Patterns and drivers of avian taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversity in China vary across geographical backgrounds and dispersal abilities

Geographical background and dispersal ability may strongly influence assemblage dissimilarity;however,these aspects have generally been overlooked in previous large-scale beta diversity studies.Here,we examined whether the patterns and drivers of taxonomic beta diversity(TBD)and phylogenetic beta diversity(PBD)of breeding birds in China vary across(1)regions on both sides of the Hu Line,which demarcates China’s topographical,climatic,economic,and social patterns,and(2)species with different dispersal ability.TBD and PBD were calculated and partitioned into turnover and nestedness components using a moving window approach.Variables representing climate,habitat heterogeneity,and habitat quality were employed to evaluate the effects of environmental filtering.Spatial distance was considered to assess the impact of dispersal limitation.Variance partitioning analysis was applied to assess the relative roles of these variables.In general,the values of TBD and PBD were high in mountainous areas and were largely determined by environmental filtering.However,different dominant environmental filters on either side of the Hu Line led to divergent beta diversity patterns.Specifically,climate-driven species turnover and habitat heterogeneity-related species nestedness dominated the regions east and west of the line,respectively.Additionally,bird species with stronger dispersal ability were more susceptible to environmental filtering,resulting in more homogeneous assemblages.Our results indicated that regions with distinctive geographical backgrounds may present different ecological factors that lead to divergent assemblage dissimilarity patterns,and dispersal ability determines the response of assemblages to these ecological factors.Identifying a single universal explanation for the observed pattern without considering these aspects may lead to simplistic or incomplete conclusions.Consequently,a comprehensive understanding of large-scale beta diversity patterns and effective planning of conservation strategies necessitate the consideration of both geographical background and species dispersal ability.

The Impact of Personalized Learning Path Design on Online Education Platforms on Students’Self-Learning Abilities

The study investigates the impact of personalized learning path design on students’self-learning abilities(SLA)within online education platforms.Employing a mixed-methods approach,the research examines the effectiveness of personalized learning through quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews with a diverse sample of online learners.The findings indicate that personalized learning path design significantly enhances students’self-efficacy,engagement,and satisfaction,leading to improved SLA.The study’s conceptual model and empirical data support the hypothesis that personalization in learning environments fosters self-directed learning skills.The discussion highlights the implications for educational practice,emphasizing the need for online platforms to prioritize personalization and for educators to adapt their teaching methods to support diverse learner needs.The research also acknowledges limitations and suggests future directions,including longitudinal studies and expanded participant demographics.The study concludes that personalized learning path design is a promising strategy for online education platforms to empower learners and promote lifelong learning skills.

A Study on English Majors' Abilities to Transmit Chinese Culture in English at Newly Upgraded Universities

The transmitting of Chinese culture in the intercultural communication is of great importance for English learners in China.English majors at newly upgraded universities are weak in their abilities to express Chinese culture in English and transmit Chinese culture.To find measures for the problems,some necessary changes in the syllabus,textbooks,testing and curriculum are suggested,compiling of a dictionary for the standard of Chinese culture items in English is discussed,and the roles of teachers,students and English Corner in the cultivation of the abilities of English majors' to express Chinese culture in English at newly upgraded universities are analyzed.

Effects of ball milling time on porous Ti-3Ag alloy and its apatite-inducing abilities

Ti and Ag powders were mixed with different ball milling time （1, 2, 5 and 10 h） and sintered into porous Ti-3Ag alloys. The samples were treated with hydrothermal treatment, and their apatite-inducing abilities were further evaluated by immersion in modified simulated body fluid. The results indicate that the high surface energy brought by powder refinement leads to the decline of Ag, but promotes the oxidation of Ti during the sintering process. Meanwhile, the hydrothermal treated porous Ti-3Ag alloys prepared by the powders ball milled for 10 h possess the best apatite-inducing ability.

