaining weighted end to end (DFR).</P>

The effects of paeoniflorin injection on soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid-1 (sTREM-1) levels in severe septic rats

Liu, Xiao-Rong,Xu, Jie,Wang, Yi-Min,Ji, Ming-Suo,Liu, Fu-Shan The Korean Society of Pharmacology 2016 The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology Vol.20 No.6

Paeoniflorin (PAE) is the most abundant compound in Xuebijing injection widely used to treat sepsis. We aimed to investigate effect of PAE on expression of soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) in a rat model of sepsis. Wistar rats were divided into Normal, Model, and PAE groups (n=20 each). Endotoxin was administrated at 5 mg/ml/kg in Model and PAE rats to establish rat sepsis model. 1 h after endotoxin administration, PAE was administrated at 4 ml/kg in PAE group once per day for 3 days. Routine blood tests and biochemical indexes were assessed, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB). The plasma sTREM-1 level was measured using quantitative ELISA. At the end of experiment, the small intestine, liver, kidney and lung were subjected to pathological examinations. A rat model of sepsis-induced multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) was established successfully with endotoxin administration (5 mg/ml/kg), evidenced by histo-pathological examinations, routine blood tests and biochemical indexes: platelet count decreased and white blood cell count increased (p<0.05), CK-MB and AST increased (p<0.05). PAE treatment significantly reduced the plasma levels of AST, CK-MB, and sTREM-1, compared to Model group (p<0.05). Meanwhile, sepsis-induced damages in the liver, lung, stomach and intestinal mucosa were also markedly ameliorated by PAE treatment. PAE demonstrated a significantly protective effect in a rat model of sepsis by decreasing plasma sTREM-1 level, reducing inflammation, preventing MODS and protecting organ functions.

Analytical solution for free vibration of multi-span continuous anisotropic plates by the perturbation method

Jie-Peng Liu,Liang Cao,Y. Frank Chen 국제구조공학회 2019 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.69 No.3

Accurately determining the natural frequencies and mode shapes of a structural floor is an essential step to assess the floor’s human-induced vibration serviceability. In the theoretical analysis, the prestressed concrete floor can be idealized as a multi-span continuous anisotropic plate. This paper presents a new analytical approach to determine the natural frequencies and mode shapes of a multi-span continuous orthotropic plate. The suggested approach is based on the combined modal and perturbation method, which differs from other approaches as it decomposes the admissible functions defining the mode shapes by considering the intermodal coupling. The implementation of this technique is simple, requiring no tedious mathematical calculations. The perturbation solution is validated with the numerical results.

Efficacy and safety of herbal medicine (Binafuxi granules) for the common cold with fever: A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase II clinical trial

Liu Xuemei,Min Jie,She Bin,Chen Yang,Li Jun,Huang Lei,Chen Ju,Luo Ai,Mei Yang,Li Ting,Wu Yanqing,Chen Daohong,Hongli Zhong,Liu Wei,Mao Bing,Jiang Hongli 한국한의학연구원 2023 Integrative Medicine Research Vol.12 No.3

Background: Binafuxi granules are a traditional Uighur medicine (TUM) for treating the common cold with fever. However, high-quality clinical studies supporting its efficacy and safety are lacking. Methods: In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase II clinical trial, patients with common cold and fever were randomly assigned to a high-dose group, low-dose group, and placebo group in a 1:1:1 ratio. Outcomes were time to fever relief, time to fever clearance, proportion of afebrile patients, time to symptom disappearance, rate of symptom disappearance, effective rate, emergency drug usage and safety assessment. Results: A total of 235 patients were recruited. Of these, 234 were included in the full analysis set (FAS), and 217 were included in the per-protocol set (PPS). In the FAS analysis, the median time to fever relief was 6.00 h, 5.54 h and 10.65 h (P = 0.31) in the high-dose group, low-dose group and placebo group, respectively. The median time to fever clearance was 18.29 h, 20.08 h and 25.00 h (P = 0.0018), respectively, and the proportion of afebrile patients was 92.4%, 89.7% and 71.4% (P = 0.0002), respectively. There was a significant difference in the disappearance time and disappearance rate of all symptoms and of individual symptoms. No serious adverse events were found. Conclusions: Binafuxi granules can dose-dependently shorten the fever course and improve clinical symptoms in patients suffering from the common cold with fever.

Calculation of Two-Phase Convective Heat Transfer Coefficients of Cryogenic Nitrogen Flow in Plate-Fin Type Heat Exchangers

Liu, Jie,Chung, Mo,Park, Seungha Taylor Francis 2014 Heat transfer engineering Vol.35 No.6