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Abstract Background Despite ongoing research, the underlying causes of schizophrenia remain unclear. Aspartate and asparagine, essential amino acids, have been linked to schizophrenia in recent studies, but their causal relationship is still unclear. This study used a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) method to explore the causal relationship between aspartate and asparagine with schizophrenia. Methods This study employed summary data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) conducted on European populations to examine the correlation between aspartate and asparagine with schizophrenia. In order to investigate the causal effects of aspartate and asparagine on schizophrenia, this study conducted a two-sample bidirectional MR analysis using genetic factors as instrumental variables. Results No causal relationship was found between aspartate and schizophrenia, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.221 (95%CI: 0.483–3.088, P-value = 0.674). Reverse MR analysis also indicated that no causal effects were found between schizophrenia and aspartate, with an OR of 0.999 (95%CI: 0.987–1.010, P-value = 0.841). There is a negative causal relationship between asparagine and schizophrenia, with an OR of 0.485 (95%CI: 0.262-0.900, P-value = 0.020). Reverse MR analysis indicates that there is no causal effect between schizophrenia and asparagine, with an OR of 1.005(95%CI: 0.999–1.011, P-value = 0.132). Conclusion This study suggests that there may be a potential risk reduction for schizophrenia with increased levels of asparagine, while also indicating the absence of a causal link between elevated or diminished levels of asparagine in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. There is no potential causal relationship between aspartate and schizophrenia, whether prospective or reverse MR. However, it is important to note that these associations necessitate additional research for further validation.

Objective To explore the implementation effect of scenario simulation teaching method in the clinical teaching practice of oral medicine for nursing students. Methods A total of 68 nursing students who participated in clinical internship were selected, all of whom are full-time students majoring in oral nursing. Nursing students with internship between January 2021to December 2021 were allocated into the control group, receiving a routine teaching method during clinical practice. Nursing students with internship from January 2022 to December 2022 were included as the study group, receiving the scenario simulation teaching method. To investigate nursing students' knowledge and practices of oral care, and to evaluate their satisfaction with clinical teaching environment. Results The comprehensive test score of the nursing students in the study group (94. 51±5. 02) was higher than that of the control group (89. 32±5. 93), with a significant difference (P＜0. 05). In terms of the clinical environment practice evaluation, the study group achieved higher scores than the control group in aspects of teaching methods, learning opportunities, and organizational support, and the results were statistically different (P＜0. 05). Conclusion Scenario simulation teaching improves the clinical theoretical knowledge and clinical practice level of oral medicine nursing students, and also improves the satisfaction of nursing students with clinical practice environment. (目的 探讨情景模拟教学法在口腔内科护生临床教学实践中的应用效果。方法 选取2021年1月—12月北京大学口腔医院牙体牙髓科实习的34名护生为对照组, 另选取2022年1月—12月实习的34名护生为研究组。对照组实施口腔内科常规临床护理教学法, 研究组实施情景模拟教学法。分别于入科时和出科前对两组护生进行理论与操作考核, 比较两组对临床学习环境的满意度。结果 两组出科考试成绩均高于入科时, 研究组护生综合考试成绩(94. 51±5. 02)分, 高于对照组的(89. 32±5. 93)分, 差异有统计学差异(P＜0. 05)。研究组护生对教学方法、学习机会、组织支持维度的临床学习环境评价满意度高于对照组, 差异有统计学意义(P＜0. 05)。结论 情景模拟教学不仅有助于提高口腔内科护生临床理论知识和临床操作水平, 且临床学习环境更好, 起到了教学相长的作用, 值得推广应用。)