Selection of female parents with high fertility and high combining abilities for cross-breeding Populus tomentosa

To select maternal parents with high fertility and high combining ability during cross breeding of Populus tomentosa Carr., the ploidy level of 75 female clones was determined using flow cytometry. In addition, genetic variations and phenotypic correlations of seed traits and early growth traits, as well as the general combining ability(GCA) for seedling height(SH) and basal diameter(BD) of all diploid half-sib families were examined. A total of 26 natural triploid clones were identified. For all diploid families, family effects were significant for inflorescence length(IL), thousand kernel weight(TKW), seedling emergence rate(SER), and for SH and BD. There was a positive correlation between TKW and other traits,excluding IL. The seed-bearing coefficient(NS 9 SER)ranged from zero to 32.4%. Clones 3-10-2, 2-8, 3119,3206, and 3-10-1 had the best performance of the GCA for SH and BD. Based on the fertility and GCA for SH and BD, clone 3-10-2 and clone 3119 could be used as female parents for controlled cross-breeding of P. tomentosa.

Self-Learning and Its Application to Laminar Cooling Model of Hot Rolled Strip

The mathematical model for online controlling hot rolled steel cooling on run-out table （ROT for abbreviation） was analyzed, and water cooling is found to be the main cooling mode for hot rolled steel. The calculation of the drop in strip temperature by both water cooling and air cooling is summed up to obtain the change of heat transfer coefficient. It is found that the learning coefficient of heat transfer coefficient is the kernel coefficient of coiler temperature control （CTC） model tuning. To decrease the deviation between the calculated steel temperature and the measured one at coiler entrance, a laminar cooling control self-learning strategy is used. Using the data acquired in the field, the results of the self-learning model used in the field were analyzed. The analyzed results show that the self-learning function is effective.

Comparative Effects of Salt Stress and Extreme pH Stress Combined on Glycinebetaine Accumulation,Photosynthetic Abilities and Growth Characters of Two Rice Genotypes

Glycinebetaine （Glybet） accumulation, photosynthetic efficiency and growth performance in indica rice cultivated under salt stress and extreme pH stress were investigated. Betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase （BADH） activity and Glybet accumulation in the seedlings of salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive rice varieties grown under saline and acidic conditions peaked after treatment for 72 h and 96 h, respectively, and were higher than those grown under neutral pH and alkaline salt stress. A positive correlation was found between BADH activity and Glybet content in both salt-tolerant （P=0.71） and salt-sensitive （P=0.86） genotypes. The chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and total carotenoids contents in the stressed seedlings significantly decreased under both acidic and alkaline stresses, especially in the salt-sensitive genotype. Similarly, the maximum quantum yield of PSII （Fv/Fm）, photon yield of PSII （ФPSII）, non-photochemical quenching （NPQ） and net photosynthetic rate （Pn） in the stressed seedlings were inhibited, leading to overall growth reduction. The positive correlations between chlorophyll a content and Fv/Fm, total chlorophyll content and ФPSII, and Pn as well as Pn and leaf area in both salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive genotypes were found. Saline acidic and saline alkaline soils may play a key role affecting vegetative growth prior to the reproductive stage in rice plants.

Ginkgo biloba leaf extract improves the cognitive abilities of rats with D-galactose induced dementia

