Using Small Corpora of Critiques to Set Pedagogical Goals in First Year ESP Business English

Wang, Yu-Chi,Davis, Richard Hill Institute for Corpus Research 2021 Asia pacific journal of corpus research Vol.2 No.2

The current study explores small corpora of critiques written by Chinese and non-Chinese university students and how strategies used by these writers compare with high-rated L1 students. Data collection includes three small corpora of student writing; 20 student critiques in 2017, 23 student critiques from 2018, and 23 critiques from the online Michigan MICUSP collection at the University of Michigan. The researchers employ Text Inspector and Lexical Complexity to identify university students' vocabulary knowledge and awareness of syntactic complexity. In addition, WMatrix4® is used to identify and support the comparison of lexical and semantic differences among the three corpora. The findings indicate that gaps between Chinese and non-Chinese writers in the same university classes exist in students' knowledge of grammatical features and interactional metadiscourse. In addition, critiques by Chinese writers are more likely to produce shorter clauses and sentences. In addition, the mean value of complex nominal and coordinate phrases is smaller for Chinese students than for non-Chinese and MICUSP writers. Finally, in terms of lexical bundles, Chinese student writers prefer clausal bundles instead of phrasal bundles, which, according to previous studies, are more often found in texts of skilled writers. The current study's findings suggest incorporating implicit and explicit instruction through the implementation of corpora in language classrooms to advance skills and strategies of all, but particularly of Chinese writers of English.

Validation of the Chinese Version of the Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale

Kuan-Wei Huang,Pao-Yen Lin,Yu Lee,Yu-Chi Huang,Chi-Fa Hung,Sheng-Yu Lee,Chih-Ken Chen,Liang-Jen Wang 대한신경정신의학회 2022 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.19 No.7

Objective The Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS) is an interview-based assessment tool for evaluating the cognitive deficit and daily functioning of patients with schizophrenia.Methods Sixty-eight patients with schizophrenia and 68 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals were recruited to validate the Chinese version of SCoRS in this study. All participants underwent cognitive assessment using the SCoRS, which was verified by the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), and the UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment, Brief Version (UPSA-B). Patients with schizophrenia were additionally assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).Results SCoRS ratings reported by patients (SCoRS-S), those reported by the interviewer (SCoRS-I), and SCoRS global scores (SCoRS-G) showed significant correlation with all subscales of the BACS and the UPSA-B. On receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, SCoRS-S, SCoRS-I, and SCoRS-G significantly differentiated patients with schizophrenia from healthy controls. Moreover, SCoRS-S and SCoRS-I ratings showed positive correlation with the negative symptoms and general symptoms of PANSS.Conclusion The Chinese version of SCoRS showed good discriminant, concurrent, and external validity, suggesting that it is a useful and convenient tool for assessment of cognitive function among Mandarin-speaking patients with schizophrenia in clinical practice.

Suppression of Adipogenesis by 5-hydroxy-3,6,7,8,3′,4′-Hexamethoxyflavone from Orange Peel in 3T3-L1 Cells

Yu Wang,Pei-Sheng Lee,Yi-Fen Chen,Chi-Tang Ho,Min-Hsiung Pan 한국식품영양과학회 2016 Journal of medicinal food Vol.19 No.9

We reported previously that hydroxylated polymethoxyflavones (HPMFs) effectively suppressed obesity in high-fat-induced mouse. In this study, we further investigated the molecular mechanism of action of 5-hydroxy-3,6,7,8,3′,4′-hexamethoxyflavone (5-OH-HxMF), one of major HPMFs in orange peel. Treatment of 5-OH-HxMF effectively inhibited lipid accumulation by 55–60% in a dose-dependent manner. The 5-OH-HxMF attenuated adipogenesis through downregulating adipogenesis-related transcription factors such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins (C/EBPs), as well as downstream target fatty acid synthase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). 5-OH-HxMF activated adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase signaling and silent mating type information regulation 1 (SIRTUIN 1 or SIRT1) in 3T3-L1 adipocytes to decrease lipid accumulation. In addition, the inhibition rate of lipid accumulation was compared between 5-OH-HxMF and 3,5,6,7,8,3′,4′-heptamethoxyflavone (HpMF). 5-OH-HxMF inhibited lipid accumulation 15–20% more than HpMF did, indicating that hydroxyl group at position 5 can be a key factor in the suppression of adipogenesis.

