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This study explores how collaboration and communication in drama education enhance students’ critical thinking skills, guided by the core literacy framework (5Cs): collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creativity and cultural awareness. This framework, recognized as a foundation for 21st-century learning, forms the theoretical basis for the analysis of how group dynamics and expressive activities in theater contribute to cognitive and social skill development. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study surveyed 98 university students and conducted in-depth interviews with 15 participants to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. Regression analysis revealed significant positive effects of collaboration (b = 0.436, p < 0.001) and the interaction between collaboration and communication (b = 0.236, p = 0.001) on critical thinking. Qualitative findings corroborated these results, highlighting how structured collaborative practices systematically cultivate multiperspective analysis, problem solving and evaluative thinking. The findings underscore the synergistic relationship between collaboration and communication, emphasizing their combined role in cultivating critical thinking. Additionally, the study demonstrates that gender and role diversity influence how students develop core literacies, with female students excelling in emotional expression and communication, while male students show strengths in creativity and originality.

Changes in intestinal microecology during acute liver failure (ALF) directly affect the occurrence and development of the disease. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between the intestinal microbiota and the key immune cells. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) was used to determine whether ALF can balance Th17/Treg cytokines. The relationship between gut microbiota and clinical indicators was analyzed. BALB/c mice were treated with d -galactosamine ( d -GalN) to induce a murine ALF model. FMT to d -GalN mice was conducted to test for liver function indicators. Results showed that the proportions of Lachnospiraceae , Prevotella , S24-7 , Odoribacter and Rikenellaceae in d -GalN mice with intestinal microbiota disorder were restored after FMT. Further, CIA analysis showed that bacteria had a covariant relationship with clinical indicators. Microbiota could account for changes in 49.9% of the overall clinical indicators. Adonis analysis showed that Ruminococcus , and Enterococcus have a greater impact on clinical indicators. FMT down-regulated the expression of IL-17A, TNF-α, and TGF-β, while up-regulated IL-10 and IL-22. Transplantation of feces from Saccharomyces boulardii donor mice improved GalN-induced liver damage. These findings indicate that FMT attenuates d -GalN-induced liver damage in mice, and a clinical trial is required to validate the relevance of our findings in humans, and to test whether this therapeutic approach is effective for patients with ALF.

In the context of escalating global mental health challenges, adolescent suicide has become a critical public health concern. In current clinical practices, considerable challenges are encountered in the early identification of suicide risk, as traditional assessment tools demonstrate limited predictive accuracy. Recent advancements in machine learning (ML) present promising solutions for risk prediction. However, comprehensive evaluations of their efficacy in adolescent populations remain insufficient. This study systematically assessed the performance of ML-based prediction models across various suicide-related behaviors in adolescents, aiming to establish an evidence-based foundation for the development of clinically applicable risk assessment tools. This review assessed ML for predicting adolescent suicide-related behaviors. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases were rigorously searched until April 20, 2024, and a multivariate prediction model was employed to assess the risk of bias. The c-index was used as the primary outcome measure to conduct a meta-analysis on nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, suicide attempts combined with suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts combined with NSSI, evaluating their accuracy in the validation set. A total of 42 studies published from 2018 to 2024 were included, encompassing 104 distinct ML models and 1,408,375 adolescents aged 11 to 20 years. The combined area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values for ML models in predicting NSSI, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, suicide attempts combined with suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts combined with NSSI were 0.79 (95% CI 0.72-0.86), 0.77 (95% CI 0.71-0.83), 0.84 (95% CI 0.83-0.86), 0.82 (95% CI 0.79-0.84), and 0.75 (95% CI 0.73-0.76), respectively. The ML models demonstrated the highest combined sensitivity for suicide attempt prediction, with a value of 0.80 (95% CI 0.75-0.84), and the highest combined specificity for NSSI prediction, with a value of 0.96 (95% CI 0.94-0.99). Our findings suggest that ML techniques exhibit promising predictive performance for forecasting suicide risk in adolescents, particularly in predicting suicide attempts. Notably, ensemble methods, such as random forest and extreme gradient boosting, showed superior performance across multiple outcome types. However, this study has several limitations, including the predominance of internal validation methods employed in the included literature, with few studies employing external validation, which may limit the generalizability of the results. Future research should incorporate larger and more diverse datasets and conduct external validation to improve the prediction capability of these models, ultimately contributing to the development of ML-based adolescent suicide risk prediction tools.