Standardized Ginkgo biloba leaf extract has been used in clinical trials for its beneficial effects on brain func- tions, particularly in dementia. Substantial experimental evidences indicated that Ginkgo biloba leaf extract （EGB） protected neuronal cells from a variety of insults. We investigated the effect of EGB on cognitive ability and protein kinase B （PKB） activity in hippocampal neuronal cells of dementia model rats. Rats received an intra- peritoneal injection of D-galactose to induce dementia. Forty-eight Spraque-Dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups, including the control group, D-galactose group （Gal）, low-dose EGB group （EGB-L）, mid-dose EGB group （EGB-M）, high-dose EGB group （EGB-H） and treatment group. The EGB-L, EGB-M and EGB-H groups were administered with EGB and D-galactose simultaneously. Y-maze, cresyl violet staining, TUNEL assays and immunohistochemistry staining were performed to detect learning and memory abilities, morpho- logical changes in the hippocampus, neuronal apoptosis and the expressing level of phospho-PKB, respectively. Rats in the Gal group showed decreased abilities of learning and memory, and hippocampal pyramidal cell layer was damaged, while EGB administration improved learning and memory abilities. The Gal group exhibited many stained, condensed nuclei and micronuclei, either isolated or within the cytoplasm of cells （39.5 ± 1.4）. Apoptotic cells decreased in the groups of EGB-L （35.9±0.9）, EGB-M （16.8± 1.0） and EGB-H （10.1±0.8）, and there were statistical significances compared with the Gal group. Immunoreactivity of phospho-PKB was localized diffusely throughout the cytosol of cells in all groups, while the immunoreactivity of the Gal group was weak. EGB signifi- cantly attenuated learning and memory impairment in a dose-dependent manner, while it could decrease the nmber of TUNEL-positive cells, and increase the activity of PKB. Our results demonstrated that EGB attenuated memory impairment and cell apoptosis in galactose-induced dementia model rats by activating PKB.

QTL mapping of general combining abilities of four traits in maize using a high-density genetic map

General combining abilities （GCAs） are very important in utilization of heterosis in maize breeding. However, its genetic basis is unclear. In the present study, a set of 118 doubled haploid （DH） lines were induced from F1 generations produced from the cross between the inbred line Zheng 58 and the inbred line W499 belonging to the Reid subgroup. Using the MaizeSNP50 BeadChip, a high-density genetic map was constructed based on the DH population which included 1 147 bin markers with an average interval length of 2.00 cM. Meanwhile, the DH population was crossed with three testers including W16-5, HD568, and W556, which belong to the Sipingtou subgroup. The GCAs of the ear height （EH）, the kernel moisture content （KMC）, the kernel ratio （KR）, and the yield per plant （YPP） were estimated using these hybrids in three environments. Combining the high-density genetic map and the GCAs, a total of 14 QTLs were detected for the GCAs of the four traits. Especially, one pleiotropic QTL was identified on chromosome 1 between the SNP SYN16067 and the SNP PZE-101169244 which was simultaneously associated with the GCAs of the EH, the KR, and the YPP. These QTLs pave the way for further dissecting the genetic architecture underlying GCAs of the traits, and they may be used to enhance GCAs of inbred lines under the fixed heterotic pattern ReidxSipingtou in China through a marker-assisted selection approach.

Genomic prediction of the performance of hybrids and the combining abilities for line by tester trials in maize

The two most important activities in maize breeding are the development of inbred lines with high values of general combining ability(GCA)and specific combining ability(SCA),and the identification of hybrids with high yield potentials.Genomic selection(GS)is a promising genomic tool to perform selection on the untested breeding material based on the genomic estimated breeding values estimated from the genomic prediction(GP).In this study,GP analyses were carried out to estimate the performance of hybrids,GCA,and SCA for grain yield(GY)in three maize line-by-tester trials,where all the material was phenotyped in 10 to 11 multiple-location trials and genotyped with a mid-density molecular marker platform.Results showed that the prediction abilities for the performance of hybrids ranged from 0.59 to0.81 across all trials in the model including the additive effect of lines and testers.In the model including both additive and non-additive effects,the prediction abilities for the performance of hybrids were improved and ranged from 0.64 to 0.86 across all trials.The prediction abilities of the GCA for GY were low,ranging between-0.14 and 0.13 across all trials in the model including only inbred lines;the prediction abilities of the GCA for GY were improved and ranged from 0.49 to 0.55 across all trials in the model including both inbred lines and testers,while the prediction abilities of the SCA for GY were negative across all trials.The prediction abilities for GY between testers varied from-0.66 to 0.82;the performance of hybrids between testers is difficult to predict.GS offers the opportunity to predict the performance of new hybrids and the GCA of new inbred lines based on the molecular marker information,the total breeding cost could be reduced dramatically by phenotyping fewer multiple-location trials.

