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Objective To explore the effect of ambient music on sleep quality and cognitive function of college students with neurotic personality tendency. Methods Thirty college students with neurotic personality tendency who majored in clinical medicine and had sleep problems with Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) ≥8 were recruited from a medical university during October 2021 and January 2022. They were randomly assigned into the control and test groups (n=15). The test group received a 30-minute ambient music intervention via a Bluetooth music box before bedtime, and the control group had no music playing in the Bluetooth music box. Both groups were intervened for 2 d. The parameters of sleep quality, including sleep onset latency (SOL), total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency (SE), rapid eye movement (REM), non-rapid eye movement (NREM), and the indicators in cognitive function, such as fatigue induction paradigm, attention network test (ANT), N-back paradigm, were compared pre- and post-intervention in both groups. Results Compared to the control group, the SOL of NREM (N1), N2 and N3 [4.000 (3.000, 6.000) vs 10.000 (7.500, 12.000), P=0.003; 6.000 (5.500, 9.000) vs 12.500 (9.500, 17.500), P=0.006; 16.000 (13.000, 19.500) vs 34.500 (22.000, 46.000), P=0.002] were significantly shorter, and the total N3 duration (109.433±27.281 vs 85.233±23.426, P=0.018) was obviously longer in the test group. In terms of cognitive function, statistically higher ANT correct rate (98.333±1.247 vs 96.154± 2.851, P=0.016) was observed in the test group. Conclusion Ambient music can improve the sleep quality of college students with neurotic personality tendency by shortening SOL and prolonging total N3 duration, and then enhances their concentration levels.

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) patients are prone to stroke and peripheral arterial embolism. Studying the pathogenesis of thrombosis formation in AF and providing effective interventions to reduce the risk is an important direction of clinical and basic research on AF. Objective To investigate the correlation of markers of inflammation and endothelial injury with thrombosis in the left atrium (LA) in AF patients. Methods Twenty-nine patients with valvular heart disease and 10 patients with coronary heart disease who underwent thoracotomy at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from July 2017 to December 2019 were selected, and divided into sinus rhythm group (15 cases) and AF group 〔24 cases, including 12 with left atrial appendage thrombus (LAAT), and 12 without LAAT〕 according to heart rhythm. General demographics were collected. Besides that, other data were also collected, including left atrial diameter (LAD) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), levels of protein kinase B (AKT), nuclear factor-κ B (NF-κ B), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), endothelin-1 (ET-1), nitric oxide (NO), von Willebrand factor (VWF), intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion factor (VCAM-1) in the left atrial blood sample, and calculated thrombus area in patients with AF and LAAT. The relationships of LAD, LVEF, markers of inflammation and endothelial injury with calculated area of thrombus in AF with LAAT patients were analyzed by Pearson correlation. Results There were significant differences in LAD and LVEF between sinus rhythm patients and AF patients with or without LAAT (P0.05). AF patients without LAAT had higher levels of AKT, NF-κB, IL-8, ET-1, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 and lower NO level in left atrium than patients with sinus rhythm (P0.05). The maximum area, minimum area, and average area of the left atrial appendage thrombus in AF patients with LAAT were 4.8 cm2, 1.67 cm2, and (3.48±0.83) cm2, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis showed LAD, LVEF, AKT, NF-κB, hs-CRP, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, ET-1, NO, vWF, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1 had no linear correlation with the area of thrombus in AF patients with LAAT (P>0.05) . Conclusion Increased levels of markers of inflammation and endothelial injury in left atrium were found in AF patients, which were even more higher when the patients also had LAAT. Detecting the markers of inflammation and endothelial injury in left atrium is helpful to evaluate the thrombus prevalence in AF patients.

Gatekeeping and the process of assessing student suitability for social work education is increasingly being impacted by the rapid growth of online programs. It remains unclear if suitability concerns within social work programs are operationalized differently between traditional and online/hybrid programs. This quantitative study used previously established student suitability constructs of social consciousness, ethical suitability, practice suitability, and personal suitability to examine attitudes of social work educators and administrators regarding gatekeeping in their respective online/hybrid and traditional social work programs. The study utilized a multivariate multilevel regression analysis to investigate the effect of participant background characteristics regarding perceived emphasis on gatekeeping within participant's own programs. Findings showed a large discrepancy between what was important to participants and what was perceived to be emphasized in their respective programs regarding suitability and gatekeeping. This study suggests that social work faculty and administrators need to pay particular attention to uneven gatekeeping practices related to technological and pedagogical shifts in the evolving social work education landscape.

Objective. Currently, the summaries of research on periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) are mainly reviews, and the systematic evaluation of all relevant studies is lacking. The aim of our study was to reveal the research status and developmental trends of PDLSCs using bibliometric analyses. Methods. Publications on PDLSC from 2004 to 2023 in the PubMed database were searched and then screened according to certain inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two researchers browsed the included papers and recorded information such as the research type and research model. The VOSviewer software was used to analyze the distribution of authors, journals, and institutions. The contents and directions of PDLSC research were summarized by analyzing high‐frequency keywords. The CiteSpace software was used to monitor burst words, determine hot factors, and indicate developmental trends. Results. During the past two decades, the number of studies on PDLSCs increased. China published the most related papers. The primary type of article was basic research. Among core journals, the Journal of Periodontal Research had the highest number of publications. The Fourth Military Medical University (China) was leading in the number of articles on PDLSCs. Research topics mainly included mechanism of periodontal diseases, tissue engineering and regeneration, biological characteristics of PDLSCs, and comparison with other stem cells. Infectious inflammation and mechanical stimulation were important pathological conditions and research topics. Conclusion. The research of PDLSCs is still in a rapid development stage. Our study provides new insights into the current research status and future trend in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: With the increasing need for well-­-prepared and leading practitioners in the field of education as well as the renewed efforts to further distinguish the EdD from the PhD in higher education in recent years, the curriculum of EdD programs nationwide has been questioned and criticized for its disconnection from the needs of leading practitioners and schools. The primary purpose of this study is to examine the practical relevance of the coursework of EdD programs in PK-­12 school leadership. Methods: Three hundred and forty-two principals from California public schools, and 43 EdD program graduates and 38 doctoral faculty members from the California State University system participated in this study. A survey instrument developed on the basis of ISLLC 1996 and ISLLC 2008 was used to measure respondents' perceived importance of the knowledge, skills, and values for effective school leadership and the extent to which they were included in the EdD coursework. MANOVA and discriminant analysis were conducted to answer the specific research questions. Findings: Results indicate that the curriculum of the EdD leadership programs lacks practical relevance. In practice the EdD has not been differentiated from the PhD with respect to the coursework. Implications: The practical relevance of the coursework should be considered in the assessment and evaluation of the quality or effectiveness of an EdD program, and used to distinguish the EdD from the PhD. The findings add empirical evidence to the renewed debate over the distinction between the EdD and the PhD, and spur revitalization of the EdD.