A University in Its Move to Contribute to Diversity of Civilizations——An Interview with President of Beijing Foreign Studies University Peng Long

THIS year,the term "new four inventions" has created a craze in China’s media world with a spate of related stories topping the headlines of countless media outlets.The term’s creator is Beijing Foreign Studies University(BFSU).BFSU’s Silk Road Research Institute carried out a survey among its international students from 20 countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt

2008 Beijing Seminar on Tibetan Studies Held

2008 Beijing Seminar on Tibetan Studies was held from Oct.14-16,2008,which was sponsored by China Tibetology Research Center,China Association for Preservation and Development of Ti-

A Study of the Radiation-Climate Effect of Aerosol over Beijing Area

In this paper, the monthly-averaged planetary albedo and equivalent blackbody temperature are calculated by using Gauss-Seidle numerical model to solve the equation of radiative transfer, based on measured aerosol data over Beijing aera. With the increase of atmospheric turbidity, the planetary albedo has different characteristics in different seasons, and there is an evident decrease in the winter season. It means that the local aerosol has an heating effect to the atmosphere in winter. The correlation feature between the surface temperature and the horizontal visibility from 1963 to 1986 is analyzed, and anticorrelation is discovered in winter. It is found that surface temperature increases with the increase of aeresol.

REVIEW OF THE FEASIBILITY STUDY OF BEIJING TAU-CHARM FACTORY

In the field of large-capacity accelerator construction, there are two world-wide trends now evident in high-energy physicists: one is to build up high-energy ones such as the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) developed by Conseil Européen pour la Recherches Nucleaires (CERN) and the other features high precision, including β-factories in the US and Japan and the φ-factory and τ-factory

PROGRESS IN THE FEASIBILITY STUDY OF THE BEIJING TAU-CHARM FACTORY

The feasibility study of the Beijing Tau-Charm Factory(BTCF), approved by the Chinese government to have been completing from February of 1995 to the end of 1996, has been carried out successfully by the Institute of High-Energy Physics (IHEP) under the CAS.Also this is a cooperative project shared by seven Chinese institutions of Peking University,the CAS Institute of Theoretical Physics,Nanjing University,Shandong University,Shanghai Jiaotong University, Qinghua University and the CAS-affiliated University of S&T of China. The main tasks of this study are:

10-year fundus tessellation progression and retinal vein occlusion

AIM： To access the 10-year fundus tessellation progression in patients with retinal vein occlusion. METHODS： The Beijing Eye Study 2001/2011 is a populationbased longitudinal study. The study participants underwent a detailed physical and ophthalmic examination. Degree of fundus tessellation was graded by using fundus photographs of the macula and optic disc. Progression of fundus tessellation was calculated by fundus tessellation degree of 2011 minus degree of 2001. Fundus photographs were used for assessment of retinal vein occlusion. RESULTS： The Beijing Eye Study included 4403 subjects in 2001, 3468 subjects was repeated in 2011. Assessment of retinal vein obstruction and fundus tessellation progression were available for 2462 subjects（71.0%）, with 66 subjects fulfilled the diagnosis of retinal vein occlusion. Of the 66 participants, 59 participants with unilateral branch retinal vein occlusion, 5 participants with unilateral central retinal vein occlusion, 1 participant with bilateral branch retinal vein occlusion, and 1 participant with branch retinal vein occlusion in one eye and central retinal vein occlusion in the other eye. Mean degree of peripapillary fundus tessellation progression were significantly higher in the whole retinal vein occlusion group（0.33±0.39, P〈0.001）, central retinal vein occlusion group（0.71±0.8, P=0.025） and branch retinal vein occlusion group（0.29±0.34, P=0.006） than the control group（0.20±0.26）. After adjustment for age, prevalence of tilted disc, change of best corrected visual acuity, axial length, progression of peripapillary fundus tessellation was associated with the presence of retinal vein occlusion（P=0.004; regression coefficient B, 0.094; 95%CI, 0.029, 0.158; standardized coefficient B, 0.056）. As a corollary, after adjusting for smoking duration, systolic blood pressure, anterior corneal curvature, prevalence of RVO was associated with more peripapillary fundus tessellation progression（P〈0.001; regression coefficient B： 1.257; OR： 3.517; 95%CI： 1.777, 6.958）. CONCLUSION： Peripapillary fundus tessellation progresses faster in individuals with retinal vein occlusion. This may reflect the thinning and hypoperfusion of choroid in patients with retinal vein occlusion.

