Diachronic Changes of Frequencies in Discourse Connectives in English: Evidence from COHA

Recent studies have claimed that the amount of discourse connectives or discourse markers has risen in multiple languages. However, the thesis has seldom been evaluated using comprehensive empirical data evidence. This study investigates the historical changes of frequencies in discourse connectives in the English language over the last two hundred years. We find that the frequencies of the majority of discourse connectives showed a marked decrease. An opposing trend can be seen with respect to only a few types of discourse connectives. These research results show that the frequencies of discourse markers in English have not in fact increased over the last two centuries. We analyze the possible reasons for this decline. And this result suggests that English language users tend to use explicit discourse connectives less frequently, which finding may challenge recent claims concerning the rise of discourse connectives (markers).

Exciton dynamics in monolayer graphene grown on a Cu(111) surface

We have characterized the carrier dynamics of the excitonic emission emerging from a monolayer of graphene grown on a Cu(111) surface. Excitonic emission from the graphene, with strong and sharp peaks both with a full-width at half-maximum of 2.7 meV, was observed near ~3.16 and ~3.18 eV at 4.2 K. The carrier recombination parameters were studied by measuring both temperature-dependent and time-resolved photoluminescence. The intensity variation with temperature of these two peaks shows an opposing trend. The time-resolved emission was modelled using coupled differential equations and the decay time was found to be dominated by carrier trapping and Auger recombination as the temperature increased.

Opposing Trends in Total Knee and Hip Arthroplasties for Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis vs. the General Population—A 14-Year Retrospective Study in Taiwan

Objective: To determine the trend of incidence rate of total knee arthroplasty (TKA), total hip arthroplasty (THA), and TKA or THA (major joint arthroplasty, MJA) among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) population and compared them with general population (GP) in Taiwan.Methods: Incidence rates and trends of TKA, THA, and MJA were determined over a 14-year period (2000–2013) among RA patients and compared them with GP. RA of patients was diagnosed based on the ACR 1987 criteria and extracted from GP. Subanalyses of incidences of TKA, THA, and MJA by year, 10-year age group, and gender were further conducted for demographic analysis. Patient profiles were extracted from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) for interrupted time-series analysis and cohort studies.Results: Patients enrolled were 168,457 receiving TKA, 64,543 receiving THA, and 228,191 receiving MJA surgery. Incidences of TKA, THA, and MJA in RA patients were significantly lower by 49.0, 41.5, and 41.0% compared with concomitantly rises in GP by 131.0, 25.1, and 90.0% among the GP during the study period. The dominant age population for TKA, THA, and MJA were those aged 70–79 years in both GP and RA groups.Conclusions: We found an opposing trend in incidence of TKA, THA, and MJA between RA patients and the GP. The possible influence of pharmacological treatment is implicated for the lower incidence rates of TKA, THA, and MJA surgeries among RA patients.

Dependencies of Surface Condensation on the Wettability and Nanostructure Size Differences

When changing surface wettability and nanostructure size, condensation behavior displays distinct features. In this work, we investigated evaporation on a flat hydrophilic surface and condensation on both hydrophilic and hydrophobic nanostructured surfaces at the nanoscale using molecular dynamics simulations. The simulation results on hydrophilic surfaces indicated that larger groove widths and heights produced more liquid argon atoms, a quicker temperature response, and slower potential energy decline. These three characteristics closely relate to condensation areas or rates, which are determined by groove width and height. For condensation heat transfer, when the groove width was small, the change of groove height had little effect, while change of groove height caused a significant variation in the heat flux with a large groove width. When the cold wall was hydrophobic, the groove height became a significant impact factor, which caused no vapor atoms to condense in the groove with a larger height. The potential energy decreased with the increase of the groove height, which demonstrates a completely opposing trend when compared with hydrophilic surfaces.

Impact of hygroscopic CCN and turbulence on cloud droplet growth: A parcel-DNS approach

This paper investigates the relative importance of turbulence, hygroscopicity of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), and aerosol loading on early cloud development. A parcel-DNS hybrid approach is developed to seamlessly simulate the evolution of cloud droplets in warm clouds. The results show that turbulence and CCN hygroscopicity have a dominant effect on the formation of large droplets. When CCN hygroscopicity is considered, condensational growth has a strong effect in the first minute, providing sufficient collector droplets. In the meantime, turbulence effectively accelerates the collisions among the collector droplets and the small droplets and continues to broaden the droplet size distribution (DSD). In contrast, seeding of extra aerosols modulates the growth of small droplets by inhibiting condensational growth while the growth of large droplets remains unaffected, resulting in a similar tail of the DSD. Overall, seeding reduces the LWC and effective radius but increases the relative dispersion. This opposing trend of the bulk properties suggests that the traditional Kessler-type or Sundqvist-type autoconversion parameterizations which mainly depend on the LWC or mean radius might not represent the drizzle formation process well. Properties related to the width or the shape of the DSD are also needed, suggesting that the Berry-and-Reinhardt scheme is conceptually better.

An integrative ENCODE resource for cancer genomics

ENCODE comprises thousands of functional genomics datasets, and the encyclopedia covers hundreds of cell types, providing a universal annotation for genome interpretation. However, for particular applications, it may be advantageous to use a customized annotation. Here, we develop such a custom annotation by leveraging advanced assays, such as eCLIP, Hi-C, and whole-genome STARR-seq on a number of data-rich ENCODE cell types. A key aspect of this annotation is comprehensive and experimentally derived networks of both transcription factors and RNA-binding proteins (TFs and RBPs). Cancer, a disease of system-wide dysregulation, is an ideal application for such a network-based annotation. Specifically, for cancer-associated cell types, we put regulators into hierarchies and measure their network change (rewiring) during oncogenesis. We also extensively survey TF-RBP crosstalk, highlighting how SUB1, a previously uncharacterized RBP, drives aberrant tumor expression and amplifies the effect of MYC, a well-known oncogenic TF. Furthermore, we show how our annotation allows us to place oncogenic transformations in the context of a broad cell space; here, many normal-to-tumor transitions move towards a stem-like state, while oncogene knockdowns show an opposing trend. Finally, we organize the resource into a coherent workflow to prioritize key elements and variants, in addition to regulators. We showcase the application of this prioritization to somatic burdening, cancer differential expression and GWAS. Targeted validations of the prioritized regulators, elements and variants using siRNA knockdowns, CRISPR-based editing, and luciferase assays demonstrate the value of the ENCODE resource.

Internationalization of LIS (Library and Information Science) Education

This paper deals with internationalisation of LIS education and its practical implementation. The author and the initiator of the ‘Bologna Process’ here explains the process herself. While an initial trend of the internationalisation of the Bologna Process is towards the harmonisation of the LIS curricula and the transparency of the minimum requisites, or what is called the core programme, an apparently opposing trend is towards the stimulation of excellence and innovation in the LIS curricula in Europe. The necessary “mutual trust” between Library Schools in Europe can stem from quality assurance systems, which are appropriately compatible and credible, and involves: conceptual definition of LIS: getting the concept of LIS related to quality is to be agreed correctly, including the core and innovation in curriculum, learning and teaching: using the best educational practices for facilitating learning, learning outcomes: ensuring that the student has a role in quality assurance.