Rice production affects the food security and socioeconomic status of over half the world’s population. Rice-producing countries, however, are facing population growth, reduction in rice planting area, and global change. Understanding the trends of rice production and major determinants is key to regulating rice production. We thus analyzed the trends of rice production and related determinants in China from 2001 to 2021, revealing that the annual rice production (TRP) has risen steadily (r = 0.929, p < 0.0001) in recent 20 years. TRP in 2021 was 19.9% higher than that in 2001, which was primarily achieved by the increment of middle rice production (MRP). MRP increased by 46.2% from 2000 to 2018, and grain yield per unit area (GPA) was the largest in middle rice. The enhancement of GPAs is significantly correlated with the consumption of agricultural resources and the number of released rice cultivars, but variations exist. TRP and GPA vary in different provinces; Hunan (25 ± 2 megatons) and Xinjiang (8364 ± 806 kg/hectare) show the largest values, respectively. TRP could be further increased by 13.8% by improving MRP. The results suggest that rice production in China has a large potential to be further improved through regulations.

Calcific aortic valve stenosis (CAVS) is steadily rising worldwide with no effective pharmacological agents available. Observational studies implicated dyslipidaemia as a risk factor for CAVS. Whether dyslipidaemia is causative for CAVS and the therapeutic potential of different lipid-modifying drug targets for CAVS treatment remains unclear. We appraised the relationship of genetically-proxied lipid traits and 12 lipid-modifying drug targets with CAVS risk using Mendelian randomization (MR). Genetic variants associated with lipid traits and variants in genes encoding lipid-modifying drug targets were retrieved from GLGC. Summary-level data for CAVS were obtained from the TARGET consortium and FinnGen. Validation analyses were performed using genetic instruments retrieved from liver-derived gene expression and circulation plasma levels of targets. Colocalisation and mediation analyses were performed to evaluate the robustness of our findings and explore potential mediators (i.e., lipoprotein a (Lp(a)), body mass index, apolipoprotein B (ApoB)). The MR analyses supported that total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol level were independent causal risk factors. The drug-target MR analysis suggested that genetic mimicry of PCSK9 inhibition should reduce CAVS risk (OR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.56–0.70), which was corroborated by colocalisation analysis. Secondary analyses supported a genetically proxied effect of liver-specific PCSK9 expression (OR = 0.94 per SD reduction in PCSK9 expression, 95% CI = 0.88–1.00) and circulating plasma levels of PCSK9 (OR = 0.86 per SD reduction in PCSK9 protein, 95% CI = 0.83–0.88) on CAVS risk. ApoB and Lp(a) mediated 55.9% and 4.5%, respectively, of the total effect of PCSK9 on CAVS risk. Multiple sensitivity analyses supported this observation. Our study supports total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol as a causal factor for CAVS, and genetically proxied inhibition of PCSK9 may reduced its risk.

Paclitaxel liposomes (PTX-LIPO) are a clinically promising antineoplastic drug formulation for the treatment of various extracranial cancers, excluding glioblastoma. A main reason for this is the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) or blood-tumor barrier (BTB), preventing liposomal drugs from crossing at a therapeutically meaningful level. Focused ultrasound (FUS) in conjunction with microbubbles (MBs) has been suggested in many studies to be an effective approach to increase the BBB or BTB permeability. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of enhancing the delivery of PTX-LIPO in intracranial glioblastoma-bearing nude mice using pulsed low-intensity FUS exposure in the presence of MBs. Our results showed that the delivery efficiency of PTX-LIPO could be effectively improved in terms of the penetration of both the BBB in vitro and BTB in vivo by pulsed FUS sonication with a 10 ms pulse length and 1 Hz pulse repetition frequency at 0.64 MPa peak-rarefactional pressure in the presence of MBs. Quantitative analysis showed that a 2-fold higher drug concentration had accumulated in the glioblastoma 3 h after FUS treatment, with 7.20±1.18 µg PTX per g glioma tissue. Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging analysis illustrated that the intracranial glioblastoma progression in nude mice treated with PTX-LIPO delivered via FUS with MBs was suppressed consistently for 4 weeks compared to the untreated group. The medium survival time of these tumor-bearing nude mice was significantly prolonged by 20.8%, compared to the untreated nude mice. Immunohistochemical analysis further confirmed the antiproliferation effect and cell apoptosis induction. Our study demonstrated that noninvasive low-intensity FUS with MBs can be used as an effective approach to deliver PTX-LIPO in order to improve their chemotherapy efficacy toward glioblastoma.