In this study, pectinase-extracted pectin (PPHP), mixed enzyme-extracted pectin (MPHP), and water-extracted pectin (WPHP) from Premna ligustrides Hemsl. leaves were prepared by pectinase-assisted extraction, pectinase and cellulase-assisted extraction and hot water extraction, respectively, and their molecular masses, monosaccharide compositions, infrared spectra, galacturonic acid contents, degrees of esterification were determined. In addition, their scavenging capacity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2’-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical cation and Fe3+ reducing power were assayed, and their antibacterial effects on Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were explored. The results showed that the yields of WPHP, PPHP and MPHP were 5.11%, 6.45% and 8.91%, respectively. WPHP belonged to high-ester pectin, while MPHP and PPHP belonged to low-ester pectin. The weight-average molecular mass of pectin in the leaves of Premna ligustrides Hemsl was reduced by enzymatic treatment. The contents of total phenols and total flavonoids in MPHP were 17.09 and 26.46 mg/g, respectively, higher than those in WPHP and PPHP. All three pectins had strong scavenging capacities against DPPH radical and ABTS radical cation, among which MPHP had the strongest antioxidant activity. The results of in vitro antibacterial activity showed that MPHP had the best antibacterial effect on Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. These results provide a basis for further searching for the material basis of the antibacterial activity of pectin from Premna ligustroides Hemsl. leaves, and are of significance for the in-depth development and utilization of pectin from Premna ligustroides Hemsl. leaves.

As computer science advances, it intersects intriguingly with the realm of music acoustics, particularly in enhancing piano performance through technological means. This paper delves into an innovative approach to piano learning and creation, focusing on emotional expression’s nuances. We have devised a system capable of precise musical tone recognition and sound quality evaluation by adopting Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) for the nuanced extraction of piano sounds and integrating dynamic fuzzy neural networks. Our findings show an impressive accuracy rate, with musical tone misidentification below 2.58% and sound quality assessment errors within a 5% margin. This work not only sets a new benchmark in piano performance analysis but also paves the way for revolutionary teaching methods in music education, with profound implications for artistic instruction and emotional expression.

The piano education industry occupies a huge market. However, the automatic piano performance evaluation function has shortcomings in the existing piano education. In this paper, we first design a piano performance evaluation model based on the continuous discretization method for piano performance audio and improve the piano performance feature filtering and feature extraction methods through cubic spline interpolation and support vector regression, respectively. Secondly, a piano performance evaluation system based on music theory knowledge is studied to evaluate the user’s performance ability based on the rating of rhythm, main melody, and musicality performance of different levels of score performance audio and to achieve the purpose of assisting piano teaching. The results show that the difference between the scoring based on the continuous, discrete model and the actual level value of the player is less than 0.05, and the output of the evaluation system can achieve consistency; in the comparison experiments, the accuracy of three traditional evaluation models, BP, RNN, and LSTM, is 45%, 42%, and 75%, respectively, while the accuracy of the continuous, discrete model is 78%, with an average performance improvement of 23%. The continuous, discrete piano performance evaluation model proposed in this paper is more effective and objective in evaluating users’ piano performance ability and provides a guiding reference for performance evaluation in the piano education industry.

The specific surface area and surface hydrophilicity of metal-organic frameworks can be tailored by changing their central metal ions and organic ligands. In this study, the surface of the metal-organic framework MIL-101(Cr) was modified in an aqueous solution of tetrahydropyran via the radiolytic method. A large number of hydroxyl groups were introduced to the surface of MIL-101(Cr), thereby effectively improving its surface hydrophilicity and substantially increasing its specific surface area without changing its central metal ion and organic ligand. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrated that the irradiation products of tetrahydropyran were bound to the surface of MIL-101(Cr) through covalent bonding. X-ray diffractometry demonstrated that the crystal structure of the material was retained after irradiation. The specific surface area of MIL-101(Cr) significantly increased, and water contact angle tests indicated that the surface changed from hydrophobic to hydrophilic after modification. These results show that the irradiation reaction of MIL-101(Cr) with tetrahydropyran significantly improves its specific surface area and hydrophilicity. This study provides guidance on the application of the irradiation method to prepare metal-organic frameworks with various properties by simple and rapid modification.

Factors in sound change are still a major subject of debate in the field of linguistics, with the frequency factor perhaps being the most controversial. The present article focuses on palatalization of the velars before high front vowels and glides in Northern Mandarin, because palatalization stretched for more than 100 years and can provide detailed information concerning its contour. Based on a statistical analysis of corpus data of palatalization in Northern Mandarin, the present article argues that the factor of frequency is positively associated with palatalization and the factor of frequency change is negatively associated. Morphosyntactic structure and word class are also claimed to be factors in sound change. However, neither of these two factors has emerged as significant in the current study.

