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Statistics has played an increasingly important role in applied linguistics research. However, little research has been available that sheds light on statistical literacy among early‐career researchers of applied linguistics. The study reported in this article surveyed statistical literacy, attitudes toward statistics, and statistics self‐efficacy among Chinese applied linguistics research students and further examined the inter‐variable relationships. Based on analyses of the cross‐sectional survey of 211 master's students, we found that: (1) the students' overall statistical literacy was not satisfying; (2) although they thought positively of statistics, they were not particularly confident with statistics; (3) the three experience‐related variables—the number of statistics courses taken, quantitative research orientation, and self‐training—were important predictors of statistical literacy, attitudes toward statistics, and statistics self‐efficacy; and (4) statistics self‐efficacy seemed to mediate the relationship between attitudes toward statistics and statistical literacy. We discussed these findings in relation to improving statistics courses in applied linguistics program in China and to statistics learning and teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To date, the burden of childhood spinal TB in China has not been estimated, and current treatment is hindered by a lack of evidence. This study aimed to review our experience of childhood spinal TB.Methods: We reviewed the medical records of paediatric patients (≤15 years) admitted for spinal TB (confirmed or possible) at Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital from January 2006 to December 2019. Demographic, clinical, laboratory and radiological data were collected from medical records and analysed retrospectively.Results: Seventy-two patients were diagnosed with spinal TB. 45 were male (62.5%), and 27 female (37.5%), with a mean age of 8.42 ± 4.47 (SD) years. During this 14-year period, the overall prevalence of spinal TB among childhood TB was 4.5%. T-SPOT.TB, AFB smear, mycobacterial culture, TB RT-PCR and biopsies were positive in 29.6%, 14.3%, 23.3%, 43.8% and 88.5% of assayed patients, respectively. The overall surgical rate of the studied patients was 40.3%. The requirement of surgery in childhood spinal TB was associated with pulmonary TB (OR = 4.000, 95% CI: 1.197, 13.367).Conclusion: Spinal TB in children cannot be neglected. It remains a severe problem to public health, and more attention should be paid to initiating treatment early. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we conducted sandstone petrography analyses and determined detrital zircon U–Pb ages and Hf isotopes for sandstones collected at different stratigraphic levels of the lowest strata of the Laiyang Group. All results nearly point to an evolutionary trend for the source regions of the strata. The detrital zircon U–Pb results reveal multiple age groups at 140–123 Ma, 810–700 Ma, and 2,500–1,750 Ma, but variable age proportions for two sandstones (19LY‐01Z and ‐05Z) collected at lowermost and middle levels of strata, respectively, but only one unimodal age mode at ca. 1,850 Ma for the uppermost sandstone 19LY‐09Z. Provenance analysis illustrates that the lower strata likely include two source regions, including the Jiaobei Terrane and the Sulu orogen, whereas the upper strata appeared to have one dominant source region (i.e., Jiaobei Terrane). Framework modes of sandstones display that lower samples contain more metamorphic lithic fragments, which corresponds to the recycled orogenic field in the Q‐F‐L diagram, while middle‐upper samples are enriched in feldspars but deficient in lithics and plot in the basement uplift field of the Q‐F‐L diagram. This compositional variation reflects an evolution of the source regions from the Sulu Orogen to the Jiaobei Terrane, completely consistent with the observation of an increase in the amount of detrital zircons sourced from the Jiaobei Terrane, but decreasing detrital zircons from the Sulu Orogen in an upward order. This shift in the provenance of sediments reflects two tectonic events including exhumation of the Sulu Orogen to the surface before sedimentation of the Laiyang Group, and a rapid uplift of the Jiaobei Terrane after ca. 125 Ma following removal of lithospheric mantle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate history of the Alxa desert of northwestern China must be sought both in recent instrumental records (dating from 1960) and in high‐resolution proxy data. Climate proxies are scarce in desert areas; however, long‐lived desert shrubs can offer one such proxy. We have used shrub‐ring data from Zygophyllum xanthoxylum, collected in the central Alxa desert, to reconstruct the Self‐calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index (scPDSI) for the period 1880–2015. The data covers the May–July growth season. When we compared the history constructed from the shrub‐ring data