Progression of diabetic retinopathy： the Beijing Eye Study

Background Diabetic retinopathy （DR） has emerged as a leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in the working-aged population worldwide. This study aimed to assess frequency and associated factors of progression of DR in subjects with known diabetes in a population-based setting. Methods The Beijing Eye Study is a population based study performed in Greater Beijing in 2001 and 2006. The present investigation included all subjects with known diabetes mellitus in 2001, who participated in the follow-up examination in 2006. Fundus photographs were assessed. Results The study included 170 subjects; 51 （30%） subjects showed signs of DR in 2001 and were re-examined in 2006, 36 （21.2%） subjects （18 subjects with DR present at baseline, 18 subjects with newly diagnosed DR in 2006） showed a progression of DR during follow-up. Progression of DR was associated with rural region （odds ratio （OR）： 5.43, P=0.001） and self-reported arterial hypertension （OR： 3.85, P=0.023）. In the non-progressive subgroup, presence of DR was associated with different levels of education （〈middle school, middle school, college or higher, OR： 0.30, P=-0.023）, treatment modes of diabetes mellitus （OR： 10.24, P=0.003） and cataract surgery （OR： 9.14, P=0.007）. Conclusions In a population-based setting in Greater Beijing, progression of DR occurred in 35% of subjects with pre-existing DR and overall in 21% of subjects with known diabetes within a 5-year period. Progression of DR was significantly associated with rural region and self-reported arterial hypertension. In the stable subjects, presence of DR was significantly associated with poor educational level, insulin treatment of diabetes and cataract surgery.

Appraisal of the Production-Oriented Approach： An Introduction

The production-oriented approach （POA） has been developed over a decade. It is driven by the need to improve English classroom instruction for university students in China （Wen, 2016）. It is also motivated by the aspiration to enhance the quality of foreign language education in other similar pedagogical contexts outside China. A volume of research has been done by Wen Qiufang and her research team, to formulate the theory of POA and to test its effectiveness in classroom pedagogy （e.g. Wen, 2016, 2015; Yang, 2015; Zhang, 2015）. At the moment, the POA is still at an early stage of theory building and almost all empirical research is done in the Chinese context. In order to improve the quality of this theory and to make it intelligible to the international academic community, a one-day symposium was held in Beijing Foreign Studies University on May 15, 2017. The symposium was entitled ＇The first international forum on innovative foreign language education in China： Appraisal of the POA＇. In the forum, leading experts in applied linguistics were invited to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the POA and the directions for its future development. The symposium was the first attempt for the POA research team to discuss its latest work with international scholars. This Viewpoint section collects the responses of four experts who participated in the symposium, listed in alphabetical order. The collection of articles covers three topics related to the POA： its pedagogical application, its use for teacher training, and its research. Alister Cumming is Professor Emeritus and the former Head of the Centre for Educational Research on Languages and Literacies, University of Toronto, Canada. His article focuses primarily on POA research as an exemplary case of design-based research. Rod Ellis is Research Professor in the School of Education at Curtin University, Australia. He discusses POA in terms of pedagogy, teacher training and research, with both critiques and constructive suggestions. Paul Kei Matsuda is Professor of English and Director of Second Language Writing at Arizona State University, the writed states. He responds to POA from the perspective of an expert researcher and teacher of L2 writing. Charlene Polio is Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Linguistics ＆ Germanic, Slavic, Asian ＆ African Languages atMichigan State University, the writed states. She conceptualises POA as a useful method to address some issues in pre-service teacher development. Overall, the articles in this section are insightful and reader-friendly. They are not only useful for the development of POA in particular, but may also be valuable to a broad range of researchers as they touch upon pertaining issues, as well as emerging topics, in the field of applied linguistics. We therefore find it necessary to make them accessible to a wide readership.