Based on the differential equation verification method, this study explores the characteristic model of mental health education activities for all employees and provides further research basis for constructing the competency characteristics for all employees in mental health education colleges. The results show that (1) the competence characteristics of all psychological teachers in mental health education colleges include interpersonal understanding and communication, respect for students, student service orientation, self-regulation and control, self-confidence, desire for achievement, influence, promotion of student development, organisation and coordination, 12 characteristics of professional knowledge skills, analytical thinking and reflective ability, (2) these 12 characteristics can be summarised into 4 dimensions: help and service, personal effectiveness, management skills and cognitive dimensions and (3) 12 characteristics of the model. The top 5 in the ranking are interpersonal understanding and communication, self-regulation and control, respect for students, student service orientation and promotion of student development.

Objective To investigate the occurrence of gasdermin D protein (GSDMD)-mediated pyroptosis and muscle atrophy in mice under lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation in order to elucidate the possible pathogenetic mechanisms of intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICU-AW). Methods The mouse skeletal muscle myoblasts (C2C12) were induced to differentiate into myotubes, and then divided into groups as follows: control group (sterile PBS solution), LPS groups (1, 10 and 100 μg/mL), and LPS+ATP groups (5 mmol/L ATP was added to the corresponding LPS gradient groups). The changes inside and outside the myotubes were detected and compared among groups at the time points of 6 or 12 h after LPS intervention. The morphological changes of myotubes were observed under light microscope; Western blotting was used to determine the myotube formation marker proteins MHC, myogenin and HDAC1, as well as pyroptosis-related protein, GSDMD, in each group; RT-qPCR was employed to test the mRNA expression of atrophic genes Atrogin-1, MuRF-1 and pyroptosis-related proinflammatory cytokine IL-18 in the myotubes of each group; and the IL-18 concentration in the supernatant of myotube culture was detected by ELISA. Results Myotubes formation was observed on day 5 of differentiation. Under the stimulation of LPS/LPS+ATP, the mRNA levels of Atrogin-1 and MuRF-1 were significantly up-regulated (P < 0.05), and the expression of IL-18 presented a same trend (P < 0.05). ELISA results showed that after LPS intervention for 12 h, the concentration of IL-18 in the myotube culture supernatant was significantly higher in the intervention groups than the control group (P < 0.05). In addition, the levels of MHC, Myogenin and HDAC1 proteins were stably expressed in the intervention groups, and the expression of GSDMD protein in the LPS/LPS+ATP groups were significantly increased compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion LPS induces cell pyroptosis in the myotubes of mouse skeletal muscle, which is correlated with the occurrence of muscle atrophy.

Under the background of the transformation of the main social contradictions and the new stage of improving the quality and efficiency of the economy, it is of great significance for the regional high-quality development to promote the inclusive green growth of city clusters along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Based on SBM-Malmquist-Luenberger model, this paper measures the real performance of inclusive green growth of city clusters along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and corresponding policy optimization suggestions are put forward.

[Introduction] In view of the fatigue problem of support structure for offshore wind turbine, fatigue performance of transition piece with external stiffening ring was studied. [Method] Static and fatigue tests of A1/5 scale simplified support structure model were carried out to obtain their hot spot stress and fatigue life. Finite element analysis for the test model was conducted with different element type according to DNV rules. Fatigue damage obtained from experimental tests was compared with that calculated by numerical simulations. [Result] The results show that the main discrepancy between test results and specification methods is the selection of S-N curves. [Conclusion] Finally, on the basis of experimental data and DNV rules, two different methods for evaluating the fatigue damage of transition piece are given. This work provides some guidance for further application.

[Introduction] Constructing the proper wind turbine foundation is important during the construction of offshore wind farm, and the monopile has been one of the main structures for the wind turbine foundation in recent years. However, the local scour problem for the monopile under marine environment has significant influence on the stability of the wind turbine structure. [Method] In this paper, for one actual wind farm project on sandy coast, the physical model tests were conducted for the local scour of the monopile for different water levels and pile diameters to analyze the effect of wave and current on the scour depth, to study the scour area and depth under the action of combined wave and current, and the protection effect of the sand blanket and sandbag. [Result] The result showed that, for the two monopiles (diameters of 7.0 m and 6.5 m), the locations of maximum scour depth are both at the upstream face, and the maximum scour depth is about 0.8~0.9 times of the pile diameter. [Conclusion] The measure of laying sand blankets without overlapping and filling scour pits with sandbags can protect the bottom around the pile foundation very well, which can provide references for similar engineering scour test and engineering design.

