基于问题的学习共同体——大学英语教师自主发展的新视角

PBL(problem-based learning)一直是用于培养学生解决真实问题能力的学习方法或教学方法。本文在综述了与此相关的主要学习理论以及大学外语教师教育发展的一般进程后,指出一旦教师回归到学习者身份,PBL及基于问题的学习共同体就无疑可以成为适合高动机驱动的成年学习者实现自主学习、自我专业发展的有效方法。文章的新视角正在于把语言教师作为普通的学习者来研究,并探索语言教师如何在基于问题的学习共同体中,通过改进自主学习方法来实现自我专业的发展。     

Modeling the emergence of universality in color naming patterns

The empirical evidence that human color categorization exhibits some universal patterns beyond superficial discrepancies across different cultures is a major breakthrough in cognitive science. As observed in the World Color Survey (WCS), indeed, any two groups of individuals develop quite different categorization patterns, but some universal properties can be identified by a statistical analysis over a large number of populations. Here, we reproduce the WCS in a numerical model in which different populations develop independently their own categorization systems by playing elementary language games. We find that a simple perceptual constraint shared by all humans, namely the human Just Noticeable Difference (JND), is sufficient to trigger the emergence of universal patterns that unconstrained cultural interaction fails to produce. We test the results of our experiment against real data by performing the same statistical analysis proposed to quantify the universal tendencies shown in the WCS [Kay P & Regier T. (2003) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100: 9085-9089], and obtain an excellent quantitative agreement. This work confirms that synthetic modeling has nowadays reached the maturity to contribute significantly to the ongoing debate in cognitive science.     

The patent track sign

Abdominal Radiology -     

口服番泻叶致变态反应1例

番泻叶是一种常见的导泻药,在医院中常把它作为肠道检查前的清肠剂,或用来为部分急性便秘病人解除便秘之苦,具有用法简单、效果可靠、病人依从性好等优点.2008年9月我科1例病人口服番泻叶后出现变态反应.现报告如下.     

Serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and progression to arterial stiffness in middle-aged and elderly Chinese

Background and aimsLow high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) is an indicator of arterial stiffness, which is recognized as a predictor of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between HDL-c and baPWV among middle-aged and elderly Chinese.MethodsA total number of 1133 Chinese (430 men, 703 women) aged from 50 to 90 years old were recruited from Shanghai downtown district. The baPWV and major cardiovascular risk factors of the participants were measured.ResultsSerum HDL-c was negatively correlated with baPWV (r = ?0.143, P < 0.001) after adjustment for age and gender. Multivariate linear regression analysis demonstrated that age (P < 0.001), systolic blood pressure (P < 0.001), HDL-c (P < 0.001), smoking (P = 0.001), BMI (P = 0.002), fasting plasma glucose (P = 0.004), and white blood cell (P = 0.005) were independently associated with baPWV. After multiple adjustments, participants in the highest quartile of HDL-c had an odds ratio of 0.442 (95% CI 0.268–0.729) for developing high arterial stiffness compared with participants in the lowest quartile. The association remained significant after further adjustment for major cardiovascular risk factors.ConclusionHDL-c has an independent protective effect on arterial stiffness in middle-aged and elderly Chinese. Early detection of HDL-c level is important in high risk populations with arterial stiffness. Increasing HDL-c level may be an attractive therapeutic target for the prevention of arterial function and subsequent disease.     

Progress in Research of Nutrition and Life Expectancy

<正>Life expectancy is an important indicator to evaluate the social development of a country.Health and longevity can not only improve people’s life quality but also ensure them to have more time to pursue their life goal.A one-year increase in life expectancy during‘China’s Twelfth Five-Year