Mandarin Group Research Articles

Neofunctionalization of an OMT cluster dominates polymethoxyflavone biosynthesis associated with the domestication of citrus

Polymethoxyflavones (PMFs) are a class of abundant specialized metabolites with remarkable anticancer properties in citrus. Multiple methoxy groups in PMFs are derived from methylation modification catalyzed by a series of hydroxylases and O-methyltransferases (OMTs). However, the specific OMTs that catalyze the systematic O-methylation of hydroxyflavones remain largely unknown. Here, we report that PMFs are highly accumulated in wild mandarins and mandarin-derived accessions, while undetectable in early-diverging citrus species and related species. Our results demonstrated that three homologous genes, CreOMT3, CreOMT4, and CreOMT5, are crucial for PMF biosynthesis in citrus, and their encoded methyltransferases exhibit multisite O-methylation activities for hydroxyflavones, producing seven PMFs in vitro and in vivo. Comparative genomic and syntenic analyses indicated that the tandem CreOMT3, CreOMT4, and CreOMT5 may be duplicated from CreOMT6 and contributes to the genetic basis of PMF biosynthesis in the mandarin group through neofunctionalization. We also demonstrated that N17 in CreOMT4 is an essential amino acid residue for C3-, C5-, C6-, and C3'-O-methylation activity and provided a rationale for the functional deficiency of OMT6 to produce PMFs in early-diverging citrus and some domesticated citrus species. A 1,041-bp deletion in the CreOMT4 promoter, which is found in most modern cultivated mandarins, has reduced the PMF content relative to that in wild and early-admixture mandarins. This study provides a framework for reconstructing PMF biosynthetic pathways, which may facilitate the breeding of citrus fruits with enhanced health benefits.

Tailored recruitment interventions to improve bowel cancer screening in Arabic and Mandarin speaking groups: Modelled cost-effectiveness.

Effective bowel cancer screening is freely available in Australia, however, there are inequities in utilisation amongst non-English speakers at home. This study estimates the health impacts and cost-effectiveness of recruitment interventions targeted at Arabic and Mandarin speaking populations in Victoria, Australia to increase bowel cancer screening participation. A Markov microsimulation model simulated the development of bowel cancer, considering National Bowel Cancer Screening Program participation rates. Culturally specific recruitment interventions e.g., community education and tailored paid media for 50-74-year-olds were compared to usual practice. A cost-utility analysis was conducted over a 50-year time horizon from a healthcare perspective, to estimate the cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) based on plausible effectiveness levels. Costs are in 2019 Australian dollars. Intervention costs were $6.90 per person for the Arabic speaking group and $3.10 for Mandarin speakers. The estimated cost/QALY was $2,781 (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: $2,144─$3,277) when screening increased by 0.2% in the Arabic group, and an estimated 5-6 additional adenoma and cancer cases were detected. In the Mandarin group, the estimated cost/QALY was $1,024/QALY (95%UI: $749─$1,272) when screening increased by 1.1%, and an estimated 18-23 additional adenoma and cancer cases were detected. Culturally specific recruitment interventions to increase bowel cancer screening are inexpensive and likely to be cost-effective. Improvements in capturing language spoken at home by the National program would facilitate more precise estimates of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these interventions.

How long can naturalistic L2 pronunciation learning continue in adults? A 10-year study

We examined the naturalistic pronunciation development of two groups of L2 speakers over 10 years. Initially, 50 beginner ESL students participated in production tasks; despite attrition, the tasks were administered eight more times. Here we report listener judgements of accentedness, comprehensibility and fluency for the remaining six Mandarin and 12 Slavic language speakers at Year 10. Analyses of listener judgments of accentedness, comprehensibility, and fluency of utterances recorded at the 2-month, 1-year, 2-year, 7-year and 10-year points revealed that the Slavic language speakers improved in comprehensibility and fluency at each comparison point, while the Mandarin speakers’ results were variable; there was improvement in comprehensibility from Year 7 to Year 10, but only after worsening at earlier points. The Slavic language group showed improvement in accentedness several times, whereas the Mandarin group showed no improvement in accentedness at any point. The data were examined for individual differences in learning trajectories. Interview responses and a survey of language use were compared to participants’ trajectories. Some speakers showed steady improvement from Year 7 to Year 10, but the majority plateaued or regressed. We also elicited speakers’ views of their progress. The results are interpreted through Complexity Theory and the Willingness to Communicate framework. Suggestions are made for research and teaching interventions.