Binaural integration abilities in bilateral cochlear implant user

Bilateral Cochlear implants (CIs) improved speech intelligibility, speech perception in background noise, and sound localization in quiet and noisy situations. However, it is unclear whether these advantages essentially result in binaural integration of acoustic stimuli from each ear. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of binaural integration by bilateral CIs placement using binaural hearing tests and subjective auditory perceptual assessment. A 61-year-old bilateral CIs subject underwent the following four tests:the Japanese Hearing in Noise Test (HINT-J), the dichotic listening test (DLT), the Rapidly Alternating Speech Perception (RASP) test, and subjective auditory perceptual assessment. The HINT-J score was significantly higher for bilateral CIs than for a unilateral CI. However, DLT and the RASP test revealed contradictory results. Subjective auditory perceptual assessment revealed active and bright impressions for bilateral hearing, which were also noisy and strong compared with those for unilateral hearing. The results of this study revealed that bilateral CIs improved speech perception in background noise and an improved auditory impression, although the bilateral integration abilities were not improved. This was probably because the patient was required to combine information from the two ears into a single perception in DLT and the RASP test. More longitudinal data should be collected and analyzed in future studies to evaluate the long-term effects of bilateral CIs. Copyright ? 2016, PLA General Hospital Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. Production and hosting by Elsevier (Singapore) Pte Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Self-Learning of Multivariate Time Series Using Perceptually Important Points

In machine learning,positive-unlabelled(PU)learning is a special case within semi-supervised learning.In positiveunlabelled learning,the training set contains some positive examples and a set of unlabelled examples from both the positive and negative classes.Positive-unlabelled learning has gained attention in many domains,especially in time-series data,in which the obtainment of labelled data is challenging.Examples which originate from the negative class are especially difficult to acquire.Self-learning is a semi-supervised method capable of PU learning in time-series data.In the self-learning approach,observations are individually added from the unlabelled data into the positive class until a stopping criterion is reached.The model is retrained after each addition with the existent labels.The main problem in self-learning is to know when to stop the learning.There are multiple,different stopping criteria in the literature,but they tend to be inaccurate or challenging to apply.This publication proposes a novel stopping criterion,which is called Peak evaluation using perceptually important points,to address this problem for time-series data.Peak evaluation using perceptually important points is exceptional,as it does not have tunable hyperparameters,which makes it easily applicable to an unsupervised setting.Simultaneously,it is flexible as it does not make any assumptions on the balance of the dataset between the positive and the negative class.

Genetic Analysis of Combining Abilities and Heterosis for the Contents of Soybean Isoflavone and Its Components Among the Soybean Varieties [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]

The genetic analysis of soybean isoflavone content and its components were carried out based on the NC Ⅱ matingdesign in eight soybean varieties. The results showed that the isoflavone contents and its components of soybean seedare quite differences among the tested materials, the contents of isoflavone and daidzein are controlled not only byadditive effects and but also by non-additive effects, while the content of genistin is dominated by non-additive effects,and genistein, glycitin and daidzin are mainly controlled by additive effects. There are significant differences in thecontents of isoflavone and its components among the combinations derived from different parents. Results also indicatedthat the tested traits are negatively heterosis except for the contens of daidzein and daidzin are positively heterosis basedon the data of the GCA and SCA in average heterosis values. In this research we have a suggestion that soybean varietywith high isoflavone should be used as one of the parents in the breeding program, and it is the best choice that thecombinations crossed between two high isoflavone varieties or a high variety and a low one.

