This article introduces two sophisticated statistical modeling techniques that allow researchers to analyze systematicity, individual variation, and nonlinearity in second language (L2) development. ...Generalized linear mixed‐effects models can be used to quantify individual variation and examine systematic effects simultaneously, and generalized additive mixed models allow for the examination of systematicity, individuality, and nonlinearity within a single model. Based on a longitudinal learner corpus, this article illustrates the usefulness of these models in the context of L2 accuracy development of English grammatical morphemes. I discuss the strengths of each technique and the ways in which these techniques can benefit L2 acquisition research, further highlighting the importance of accounting for individual variation in modeling L2 development.
Open Practices
This article has been awarded an Open Data badge. All data are publicly accessible via the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/dbuh4. Learn more about the Open Practices badges from the Center for Open Science:https://osf.io/tvyxz/wiki.
In a variety of experimental models, dietary phytochemicals have been demonstrated to exhibit pronounced and versatile bioactivities. Importantly, the possibility of such phytochemicals for human ...application has been supported in part by epidemiological surveys, which have demonstrated that frequent ingestion of vegetables and fruits containing abundant phytochemicals lowers the risk of onset of various diseases. However, the action mechanisms underlying those dietary phytochemical activities remain to be fully elucidated. For example, even though the anti-oxidant effects of natural polyphenols have long received widespread attention from food scientists, their roles in and contribution to those bioactivities remain controversial because of their poor bioavailability, resulting in extremely low concentrations in the bloodstream. Meanwhile, another important question is why phytochemicals have beneficial effects for animals, including humans, since they are biosynthesized by plants as compounds necessary for adaptation to environmental stress. In regard to that fundamental question, we recently reported novel and unique mechanisms of action of zerumbone, a sesquiterpene with anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive properties. This agent was found to partially exhibit bioactivity through its non-specific interactions with cellular proteins. More strikingly, a non-specific protein binding action of zerumbone was revealed to partially contribute to its anti-inflammatory functions via activation of heat shock factor 1. The present review article highlights and introduces our recent findings regarding the proteo-stress-mediated mechanisms of this phytochemical, along with the concept of hormesis.
Δ9-Fatty acid desaturase (Δ9-desaturase) is a rate-limiting enzyme of unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis in animal cells and specifically introduces a cis-double bond at the Δ9-position of acyl-CoA. ...Since the chemical structure of fatty acids determines the physicochemical properties of cellular membrane and modulates a broad range of cellular functions, double bond introduction into a fatty acid by Δ9-desaturase should be specifically carried out. Reported crystal structures of stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD)1, one of the most studied Δ9-desaturases, have revealed the mechanism underlying the determination of substrate preference, as well as the position (Δ9) and conformation (cis) of double bond introduction. The crystal structures of SCD1 have also provided insights into the function of other Δ9-desaturases, including Drosophila homologs. Moreover, the amino-terminal sequences of Δ9-desaturases are shown to have unique roles in protein degradation. In this review, we introduce recent advances in the understanding of the function and regulation of Δ9-desaturase from the standpoint of protein structure.
Large‐scale learner corpora collected from online language learning platforms, such as the EF‐Cambridge Open Language Database (EFCAMDAT), provide opportunities to analyze learner data at an ...unprecedented scale. However, interpreting the learner language in such corpora requires a precise understanding of tasks: How does the prompt and input of a task and its functional requirements influence task‐based linguistic performance? This question is vital for making large‐scale task‐based corpora fruitful for second language acquisition research. We explore the issue through an analysis of selected tasks in EFCAMDAT and the complexity and accuracy of the language they elicit.
Osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip and knee is among the most common joint disorders. Intra-articular corticosteroid (IACS) injections are frequently performed to treat OA and other joint-related pain ...syndromes; however, there is conflicting evidence on their potential benefit. There is a lack of prospective and large retrospective studies evaluating potential joint findings, including increased risk for accelerated OA progression or adverse joint events, after treatment with IACS injection. Four main adverse joint findings have been structurally observed in patients after IACS injections: accelerated OA progression, subchondral insufficiency fracture, complications of osteonecrosis, and rapid joint destruction, including bone loss. Physicians, including radiologists, should be familiar with imaging findings and patient characteristics that may help them identify potential joints at risk for such events. The purpose of this report is to review the existing literature, describe observed adverse joint events after IACS injections, and provide an outlook on how this may affect clinical practice. Additional research endeavors are urgently needed to better understand and identify risk factors prior to intervention and to detect adverse joint events after injection as early as possible to prevent or minimize complications.