Reaction of Mandarins to the Alternaria Brown Spot and Huanglongbing: Identification of Potential Varieties for These Diseases to Be Managed in the Field

Mandarins occupy the third group among citrus produced in Brazil. Primarily aimed at the fresh fruit market, commercial orchards have suffered significant production losses due to the high incidence of diseases, such as the alternaria brown spot (ABS) and huanglongbing (HLB). The fact that 80% of the orchards are composed of two varieties, Ponkan mandarin and Murcott tangor, which are highly susceptible to both diseases, demands intensive chemical control of the diseases in the field, which has resulted in a significant increase in production costs and a negative environmental impact. A total of one hundred and seventy-three mandarin accessions, including several species and hybrids belonging to the Collections of the Instituto Agronômico de Campinas (IAC), were evaluated in the field in an endemic location for the diseases. Evaluations of the incidence and severity of the diseases showed a range of genotypes tolerant to ABS that could replace the current commercial varieties, mainly within the clementine and willow leaf mandarin groups. Although, with differences in incidence and susceptibility to HLB, there are no tolerant varieties to this disease, which significantly impacts the loss of fruit quality.

Evaluating the antioxidant activity in different citrus genotypes

Citrus fruit consumption per capita has steadily increased over the world over the last 30 years. Citrus fruits are high in vitamin C as well as other active ingredients like phenols and flavonoids that are beneficial to human health. Therefore, the amounts of total phenol, total flavonoids, and antioxidant activity in 12 different genotypes of the citrus have been investigated in the present study. These genotypes have been selected from four citruses, including Lemon, Kiwi, Mandarin, and Orange. There are three genotypes for each of these citruses, and the numbering is done according to the place of harvesting the genotypes and also due to the ease of evaluation. Studies have been done for the leaves and fruits of the mentioned plant. Results showed that the average value of total phenol, flavonoid, and antioxidant activity in different citrus genotypes is 15.06 mg/g, 37.02 mg/g, and 75.54 μg/ml of dry extract, respectively. The extract of the fruit had the highest amount of phenol, and the leaf extract had the highest amount of flavonoids. The values of total phenol, total flavonoids, and antioxidant activity, from highest to lowest, belong to Kiwi, Orange, Lemon, and Mandarin groups.

Phonetic and Phono-Lexical Accuracy of Non-Native Tone Production by English-L1 and Mandarin-L1 Speakers.

Lexical tones are known to be a challenging aspect of speech to acquire in a second language, but several factors are known to affect tone learning facility, such as L1 tonal status (whether a learner's L1 is tonal or not), tone type (the shape of the tones to be acquired), and individual extralinguistic factors (such as musicianship, pitch aptitude, and working memory). Crucially, most of our knowledge of the effect of these factors is based on evidence from perception. The production side of tone learning and the origins of individual variability in learning facility remain relatively understudied. To this end, this study investigated non-native tone production-both in terms of phonetic accuracy in a pseudoword imitation task and in terms of phono-lexical accuracy in a picture-naming task-by English-L1 and Mandarin-L1 speakers. Results show that L1 tonal status and tone type dynamically affected both imitation and picture-naming accuracy, as there were specific accuracy patterns for the English and Mandarin groups. Production accuracy was further facilitated by individual musical experience, working memory, and pitch aptitude. This study's findings add to the currently limited literature on how both language-specific and individual extralinguistic factors modulate non-native tone processing in the speaking modality.

Optimization of a static headspace GC-MS method and its application in metabolic fingerprinting of the leaf volatiles of 42 citrus cultivars.