Treatment Effects of Acupuncture and Calligraphy Training on Cognitive Abilities in Senile Demented Patients

Purpose:This study compared the relative effectiveness of Chinese calligraphy handwriting(CCH)and acupuncture in the treatment of patients with senile dementia.Materials and Methods:A randomized controlled trial(RCT)with 17 mild-to-moderate dementia patients with an average age of 77.29 years were randomly assigned with 9 to the calligraphy handwriting group and 8 to the acupuncture treatment group for a month of consecutive treatment.The participants'cognitive abilities,as well as symptoms of senile dementia,were measured by the Chinese version of the Mini-mental State Examination(CMMSE)and the Chinese Medicine Quantitative Diagnostic Survey for Senile Dementia Symptoms,respectively,before and after the treatment.Results:The calligraphy group showed a significant increase in calculation and memory as well as a decline in the symptoms of senile dementia.Patients in the acupuncture group experienced a significant growth in total CMMSE scores and the subscales in orientation to time and place,behavioral operations,as well as reduced clinical symptoms.However,no significant changes were found in their memory and calculation abilities.Conclusion:Both CCH and acupuncture treatments were found significantly effective for,respectively,enhancing the patients'cognitive abilities and reducing their clinical symptoms.Further,calligraphy handwriting also improved the level of their attention and concentration,physical relaxation,and emotional stability.

Cultivating Learners' thinking Abilities in Foreign Language Teaching with Respect to Approaches of Reform in Basic Education

Thinking ability of a man, which is the core of wisdom, participates in and dominates all the intellectual activities. This study, pursued on the ontological and practical level, is aimed at cultivating learners ' thinking abilities in foreign language teaching(FLT)in basic education of China. Regarding English teaching reform in basic education of China as the background, this thesis probes to bring it to the forefront and put forward approaches and strategies of incorporating the cultivation of learners' thinking abilities into every aspect of the teaching procedures.

Where Have Network-based Self-learning Classes Gone?——Reflections & Expectations on the Employment of Network-based Self-learning Classes

To respond to the further development of college English reforms,many universities employed network-based selflearning classes to aid the traditional classroom teaching,especially in teaching listening,but as time went by,some universities gradually gave them up.The paper intends to reflect on the employment of network-based self-learning listening classes,analyz ing the learning with and without its aid,and meanwhile introduce the need to re-employ it,and discuss how we can improve the network-based self-learning classes to help with students' listening.

Improvement of learning and memory abilities and motor function in rats with cerebral infarction by intracerebral transplantation of neuron-like cells derived from bone marrow stromal cells

BACKGROUND： Transplantation of fetal cell suspension or blocks of fetal tissue can ameliorate the nerve function after the injury or disease in the central nervous system, and it has been used to treat neurodegenerative disorders induced by Parkinson disease. OBJECTIVE： To observe the effects of the transplantation of neuron-like cells derived from bone marrow stromal cells （rMSCs） into the brain in restoring the dysfunctions of muscle strength and balance as well as learning and memory in rat models of cerebral infarction. DESIGN ： A randomized controlled experiment.SETTING ： Department of Pathophysiology, Zhongshan Medical College of Sun Yat-sen University.MATERIALS ： Twenty-four male SD rats （3-4 weeks of age, weighing 200-220 g） were used in this study （Certification number：2001A027）. METHODS： The experiments were carried out in Zhongshan Medical College of Sun Yat-sen University between December 2003 and December 2004. ① Twenty-four male SD rats randomized into three groups with 8 rats in each： experimental group, control group and sham-operated group. Rats in the experiment al group and control group were induced into models of middle cerebral artery occlusion （MCAO）. After in vitro cultured, purified and identified with digestion, the Fischer344 rMSCs were induced to differentiate by tanshinone IIA, which was locally injected into the striate cortex （18 area） of rats in the experimental group, and the rats in the control group were injected by L-DMEM basic culture media （without serum） of the same volume to the corresponding brain area. In the sham-operated group, only muscle and vessel of neck were separated. ② At 2 and 8 weeks after the transplantation, the rats were given the screen test, prehensile-traction test, balance beam test and Morris water-maze test. ③ The survival and distribution of the induced cells in corresponding brain area were observed with Nissl stained with toluidine blue and hematoxylin and eosin （HE） staining in the groups.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES ： ① Results of the behavioral tests （time of the Morris water-maze test screen test, prehensile-traction test, balance beam test）; ② Survival and distribution of the induced cells.RESULTS： All the 24 rats were involved in the analysis of results. ① Two weeks after transplantation, rats with neuron-like cells grafts in the experimental group had significant improvement on their general muscle strength than those in the control group [screen test： （9.4±1.7）, （4.7±1.0） s, P 〈 0.01]; forelimb muscle strength [prehensile-traction test： （7.6±1.4）, （5.2±1.2） s, P 〈 0.01], ability to keep balance [balance beam test： （7.9±0.74）, （6.1±0.91） s, P 〈 0.01] and abilities of learning and memory [latency to find the platform： （35.8±5.9）, （117.5±11.6） s, P 〈 0.01; distance： （623.1±43.4）, （1 902.3±98.6） cm, P 〈 0.01] as compared with those in the control group. The functional performances in the experimental group at 8 weeks were better than those at two weeks, which were still obviously different from those in the sham-operated group （P 〈 0.05）. ② The HE and Nissl stained brain tissue section showed that there was nerve cell proliferation at the infarcted cortex in the experiment group, the density was higher than that in the control group, plenty of aggregative or scattered cells could be observed at the site where needle was inserted for transplantation, the cells migrated directively towards the area around them, the cerebral vascular walls were wrapped by plenty of cells; In the control group, most of the cortices were destroyed, karyopyknosis and necrosis of neurons were observed, normal nervous tissue structure disappeared induced by edema, only some nerve fibers and glial cells remained.CONCLUSION： The rMSCs transplantation can obviously enhance the motor function and the abilities of learning and memory in rat models of cerebral infarction.

