The present study investigated the effect of written languaging (WL) based on indirect written corrective feedback (WCF) on Chinese EFL (English as a foreign language) learners’ written accuracy. WL ...refers to using the written mode to reflect upon and reason about language use. Two groups of students participated in the study over 16 weeks. Both received indirect WCF on four essays, with one group further engaging in WL and the other, without. Baseline writing and its revisions, respectively used as pre-tests and posttests, as well as immediate and delayed revisions of the four essays were employed to measure the two groups’ written accuracy. Data analyses revealed that although both groups significantly improved their written accuracy, no significant differences were observed between them, signifying the insignificant role of WL in enhancing the efficacy of indirect WCF. In light of published literature and participants’ languaging quality, the study concludes that WL could play a diagnostic role in promoting the efficacy of indirect WCF.
Neutrophils play an important role in antiviral immunity, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we found that SIRT2 deficiency inhibited the infiltration of neutrophils, as well as the ...secretion of inflammatory cytokines and the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), ameliorating disease symptoms during acute respiratory virus infection. Mechanistically, SIRT2 deficiency upregulates quinolinic acid (QA)-producing enzyme 3-hydroxyanthranilate oxygenase (3-HAO) and leads to expression of quinolinate phosphoribosyltransferase (QPRT), which promotes the synthesis of QA for NAD+ and limits viral infection when de novo NAD+ synthesis is blocked. Tryptophan-2,3-oxygenase expressed in epithelial cells metabolizes tryptophan to produce kynurenine and 3-hydroxyaminobenzoic acid, which is a source of intracellular QA in neutrophils. Thus, our findings reveal a previously unrecognized QPRT-mediated switch in NAD+ metabolism by exploiting neutrophil-derived QA as an alternative source of replenishing intracellular NAD+ pools induced by SIRT2 to regulate neutrophil functions during virus infection, with implications for future immunotherapy approaches.
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•SIRT2 regulates the functions of neutrophils in virus infection•Endogenous quinolinic acid is critical for neutrophil function induced by Sirt2−/−•SIRT2 downregulates 3-HAO and QPRT to use quinolinic acid for NAD+ synthesis•Epithelial cells-derived 3-HA is a source of intracellular quinolinic acid in neutrophils
Molecular biology; Immunity; Virology; Cell biology
Selenium, as one of the essential microelements, plays an irreplaceable role in metabolism regulation and cell survival. Selenium metabolism and regulation have great effects on physiological systems ...especially the immune system. Therefore, selenium is tightly related to various diseases like cancer. Although recent research works have revealed much about selenium metabolism, the ways in which selenium regulates immune cells' functions and immune‐associated diseases still remain much unclear. In this review, we will briefly introduce the regulatory role of selenium metabolism in immune cells and immune‐associated diseases.
•A framework is developed for studying complementation of feedback sources.•Teacher, EFL peer, and native English-speaking peer feedback were compared.•Three sources provided high rates of ...non-overlapped feedback points.•Three sources showed preference for different feedback strategies.•Student perceptions of feedback providers and feedback quality mediated uptake.
As L2 writers receive diverse sources of feedback in their writing process, it is important to understand how these sources complement one another. The present study compared Chinese teacher feedback, Chinese peer feedback, and American student feedback provided on the same drafts of 17 Chinese EFL students’ film reviews. The three sources were found to have complemented in feedback points, areas, and strategies. Specifically, all three sources provided high rates of non-overlapped feedback points and more local and form-focused feedback. Further, the teacher provided the most form-focused local feedback and used an indirect feedback strategy most frequently. In contrast, American students and Chinese peers focused more on meaning-oriented local feedback and used a direct feedback strategy more frequently. Mediated by student writers’ contrastive perceptions of the three feedback sources and feedback quality, American student feedback led to the highest rates of successful uptake, manifesting the superiority of cross-cultural feedback in quality, uptake, and student perceptions. This paper concludes by drawing pedagogical implications and suggesting future directions for exploring the complementation of feedback sources.
It is now generally agreed that output functions to promote language learning through focus on form. Empirical studies reveal that oral communicative tasks can arouse learners' negotiation of ...meaning, but they are not so effective in bringing about focus on form. Hence, researchers have suggested using collaborative writing tasks to enhance language learning, for which positive empirical evidence has been obtained. However, no studies have examined how collaborative writing tasks and oral communicative tasks are different in impacting upon learners' attention to language forms. This paper reports on a study which investigates English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' focus on form in performing a collaborative oral task and a collaborative writing task. Eight pairs of participants completed the two tasks, with their performances being videotaped. Based on the transcripts of their talk, participants' attention to language forms was analysed through identifying and coding their language-related episodes (LREs) qualitatively followed by the quantification of these episodes. The results reveal that the written output pairs and the oral output pairs attended to language forms differently in both quantity and quality. The findings are discussed with reference to the differences of written output and oral output in cognitive demand, task nature, and language learning potential engendered.
Intestinal macrophages are the most abundant immune cells in the small and large intestine, which maintain intestinal homeostasis by clearing invading bacteria and dead cells, secreting ...anti‐inflammatory cytokines, and inducing tolerance to symbiotic bacteria and food particles. In addition, as antigen‐presenting cells, they also participate in eliciting adaptive immune responses through bridging innate immune responses. After the intestinal homeostasis is disrupted, the damaged or apoptotic intestinal epithelial cells cannot be effectively cleared, and the infection of exogenous pathogens and leakage of endogenous antigens lead to persistent intestinal inflammation. Long‐term chronic inflammation is one of the important causes of colitis‐associated carcinogenesis (CAC). Tumor microenvironment (TME) is gradually formed around tumor cells, in which tumor associated macrophage (TAMs) is not only the builder, but also regulated by TME. This review just briefly summarized the role of intestinal macrophages under physiological and pathological inflammatory and cancerous conditions, and current therapeutic strategies for intestinal diseases targeting macrophages.
This paper reports on an exploratory study which investigated English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' oral language learning experiences from a sociocultural perspective. The study involved ...four Chinese proficient English learners, and gathered data from interviews and written journals. With Activity Theory serving as the analytical framework, data analysis revealed that 13 sociocultural resources in relation to artifacts, rules, community, and roles mediated the participants' oral English learning by providing and actualizing learning affordances, serving as learning goals, and generating motivation for learning. The findings delineate a picture of the social context in which learners make use of sociocultural resources, both instructional and extracurricular, to seek opportunities for oral language learning. The study suggests that EFL contexts can afford learners with diverse potential learning resources, the usefulness of which depends on learners' agency in seeking and exploiting these resources.
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