Citrus leaves, which are a rich source of plant volatiles, have the beneficial attributes of rapid growth, large biomass, and availability throughout the year. Establishing the leaf volatile profiles of different citrus genotypes would make a valuable contribution to citrus species identification and chemotaxonomic studies. In this study, we developed an efficient and convenient static headspace (HS) sampling technique combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis and optimized the extraction conditions (a 15-min incubation at 100 ˚C without the addition of salt). Using a large set of 42 citrus cultivars, we validated the applicability of the optimized HS-GC-MS system in determining leaf volatile profiles. A total of 83 volatile metabolites, including monoterpene hydrocarbons, alcohols, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, aldehydes, monoterpenoids, esters, and ketones were identified and quantified. Multivariate statistical analysis and hierarchical clustering revealed that mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) and orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) groups exhibited notably differential volatile profiles, and that the mandarin group cultivars were characterized by the complex volatile profiles, thereby indicating the complex nature and diversity of these mandarin cultivars. We also identified those volatile compounds deemed to be the most useful in discriminating amongst citrus cultivars. This method developed in this study provides a rapid, simple, and reliable approach for the extraction and identification of citrus leaf volatile organic compound, and based on this methodology, we propose a leaf volatile profile-based classification model for citrus.

The perception of English vowels by native Korean and Mandarin speakers

Second language learners often experience difficulties discriminating L2 contrasts absent in their L1. Theoretical frameworks, (e.g., SLM, PAM, L2LP), make predictions about the acquisition of L2 phonemes based on the existence of equivalent or similar L1 phonemes, but do not explicitly consider the extent of L1 allophonic variability as a contributing factor. The present study compared the perceptual discrimination of English contrasts /ɪ-i/ and /ɛ-æ/ by learners with Mandarin and Korean L1 backgrounds. Both languages have only one L1 phoneme for the two relevant L2 contrasts. Furthermore, Mandarin [ɛ] is an allophone of the highly variable mid vowel phoneme /E/, while Korean /ɛ/ lacks this variability. Allophonic variability may condition learners to accept diverse vowel qualities as acceptable renditions of the corresponding phoneme, therefore lowering their discriminability. In an AX perceptual discrimination task, 16 Standard Mandarin and 14 Korean speakers were similar in their discrimination of the /ɪ-i/ vowels, but, as predicted, the Mandarin group was less accurate for the /ɛ-æ/ pairs. These findings suggest that allophonic variability in the L1 needs to be considered when making theory-driven predictions concerning the acquisition of specific phonological categories.

Intoxication and pitch control in tonal and non-tonal language speakers

Alcohol intoxication is known to affect pitch variability in non-tonal languages. In this study, intoxication's effects on pitch were examined in tonal and non-tonal language speakers, in both their native language (L1; German, Korean, Mandarin) and nonnative language (L2; English). Intoxication significantly increased pitch variability in the German group (in L1 and L2), but not in the Korean or Mandarin groups (in L1 or L2), although there were individual differences. These results support the view that pitch control is related to the functional load of pitch and is an aspect of speech production that can be advantageously transferred across languages, overriding the expected effects of alcohol.

Effect of Inorganic Fertilizer on Morphological and Physiological Responses In ‘Siam’ (Tangerine) and ‘Keprok’ (Mandarin) Seedlings Under Nursery House

The growth of citrus seedlings has not only been influenced by fertilizer management but also species and cultivar as well. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the growth performance of Siam and Keprok seedling to inorganic fertilizer treatment under nursery house. Research was conducted in Nursery House, ICISFRI, Batu, East Java, Indonesia from February to November 2020. Factorial Randomized Block Design was used in this research consisted of two factors, I: Doses (0 %; 50 %: 2.5 g NPK + 2.5 g ZA/plant), and II: Cultivars (Tangerine/Siam cv. Banjar, Madu, and Pontianak; Mandarin/Keprok cv. Gayo, Kacang, and Madura) with three replications. An orthogonal contrast analysis was also used to identify the response of Tangerine and Mandarin group. Among 16 variables, only plant height, leaf thickness, and shoot dry weight were significantly influenced by the interaction between doses and cultivars with value of p<0.01; R2= 98.08 %; p<0.05; R2= 85.77 %; and p<0.01; R2= 99.14 %, respectively. Eight of 16 morphological and physiological traits (50 %) applied with either 0 % or 50 % gave similar responses between Mandarin and Tangerine group. Application of 50 % and 0 % produced 68.80 % and 81.30 % of similarities between Tangerine cv. Pontianak and Banjar, respectively. Meanwhile, similarities of Tangerine (Pontianak and Banjar) versus Tangerine cv. Madu that was applied with 0 % and 50 % of fertilizer application were 68.75 and 93.75 %, respectively.