with the instrumental data collected 1960–2015, we found that the reconstructed history explained 41% of the variance in scPDSI data (40% after adjusting for loss of degrees of freedom). The reconstructed history shows that this region has experienced six persistent droughts and four seasons wetter than usual during the period under study. Of note is a severe drought event in 1920s that affected much of northern China (as noted in contemporary documents). The droughts and wet seasons identified in our reconstruction are consistent with reports from other researchers who have studied the climate history or the region. Our study suggests that it is feasible to reconstruct climate history using shrub‐ring data from long‐lived desert shrubs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the East Asian monsoon region, eolian deposits widely distributed in the middle-lower reaches of the Yantgze River are among the best materials available for studies on Quaternary climate change in the subtropical zone of Southern China. Typical eolian deposits in this region include upper Xiashu Loess (XL) and underlying Vermiculated Red Soil (VRS) layers. In this paper, chronological and paleoclimatic studies are conducted on an eolian deposit sequence near Jiujiang (JJ) city in northern Jiangxi province. A magnetostratigraphic study, combined with optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, is conducted on the JJ section and provides further evidence that eolian deposits in the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River have been formed since the late Early Pleistocene, and that the boundary age between the XL and VRS layers is about 300-400 kaBP. In grain-size records of the JJ section, the median grain-size and content of the >30 μm size fraction increase sharply after 300-400 kaBP, representing an East Asian winter monsoon intensification event. Further pollen analysis reveals differing pollen assemblages before and after 300-400 kaBP: there is an evident increase in plants adapted to grow in a warm humid environment after 300-400 kaBP, implying an increase in precipitation caused by intensification of the East Asian summer monsoon. Global ice volume and uplift of the Tibet Plateau (TP) are regarded as crucial factors influencing variations of the East Asian monsoon on a long-term scale. The deep-sea δ18O record, which reflects variations in global ice volume, shows no obvious change after 300-400 kaBP. Moreover, the influence of global ice volume changes on the East Asian summer and winter monsoons is inverse; the global ice volume increase (decrease) implies a strengthened (weakened) winter monsoon and weakened (strengthened) summer monsoon. We therefore interpret the coupled intensifications of the East Asian summer and winter monsoons at about 300-400 kaBP to the uplift of the TP in the Middle Pleistocene. This climate event is also documented in eolian deposits from the southern margin of the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) and from the desert-loess transitional belt. However, it is not recorded in the loess-paleosol sequences from the central part of the CLP, thereby indicating differing climate responses to TP uplift in different regions, which requires further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We investigated the reliability of core needle biopsy (CNB) in evaluating the status of hormone receptor (HR),human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)-2, and Ki-67 status, and the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) on the expression of these immunohistochemical markers. Methods: Among 177 patients with breast adenocarcinoma, 95 patients underwent NACand the remaining 82 patients made up the control group. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to evaluate the expression status of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), HER-2, and Ki-67 in the specimens obtained by surgical excision or CNB. Results: In the control group, the expression of ER, PR, HER-2, and Ki-67 was highly consistent between samples from surgical excision or CNB (all r > 0.8, P < 0.05). In theNACgroup, the proportions of sampleswith changes in ER, PR, HER-2, and Ki-67 expression were 12.7%, 24.1%, 5.1%, and 38.0%, respectively; the figures in the control group were 2.4%, 4.9%, 2.4%, and 7.3%, respectively, which significantly differed in ER, PR, and Ki-67 (P < 0.05), but not HER-2 (P > 0.05). In theNAC group, pre- and post-treatment ER+ rates did not significantly differ (P > 0.05), although PR+ and high Ki-67 expression rates did significantly differ (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Neither CNB nor surgical excision samples gave highly consistent results in HR, HER-2, and Ki-67 status.NAC can alter HR and Ki-67 status in breast adenocarcinoma patients.NAC decreased PR+ rate and Ki-67 expression. The mean ER+ rate exhibited a decreasing, but insignificant trend after NAC treatment. NAC had no significant effect on HER-2 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]