A Comparative Study of the L2 Pragmatic Competence of University Students in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland:The Contributions of Sociocultural Context and Linguistic Proficiency

This study investigates the differences in pragmatic competence between Hong Kong and Chinese mainland university students.Participants included 19 native speakers of English,115 Chinese mainland students,divided into those who had spent time abroad in an English-speaking country(CM A)and those who had not(CM NA),and 97 Hong Kong students,divided into those from an English-medium secondary school(Hong Kong EMI)and those from a Chinese-medium school(Hong Kong CMI).Linguistic proficiency was measured by a C-test,and pragmatic competence by a Metapragmatic Knowledge Test,an Irony Test and a Monologic Role Play.Group scores were compared using ANCOVAs to control for differences in proficiency.The results point to a continuum of pragmatic competence—EMI>CMI>CM A>CM NA—reflecting the groups’access to English in real-life contexts.The differences between the Hong Kong groups and the Chinese mainland groups were clearest in those tests measuring processing capacity(i.e.,Irony Response Time and the Monologic Role Play).CM A,but not CM NA,performed as well as the Hong Kong groups on measures of metapragmatic awareness.The results are discussed in terms of Bialystok’s(1993)distinction between analyzed representation and control of processing.

Non-capacity transport of non-uniform bed load sediment in alluvial rivers

Rivers often witness non-uniform bed load sedim ent transport. For a long tim e, non-uniform bed load transport has been assum ed to be at capacity regime determined exclusively by local flow. Yet whether the capacity assumption for non-uniform bed load transport is justified remains poorly understood. Here, the relative time scale of non-uniform bed load transport is evaluated and non-capacity and capacity models are compared for both aggradation and degradation cases with observed data. As characterized by its relative time scale, the adaptation of non-uniform bed load to capacity regime should be fulfilled quickly. However, changes in the flow and sedim ent inputs from upstream or tributaries hinder the adaptation. Also, the adaptation to capacity regime is size dependent, the finer the sediment size the slower the adaptation is, and vice versa. It is shown that the capacity model may entail considerable errors compared to the non-capacity model. For modelling of non-uniform bed load, non-capacity modelling is recommended, in which the temporal and spatial scales required for adaptation are explicitly appreciated.

Signal processing for noncoherent underwater acoustic communication approaching channel capacity

Noncoherent underwater acoustic communication channel in adverse conditions is modeled as a phase-random Rayleigh fading channel,and its capacity curve is derived.To approach the channel capacity curve,the concatenated code of the nonbinary LDPC code and the constant weight code is proposed for noncoherent communication which can late be iteratively decoded in the probability domain.Without information of channel amplitude or phase in the receiver,statistic parameters of the respective signal and noise bins were estimated based on the moment estimation method,the posterior probabilities of the constant weight code words were further calculated,and the nonbinary LDPC code was decoded with the nonbinary factor graph algorithm.It is verified by simulations that by utilizing the proposed concatenated code and its processing algorithm,gap to channel capacity curve is reduced by 3 dB when compared to the existing method.Underwater communication experiments were carried out in both deep ocean（vertical communication,5 km）and shallow lake（horizontal communication,near 3 km,delay spread larger than 50 ms）,in which the signal frequency band was 6 kHz to10 kHz,and the data transmission rate Was 357 bps.The proposed scheme can work properly in both experiments with a signal-to-noise ratio threshold of 2 dB.The performance of the proposed algorithm Was well verified by the experiments.

Optimization of Multi-energy Microgrids with Waste Process Capacity for Electricity-hydrogen Charging Services

The highway service area,with facilities for electricity-hydrogen charging,includes multi-energy load energy demands and domestic waste process demands.Based on these needs,a fully renewable energy based multi-energy microgrid with electricity-hydrogen charging services and waste process capacity is proposed.This paper studies the energy input and output characteristics of multi-energy conversion and storage devices,and establishes the model for electricity-hydrogen charging microgrid(EH-CMG).The multi-energy conversion,storage characteristics and multi-energy flow coordination in the EHCMG are then studied.An optimization model and its algorithm solution,based on constraints such as the charging time of vehicles,the reliability of multi-energy load energy supply and the available grid regulation performance in the EH-CMG,are established.The proposed optimization of EH-CMG is illustrated with the actual multi-energy operation data of a highway service area in northwest China.The results demonstrate that the proposed EH-CMG and its optimization method can achieve economic benefits for a multi-energy system with the ability of waste process,electricity-hydrogen charging,and also provide better regulation characteristics for the power grid.

Enhanced Antioxidant Capacities in vivo Caused by the Change in Key Constituent of Terminalia chebula Retz. Treated with Tibet Traditional Process

In order to investigate the chemical-biological relationship caused by the special processing technology,the constituent＇s content and antioxidant capacity in vivo of Euphorbia fischeriana Steud processing Terminalia chebula Retz. have been tested. Taking T. chebula Retz. as control,the content of gallic acid is analyzed with high performance liquid chromatography（HPLC） method. The results show that the increase of gallic acid concentration from 4.54% to 7.46% leads to enhancement of the antioxidant capacities in vivo of the E. fischeriana Steud processing T. chebula Retz. The significant antioxidant capacity in vivo（p〈0.05） of the processed product possesses is better than the unprocessed herb. Its superoxide dismutase（SOD）and malondia-ldehyde（MDA） contents in serum,the MDA content in liver can match the effects of vitamine E when administered at high dosage.