Effects of First Language Background and Learning Experience in Perceiving Mandarin Lexical Tones: Learners and Nonlearners From English- and Japanese-Speaking Backgrounds.

This research compared individuals from two first language (L1) backgrounds (English and Japanese) to determine how they may differ in their perception of Mandarin tones (Tones 1 vs. 2 [T1-T2], Tones 1 vs. 3 [T1-T3], Tones 1 vs. 4 [T1-T4], Tones 2 vs. 3 [T2-T3], Tones 2 vs. 4 [T2-T4], Tones 3 vs. 4 [T3-T4]) on account of their L1. The participants included two groups of learners of Mandarin (23 English speakers, 18 Japanese speakers), two groups of nonlearners of Mandarin (24 English speakers, 21 Japanese speakers), and a control group of 10 Mandarin speakers. A four-alternative forced-choice discrimination task that included 360 trials was presented in three blocks of 120 trials. The native Mandarin group was more accurate in their tonal discrimination of all six tone pairs than all the nonnative groups. While Japanese nonlearners generally outperformed English nonlearners in their overall perception of Mandarin lexical tones, L1-based differences were less extensive for the two groups of learners. Both learner groups were least accurate on T2-T3 and most accurate on T3-T4. The results suggest that with classroom experience, English speakers can overcome their initial disadvantage and learn lexical tones in a new language as successfully as speakers of Japanese with classroom experience.

The Diversity of Classifier Inventory in Mandarin Dialects: A Case Study of Baoding

Abstract Our study compares Standard Mandarin (the Beijing dialect used in spoken and written registers) with the Mandarin dialect of Baoding (one of the Mandarin dialects belonging to the Jì-lŭ Mandarin group, Hebei-Shandong). Standard Mandarin and Baoding are geographically and phylogenetically closely related, but they differ in terms of their classifier system, as Standard Mandarin resorts to a wide array of sortal classifiers whereas Baoding only uses one general classifier. We first provide a detailed analysis of the unconventional classifier system in Baoding. Then, we compare the lexical and discourse functions of sortal classifiers in Standard Mandarin and Baoding. We show that Standard Mandarin does present a certain level of convergence with its geographical neighbour Baoding. However, these varieties also display significant divergences, as several lexical and discourse functions typically associated with classifier systems cannot be fulfilled by the only classifier found in Boading.

Morphological, physiological, pests and diseases responses of citrus seedling cultivars, and their contribution to cultivar classification under nursery house and open field

Information of morphological, physiological, and pests and diseases traits between Siam or Tangerine (C. nobilis L.) and Keprok or Mandarin (C. sinensis) seedlings group under nursery and open filed condition in Indonesia has limited. The contribution of morphological and physiological characters to cultivar classification of Siam and Mandarin group has also not been yet documented. The aims of this research were to evaluate the morphological, physiological, pests and diseases responses of citrus seedling cultivars, and their contribution to cultivar classification. This research was conducted at Tlekung Experimental Garden, Citrus and Subtropical Fruits Research Institute, Batu, East Java, Indonesia from February to December 2020. One-year-old budded seedlings were planted in plastic bags (size 15x30 cm) and put in both a nursery house and open field. The plastic bags were filled with mixed media (rice hull, soil, and compost) with the ratio of 1:1:1. The experimental design was a Two Stage Nested Design consisted of two factors, these were factor A: locations (nursery house and open field) and factor B as a nested-on factor A: cultivars (Siam cv. Pontianak, Siam cv. Banjar, Siam cv. Madu, Keprok cv. Kacang, Keprok cv. Terigas, Keprok cv. Madura and Keprok cv. Gayo). The results showed that the highest flush growth percentage was showed by Keprok cv. Madura grown under open field condition, while the biggest rootstock diameter was obtained from Siam cv. Madu grown in nursery house. Siam cv. Madu grown in open field also produced the highest root dry weight and stomata density. In terms of pests and diseases, aphids (Aphis gossypii) and leaf miner (Phyllocnistis citrella) have only been affected by locations, while for diseases was not found in this study. Contribution of morphological and physiological traits to citrus cultivars classification were about 64.70%. The average percentage of change in growth and develop capacity of Keprok group from open field to the nursery house increased by 2.35%, whereas for Siam one tended to decrease by 8.96%. In general, responses of morphological and/or physiological traits between Siam and mandarin group two locations were varied. Morphological and physiological traits may also useful for supporting genetically evaluation in improving citrus breeding programs.