SELF-LEARNING FUZZY CONTROL RULES USING GENETIC ALGORITHMS

This papcr presents a new genetic algorithms(GAs)-based method for self-learniag fuzzy control rules. An improved GA is used to learn to optimally select the fuzzy membership functions of the linguistic labels in the condition portion of each rule, and to automatically generate fuzzy control actions under each condition. The dynamics of the controlled system is unknown to the GA. The only information for evaluating performance is a failure signal indicating that the controlled system is out of control. We compare its performance with that of other learning methods for the same problem. We also examine the ability of the algorithm to adapt to changing conditions. Simulation results show that such an approach for self-learning fuzzy control rules is both effective and robust.

Mathematical model for cooling process and its self-learning applied in hot rolling mill

Control precision of coiling temperature is one of the key factors affecting the profile shape and surface quality during the cooling process of hot rolled steel strip.For this reason,the core of temperature control precision is to establish an effective cooling mathematical model with self-learning function.Starting from this point,a cooling mathematical model with nonlinear structural characteristics is established in this paper for the cooling process of hot rolled steel strip.By the analysis of self-learning ability,key parameters of the mathematical model could be constantly corrected so as to improve temperature control precision and adaptive capability of the model.The site actual application results proved the stable performance and high control precision of the proposed mathematical model,which would lay a solid foundation to improve the steel product qualities.

ZnO Additive Boosts Charging Speed and Cycling Stability of Electrolytic Zn–Mn Batteries

Electrolytic aqueous zinc-manganese(Zn–Mn) batteries have the advantage of high discharge voltage and high capacity due to two-electron reactions. However, the pitfall of electrolytic Zn–Mn batteries is the sluggish deposition reaction kinetics of manganese oxide during the charge process and short cycle life. We show that, incorporating ZnO electrolyte additive can form a neutral and highly viscous gel-like electrolyte and render a new form of electrolytic Zn–Mn batteries with significantly improved charging capabilities. Specifically, the ZnO gel-like electrolyte activates the zinc sulfate hydroxide hydrate assisted Mn^(2+) deposition reaction and induces phase and structure change of the deposited manganese oxide(Zn_(2)Mn_(3)O_8·H_(2)O nanorods array), resulting in a significant enhancement of the charge capability and discharge efficiency. The charge capacity increases to 2.5 mAh cm^(-2) after 1 h constant-voltage charging at 2.0 V vs. Zn/Zn^(2+), and the capacity can retain for up to 2000 cycles with negligible attenuation. This research lays the foundation for the advancement of electrolytic Zn–Mn batteries with enhanced charging capability.