An Efficient Probability-based t out of n Secret Image Sharing Scheme

Chi-Chen Chang,Yu-Zheng Wang,Chi-Shiang Chan 보안공학연구지원센터(IJSIP) 2009 International Journal of Signal Processing, Image Vol.2 No.1

Protective Factors of Demoralization among Cancer Patients in Taiwan: An Age-matched and Gender-matched Study

Yu-Chi Li,Chung-Han Ho,Hsiu-Hung Wang 한국간호과학회 2017 Asian Nursing Research Vol.11 No.3

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the protective factors of demoralization in cancer patients via investigation of cancer patients' demographic and disease characteristics. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. We used a structured questionnaire, which contained items on demographic and disease characteristics, as well as the Demoralization Scale Mandarin Version (DS-MV), with a cutoff of 30 or more indicating high demoralization. Data were analyzed with age-matched and gender-matched conditional logistic regression analysis. For the study, 428 questionnaires were delivered and 411 were recovered. After being age-matched and gender-matched, 182 participants of high demoralization (DS-MV > 30) and low demoralization (DS-MV 30) were obtained respectively, for a total of 364 participants. Results: Cancer patients' demoralization was significantly related to family support (p = .019), education (p = .049), and monthly income (p = .001). Family support [odds ratio = 0.38; p = .028; 95% confidence interval (0.16, 0.91)] and monthly income [odds ratio = 0.49; p = .009; 95% confidence interval (0.29, 0.84)] were protective factors of demoralization in cancer patients. Conclusion: Early and appropriate demoralization assessment of cancer patients' demographic and disease characteristics is very important in clinical settings. Healthcare providers might regularly monitor demoralization in cancer patients, and develop related nursing care guidelines or treatment for demoralization in cancer patients. The study results can be a reference for healthcare providers who work with cancer patients.

The Effectiveness of Dignity Therapy as Applied to End-of-Life Patients with Cancer in Taiwan: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Yu-Chi Li,Yin-Hsun Feng,Hui-Ying Chiang,Shu-Ching Ma,Hsiu-Hung Wang 한국간호과학회 2020 Asian Nursing Research Vol.14 No.4

Purpose: The aim of the study was to determine the effectiveness of dignity therapy for end-of-lifepatients with cancer. Methods: This study used a quasi-experimental study design with a nonrandomized controlled trial. Dignity therapy was used as an intervention in the experimental group, and general visit was used in thecontrol group. Thirty end-of-life patients with cancer were recruited, with 16 in the experimental groupand 14 in the control group. Outcome variables were the participants' dignity, demoralization, anddepression. Measurements were taken at the following time points: pre-test (before intervention), posttest1 (the 7th day), and post-test 2 (the 14th day). The effectiveness of the intervention in the twogroups was analyzed using the generalized estimating equation, with the p value set to be less than .05. Results: After dignity therapy, the end-of-life patients with cancer reflected increased dignity significantly[b ¼ 37.08, standard error (SE) ¼ 7.43, Wald c2 ¼ 24.94, p < .001], whereas demoralization(b¼ 39.55, SE ¼ 6.42,Wald c2 ¼ 37.95, p < .001) and depression (b¼ 12.01, SE ¼ 2.17,Wald c2 ¼ 30.71,p < .001) were both reduced significantly. Conclusion: Clinical nurses could be adopting dignity therapy to relieve psychological distress andimprove spiritual need in end-of-life patients with cancer. Future studies might be expanded tolooking at patients vis- a-vis end-of-life patients without cancer to improve their psychologicaldistress. These results provide reference data for the care of end-of-life patients with cancer fornursing professionals.

Insights into the major phenolic acids in Perilla frutescens obtained by a sustainable procedure

Yu-Chiao Yang,Chia-Sui Wang,Ming-Chi Wei 한국공업화학회 2021 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.96 No.-

This research was performed to evaluate the efficiency of ultrasound in obtaining the total extract, caffeicacid and rosmarinic acid from Perilla frutescens using supercritical CO2 (USCCO2) extraction. Comparedwith traditional heat-reflux, ultrasonic-assisted and SCCO2 extractions, the USCCO2 technique decreasedthe extraction duration (1.12–1.92 times) and the consumption of solvent (1.90–285.71 times) at lowerextraction temperatures and obtained a higher yield from the plant matrix. Furthermore, a second-orderkinetic model and Fick’s second diffusion model were implemented to ascertain the extraction rateconstant, equilibrium concentration, initial extraction rate, effective diffusion coefficient, mass transfercoefficient, Biot number, equilibrium constant and thermodynamic parameters of the USCCO2 and SCCO2dynamic extractions of rosmarinic acid from P. frutescens. These results provide valuable insights into thekinetic and mass transfer behaviors that occur during the USCCO2 and SCCO2 procedures and explain thereasons for the better extraction efficiency of the former procedure.