Sevoflurane, a volatile anesthetic, is known to induce widespread neuronal degeneration and apoptosis. Recently, the stress-inducible protein sestrin 2 and adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) have been found to regulate the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and suppress oxidative stress. Notoginsenoside R1 (NGR1), a saponin isolated from Panax notoginseng, has been shown to exert neuroprotective effects. The effects of NGR1 against neurotoxicity induced by sevoflurane were assessed.

Graphene, as a rising star in materials science, is intensively studied in Li-ion batteries and supercapacitors, owing to its unique structure and excellent properties. The research status of the application of graphene in energy storage field was disscussed and the future development trend was predicted, and therefore to enhance the understanding of the structure-performance relationship of graphene and also the application of graphene in this field. Firstly, the application of graphene in cathode and anode of Li-ion battery, and the application of graphene in electrical double-layer capacitor and pseudo-capacitor were introduced. Secondly, the challenges of graphene in electrical double-layer capacitor were discussed and the ideal structure of graphene applied to electrical double-layer capacitor was proposed. Finally, the "three steps" to realize the commercial application of graphene-based electrical double-layer capacitor were put forward.

[Introduction] In order to understand the wake loss of offshore wind farm, the simulation results are verified to explore the variation law of offshore wake loss. [Method] In this paper, the PARK model was used to simulate the wake flow of a offshore wind farm in South China. The parameters of the model were optimized and the actual power output was verified. [Result] The results show that application of PARK model in wake simulation of offshore wind farms basically coincides with the actual power output. When wind turbines with 7D spacing in a certain wind direction, the distribution of main wind wake loss after the second row is about 30%. [Conclusion] PARK wake model can simulate the wake loss and calculate the power output in offshore wind farms. Sensitivity calculation of model parameters should be carried out to meet the actual conditions.

Abstract The chloroplast genome originated from photosynthetic organisms and has retained the core genes that mainly encode components of photosynthesis. However, the causes of variations in chloroplast genome size in seed plants have only been thoroughly analyzed within small subsets of spermatophytes. In this study, we conducted the first comparative analysis on a large scale to examine the relationship between sequence characteristics and genome size in 272 seed plants based on cross-species and phylogenetic signal analysis. Our results showed that inverted repeat regions, large or small single copies, intergenic regions, and gene number can be attributed to the variations in chloroplast genome size among closely related species. However, chloroplast gene length underwent evolution affecting chloroplast genome size in seed plants irrespective of whether phylogenetic information was incorporated. Among chloroplast genes, atpA, accD and ycf1 account for 13% of the variation in genome size, and the average Ka/Ks values of homologous pairs of the three genes are larger than 1. The relationship between chloroplast genome size and gene length might be affected by selection during the evolution of spermatophytes. The variation in chloroplast genome size may influence energy generation and ecological strategy in seed plants.

The previous characteristics researches of air pollution were almost based on data from national environmental monitoring stations in 2015. The temporal variation curves of air pollutants and the ArcGIS grid interpolation method were used to analyze the spatial-temporal variation of air pollutants in five cities of Chengdu economic region. In 2015, the monthly change trends of PM2.5, PM10, CO, NO2 and NO of air pollutants in Chengdu economic region were basically the same. The maximum monthly average concentration was in January or December, and the minimum was in May to September. The temporal variation of SO2 was characterized by little fluctuation of monthly concentration. The temporal variation characteristics of O3 were opposite to other pollutants. The spatial distribution of PM10 and PM2.5 was characterized by the largest concentration in Chengdu and the southwest of Meishan, in which they were mainly concentrated in the central area of Chengdu in winter. The average concentration of CO in Chengdu was the largest, followed by Deyang and Mianyang, and Meishan and Ziyang was the smallest. The concentrations of NO2 and NO in Chengdu were the largest, while those in Ziyang were the smallest. The spatial distribution characteristics of O3 were different from other pollutants. The areas with the largest concentration of O3 were Ziyang and a small part of west in Chengdu. The spatial distribution of SO2 was characterized by the largest concentration of SO2 in Ziyang, the lowest concentration in Mianyang and Deyang.