Background Missed fractures are a common cause of diagnostic discrepancy between initial radiographic interpretation and the final read by board-certified radiologists. Purpose To assess the effect ...of assistance by artificial intelligence (AI) on diagnostic performances of physicians for fractures on radiographs. Materials and Methods This retrospective diagnostic study used the multi-reader, multi-case methodology based on an external multicenter data set of 480 examinations with at least 60 examinations per body region (foot and ankle, knee and leg, hip and pelvis, hand and wrist, elbow and arm, shoulder and clavicle, rib cage, and thoracolumbar spine) between July 2020 and January 2021. Fracture prevalence was set at 50%. The ground truth was determined by two musculoskeletal radiologists, with discrepancies solved by a third. Twenty-four readers (radiologists, orthopedists, emergency physicians, physician assistants, rheumatologists, family physicians) were presented the whole validation data set (
= 480), with and without AI assistance, with a 1-month minimum washout period. The primary analysis had to demonstrate superiority of sensitivity per patient and the noninferiority of specificity per patient at -3% margin with AI aid. Stand-alone AI performance was also assessed using receiver operating characteristic curves. Results A total of 480 patients were included (mean age, 59 years ± 16 standard deviation; 327 women). The sensitivity per patient was 10.4% higher (95% CI: 6.9, 13.9;
< .001 for superiority) with AI aid (4331 of 5760 readings, 75.2%) than without AI (3732 of 5760 readings, 64.8%). The specificity per patient with AI aid (5504 of 5760 readings, 95.6%) was noninferior to that without AI aid (5217 of 5760 readings, 90.6%), with a difference of +5.0% (95% CI: +2.0, +8.0;
= .001 for noninferiority). AI shortened the average reading time by 6.3 seconds per examination (95% CI: -12.5, -0.1;
= .046). The sensitivity by patient gain was significant in all regions (+8.0% to +16.2%;
< .05) but shoulder and clavicle and spine (+4.2% and +2.6%;
= .12 and .52). Conclusion AI assistance improved the sensitivity and may even improve the specificity of fracture detection by radiologists and nonradiologists, without lengthening reading time. Published under a CC BY 4.0 license.
See also the editorial by Link and Pedoia in this issue.
The present paper reviews recent activities on inverse analysis strategies in geotechnical engineering using Kalman filters, nonlinear Kalman filters, and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)/Hamiltonian ...Monte Carlo (HMC) methods. Nonlinear Kalman filters with finite element method (FEM) broaden the choices of unknowns to be determined for not only parameters but also initial and/or boundary conditions, and the use of the posterior probability of the state variables can be widely applied to, for example, the decision making for design changes. The relevance of the unknowns and the observed values and the selection of the best sensor locations are some of the considerations made while using the Kalman filter FEM. This paper demonstrates several real-world geotechnical applications of the nonlinear Kalman filter and the MCMC with FEM. Future studies should focus on the following areas: attaining excellent performance for long-term forecasts using short-term observation and developing a viable method for selecting equations that describe physical phenomena and constitutive models.
We revisit morpheme studies to evaluate the long-standing claim for a universal order of acquisition. We investigate the L2 acquisition order of six English grammatical morphemes by learners from ...seven L1 groups across five proficiency levels. Data are drawn from approximately 10,000 written exam scripts from the Cambridge Learner Corpus. The study establishes clear L1 influence on the absolute accuracy of morphemes and their acquisition order, therefore challenging the widely held view that there is a universal order of acquisition of L2 morphemes. Moreover, we find that L1 influence is morpheme specific, with morphemes encoding language-specific concepts most vulnerable to L1 influence.
Direct time integration schemes are an integral part of the FEM simulation of structural dynamics problems. Such schemes should be at least second‐order accurate, unconditionally stable, and ...numerically dissipates the high‐frequency components. To this end, this article develops a time integration scheme, called modified v‐ST/FEM, which is based on the time‐discontinuous Galerkin method. The proposed method employs an unsymmetric triangular bubble function for relating the displacement field to the velocity field. The modified v‐ST/FEM contains two‐parameter α∈(0,0.5)$$ \alpha \in \left(0,0.5\right) $$ and β∈(−1,βc)$$ \beta \in \left(-1,{\beta}_c\right) $$ for controlling the dissipation of high‐frequency components. A comprehensive study of the influence of α$$ \alpha $$ and β$$ \beta $$ on the numerical performance of the proposed method is conducted. It is found that the error in the solution increases when the value of α$$ \alpha $$ increases. However, for all practical purposes, β$$ \beta $$ has a negligible influence on the accuracy of the proposed method. The modified v‐ST/FEM is second‐order accurate for α≠0.0$$ \alpha \ne 0.0 $$, and third‐order accurate for α=0.0$$ \alpha =0.0 $$. The numerical efficacy of the modified v‐ST/FEM is demonstrated by solving some benchmark problems and comparing its result to those obtained by other popular methods such as Trapezoidal rule, HHT‐α$$ \alpha $$, and Bathe's scheme.
PDF