The effects of native prosodic system and segmental context on Cantonese tone perception by Mandarin and Japanese listeners

This study explores the effects of native prosodic system and segmental context on the perception of Cantonese tones by Mandarin and Japanese listeners. In Experiment 1, 13 Mandarin and 13 Japanese subjects took part in a two-alternative forced-choice discrimination test of Cantonese tones in different segmental contexts (familiar vs unfamiliar). In Experiment 2, 20 Mandarin listeners participated in a perceptual assimilation task that examined the cross-language perceptual similarity between Mandarin and Cantonese tones. Results showed that Mandarin listeners were comparable to Japanese counterparts in discriminability, but the former attended more to pitch contour differences while the latter were more sensitive to pitch height. Moreover, the effect of segmental context was significant exclusively in the Mandarin group, whereas the Japanese group performed stably across syllables in discriminating Cantonese tones. It seemed that unfamiliar context rendered lower perceptual similarity, which further hindered corresponding discrimination by the Mandarin group. In addition, segmental effects were mainly observed in the assimilation patterns of category goodness or uncategorized-categorized. These findings suggested that non-native tone perception could be modulated by listeners' native prosodic structures in a finer way.

Harnessing the musician advantage: Short-term musical training affects non-native cue weighting of linguistic pitch

Lexical tone languages like Mandarin Chinese require listeners to discriminate among different pitch patterns. A syllable spoken with a rising pitch (e.g. bí ‘nose’) carries a different meaning than the same syllable spoken with a falling pitch (e.g. bì ‘arm’). For native speakers (L1) of a non-tonal language, accurate perception of tones in a second language (L2) is notoriously difficult. Musicians, however, have typically shown an aptitude for lexical tone learning due to the unique perceptual demands of music. This study tested whether musical effects can be exploited to improve linguistic abilities in the general population. A pre-test, 8-week training, post-test design was used to measure L1 English participants’ sensitivity to tone. Individual Differences Scaling was used to measure participants’ weighting of pitch height and movement cues. Participants took part in classroom Mandarin learning only (+L2), musical ear training only (+Music), or classroom learning combined with musical training (+L2+Music). An L1 Mandarin group served as a baseline. At pre-test, mean sensitivity to tone and multidimensional scaling results were similar across all three L1 English groups. After training, all three L1 English groups improved in mean sensitivity, though only the +L2+Music group did so at a significant rate. Multidimensional scaling revealed that all groups increased their weighting of the more informative pitch movement cue at roughly equal rates. Short-term musical training thus affected change in cue weighting of linguistic pitch in a manner comparable to that occurring after a semester of L2 classroom learning. When combined with classroom learning, short-term musical training resulted in even greater sensitivity to pitch movement cues. These results contribute to models of music-language interaction and suggest that focused application of non-linguistic acoustic training can improve phonetic perception in ways that are relevant to language learning.

Zhushan Mandarin

Zhushan Mandarin () is a dialect of Mandarin Chinese (ISO 639-3; code: cmn) spoken in the Zhushan county (), which belongs to the city of Shiyan () in Hubei Province (), the People’s Republic of China. As shown in Figure 1, the county borders the city of Chongqing () to the south and Shaanxi Province () to the north. It has an area of 3,586 km² and a population of about 4.7 million residents (Hubei Province Annals Committee 2017). The general consensus is that it is a Mandarin dialect (LAC 2012). However, there have been debates on the proper classification of this dialect as belonging to the Jianghuai Mandarin group () (e.g. Coblin 2005, X. B. Liu 2007) or to the Southwestern Mandarin group () (e.g. Ting 1996, X. C. Liu 2005, L. Li 2009).