Facing-target mid-frequency magnetron reactive sputtered hafnium oxide film: Morphology and electrical properties

Yu Zhang,Jun Xu,You-Nian Wang,Chi Kyu Choi,Da-Yu Zhou 한국물리학회 2016 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.68 No.5

Amorphous hafnium dioxide (HfO2) film was prepared on Si (100) by facing-target mid-frequency reactive magnetron sputtering under different oxygen/argon gas ratio at room temperature with high purity Hf target. 3D surface profiler results showed that the deposition rates of HfO2 thin film under different O2/Ar gas ratio remain unchanged, indicating that the facing target midfrequency magnetron sputtering system provides effective approach to eliminate target poisoning phenomenon which is generally occurred in reactive sputtering procedure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) demonstrated that the gradual reduction of oxygen vacancy concentration and the densification of deposited film structure with the increase of oxygen/argon (O2/Ar) gas flow ratio. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis suggested that the surface of the as-deposited HfO2 thin film tends to be smoother, the root-meansquare roughness (RMS) reduced from 0.876 nm to 0.333 nm while O2/Ar gas flow ratio increased from 1/4 to 1/1. Current-Voltage measurements of MOS capacitor based on Au/HfO2/Si structure indicated that the leakage current density of HfO2 thin films decreased by increasing of oxygen partial pressure, which resulted in the variations of pore size and oxygen vacancy concentration in deposited thin films. Based on the above characterization results the leakage current mechanism for all samples was discussed systematically.

원발성 간세포암의 간동맥색전술후 효과와 재발판정에서 혈중 Alpha Fetoprotein(AFP)의 유용성에 관한 고찰

유현,심형진,이종범,왕치형,이종익,김영구,이용철,김건상 중앙대학교 의과대학 의과학연구소 1995 中央醫大誌 Vol.20 No.2

The author evaluated the usefulness of alpha-fetoprotein(AFP) in determining the efficacy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolication(TAE) and detection of recurrence in 68 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) who were treated by TAE more than two times. The patients were classified into high AFP goup(AFP≥200ng/ml) and low AFT group (AFP<200ng/ml). The change of AFP was evaluated after first TAE. In 23 patients with recurred HCC, the recurrence was determined by angiography and/or CT. The value of AFT in the detection of recurrence was also estimated in the recurred cases. In high AFP group, the AFP decreased after the first TAE in 71%(30/42), increased at recurrence in 64%(7/11), and there was positive correlation between changes in the AFT and the findings of imaging diagnosis. In low AFP group, the AFP did not decrease after first TAE in 73%(19/26) and did not increase at recurrence in 50%(6/12). The AFP value was useful in determining the efficacy of TAE and detection of recurrence in high AFP gorup. But in low AFP group, the value of AFP was limited, and imaging methods were more important.

Catalytic valorization of starch-rich food waste into hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF): Controlling relative kinetics for high productivity

Yu, Iris K.M.,Tsang, Daniel C.W.,Yip, Alex C.K.,Chen, Season S.,Wang, Lei,Ok, Yong Sik,Poon, Chi Sun Elsevier 2017 Bioresource technology Vol.237 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>This study aimed to maximize the valorization of bread waste, a typical food waste stream, into hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) by improving our kinetic understanding. The highest HMF yield (30mol%) was achieved using SnCl<SUB>4</SUB> as catalyst, which offered strong derived Brønsted acidity and moderate Lewis acidity. We evaluated the kinetic balance between these acidities to facilitate faster desirable reactions (i.e., hydrolysis, isomerization, and dehydration) relative to undesirable reactions (i.e., rehydration and polymerization). Such catalyst selectivity of SnCl<SUB>4</SUB>, AlCl<SUB>3</SUB>, and FeCl<SUB>3</SUB> was critical in maximizing HMF yield. Higher temperature made marginal advancement by accelerating the undesirable reactions to a similar extent as the desirable pathways. The polymerization-induced metal-impregnated high-porosity carbon was a possible precursor of biochar-based catalyst, further driving up the economic potential. Preliminary economic analysis indicated a net gain of USD 43-236 per kilogram bread waste considering the thermochemical-conversion cost and chemical-trading revenue.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Valorization of bread waste resulted in 30mol% HMF using SnCl<SUB>4</SUB> as catalyst. </LI> <LI> Catalyst selectivity towards formation reactions improved maximum HMF yield. </LI> <LI> Balance between Brønsted acidity and Lewis acidity controlled catalyst selectivity. </LI> <LI> Temperature increase reduced reaction time but marginally enhanced HMF yield. </LI> <LI> Sn-deposited porous humins may serve as precursor of biochar-based catalyst. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>