Background Adolescence is a period marked by emotional volatility, interpersonal vulnerability, and underdeveloped cognitive control, making youths especially susceptible to non-suicidal self-injury. Distinct forms of NSSI may differ in psychological function and clinical relevance. This study is the first to employ network analysis with dual network models to examine the complex interplay among emotion regulation, interpersonal sensitivity, cognitive insight, and 18 specific NSSI behaviors in adolescents. The primary goal was to identify key psychological nodes and central NSSI behaviors within the network structure to inform more targeted prevention and intervention strategies. Methods A total of 5572 adolescents (ages 12–18; 53.9% male) from three urban secondary schools in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, participated in self-report surveys conducted between September and November 2023. Standardized and previously validated instruments were used to assess NSSI behaviors, emotion regulation, interpersonal sensitivity, and cognitive insight. Network analysis using mixed graphical models and LASSO regularization was conducted to identify central and bridging nodes across binary-level and symptom-level NSSI networks. Results Network analysis revealed robust interconnections between emotion regulation, interpersonal sensitivity, cognitive insight, and various NSSI behaviors. In the binary-level network, the fragile inner-self (strength = 1.5) dimension of interpersonal sensitivity exhibited the highest strength, while cognitive reappraisal(bridge strength = 0.88) and expressive suppression(bridge strength = 0.73) showed the strongest bridge strength. Self-reflection was directly associated with NSSI behaviors, and self-certainty was linked to both emotion regulation and interpersonal sensitivity. In the symptom-level network, the most central NSSI behaviors included deliberately scraping the skin to cause bleeding, tying objects around the body, punching hard surfaces, banging the head, and cutting the skin. Fragile inner-self (bridge strength = 0.79) emerged as the strongest bridge node in this network. Conclusions This study suggests that emotion regulation, interpersonal sensitivity and cognitive insight are closely associated with adolescent NSSI behaviors, highlighting their potential relevance for intervention strategies.

The increasing ground-level ozone (O3) is threatening food security, especially in Asian areas, where rice is one of the most important staple crops. O3 impacts on rice could be exacerbated by its spatiotemporal heterogeneity. To improve evaluation accuracy and develop effective adaptations, direct data is urgently needed. Studies on the short-term effects of O3 on rice grain, however, are lacking. Which may lead to an underestimation of the O3 impacts. Through a field experiment, we studied the responses of grain nitrogen, grain carbon, and grain protein in rice cultivars to elevated concentrations of O3 (40 ppb plus that in background air, eO3), especially examining the effects of short-term eO3 during different plant growth stages. We found that long-term eO3 increased grain nitrogen by 29.29% in a sensitive rice cultivar, and short-term eO3 at the tillering and jointing stages increased grain nitrogen by 19.31%, and the grain carbon to nitrogen ratio was decreased by 14.70%, and 21.14% by short-term and long-term eO3. Here we demonstrate that short-term eO3 may significantly affect the chemical composition of rice grains. Previous evaluations of the effects of eO3 may be underestimated. Moreover, changes in the grain nitrogen and grain protein were greater when the short-term eO3 was added to rice plants during the tillering and jointing stage, compared to heading and ripening stage. These results suggest that to improve the tolerance of rice to eO3 to achieve food security, studies on cultivar screening, as well as developing growth-stage-specific adaptations are needed in future.

Cyclophosphamide (CTX) has immunosuppressive effects and has been wildly used as one anti-cancer drug in clinical. Significant toxicity has been noticed particularly in the reproductive system. CTX promotes the maturation of ovarian follicles, decreases follicular reserve, and ultimately lead to ovarian failure or even premature ovarian failure (POF). The placental extract (HPE) has been shown to have some beneficial impact on reproductive system; however, little is known regarding to the effect of HPE on protecting CTX-induced ovarian injury and the mechanism involved. Whether human placental extracts (HPE) has a protective effect on CTX-induced toxicity on ovarian was studied by using a CTX-induced ovarian injury animal model. The effects of HEP on histopathology, the number of atretic follicles, the weight of the ovary, serum hormone levels, and apoptosis in granulosa cells were studied in mice with CTX or control vehicle. Our results have demonstrated that HPE inhibited p-Rictor, reduced the expression of Bad, Bax and PPAR, and activated Akt and Foxo3a (increased their phosphorylation). Mice treated with HPE showed higher ovarian weight, lower number of atretic follicles, higher serum levels of the hormones E2 and progesterone, and lower apoptosis and serum levels of LH and FSH in granulosa cells, than that in the control animal group. Our data show that ovarian injury can be attenuated by HPE. HPE likely protects follicular granulosa cells from undergoing significant apoptosis and reduce atresia follicle formation, therefore, alleviates CTX-induced ovarian injury.