ISSUES ON POWER CONTROL OF EARLY LE DYNASTY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF RESPONSIBILITIES AND OPERATIONS OF SUPERVISOR GROUP

Under Early Le Dynasty, the supervisor group includes the Censorate, The Six Offices of Scrutiny and The Constitutional Agency. Through the characteristic features of their position as “word keeping” mandarins, they have had a significant contribution to the king’s maintenance of discipline and upholding of the court's laws, therefore increasing the central government's control and supervision over the mandarin group. This article focuses on the position, the tasks and the activities of the supervisor group in the Early Le Dynasty. The research of the model of power supervision through a supervisor group will evoke valuable experiences and lessons that need to be drawn from the present practice.

Influence of different acoustic cues in L1 lexical tone on the perception of L2 lexical stress using principal component analysis: an ERP study.

Previous studies have widely explored the prosodic transfer from L1 to L2 during speech perception across stress languages. However, few if any studies have investigated the transfer from L1 tonal language to L2 stress language and the relative roles of different acoustic cues underlying the transfer. Therefore, the current study was conducted to compare the perception of English lexical stress between Mandarin and Cantonese speakers who learn English as a foreign language. The event-related potential measurements and the principal component analysis were conducted for the two groups to explore the roles of different acoustic cues in the perception of English speech. The results demonstrated that compared with the Mandarin group, the Cantonese speakers relied more on pitch information and the reliance holds even when all the three cues varied simultaneously. Therefore, it was concluded that prosodic transfer from L1 lexical tone to L2 lexical stress occurred at the acoustic level, and the native linguistic background shaped the manner how speakers perceived the L2 speech.

Post-harvest processing and valorization of Kinnow mandarin (Citrus reticulate L.): A review.

Kinnow is a prevalent fruit crop of the mandarin group and belongs to the Rutaceae family. It is nutritionally rich in vitamin C, vitamin B, β-carotene, calcium, phosphorous and other health beneficing compounds. The fruit is grown commercially for fresh consumption and since the processing techniques are less prominent, a plentiful amount of harvested fruit goes for waxing and grading operations. To reduce the post-harvest losses, appropriate processing techniques need to be followed as considerable fruit waste is generated while processing. The foremost fruit wastes viz. peel and seeds are rich source of bioactive compounds and can be utilized for the extraction of aromatic compounds, essential oils and low-methoxyl pectin. Overall utilization of kinnow and its components through various technological interventions will not only enhance the profitability of processing industries but also assist in reducing the pollution load on the environment. The prevailing bitterness in kinnow juice has constrained its processing, value-addition, popularity and acceptability. Limited work has been done on kinnow processing leaving scarce relevant literature published on the post-harvest management. Efforts made by researchers worldwide, regarding the post-harvest application of kinnow and its by-products for product development, value addition and waste utilization is presented and discussed in this paper. This compiled information is envisioned to encourage the cottage food processing units in order to improvise the overall benefits along with achieving complete utilization of kinnow.

Influence of L1 Background on Categorical Perception of Mandarin Tones by Russian and Vietnamese Listeners

This study investigated the influence of L1 background on categorical perception of lexical tones by three language groups, namely native Mandarin, Russian and Vietnamese listeners. Tone identification and discrimination scores of two tone continua (T1-T2 and T1-T4) were measured for each participant. Results showed that the two tone language groups, i.e., Mandarin and Vietnamese listeners, perceived both tone continua categorically whereas the non-tone language group, i.e., Russian listeners, did not. More specifically, while the Russian group exhibited significantly broader identification boundaries and performed near chance level in discrimination tasks, the Mandarin and Vietnamese groups presented sharp slopes in identification curves and corresponding discrimination peaks at the cross-boundary positions. Moreover, Mandarin and Vietnamese listeners showed slightly different discrimination curves, which could be attributed to the effect of their different tone inventories. The current findings suggest that native tone language background, to some extent, can facilitate non-native tone perception.