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Computational thinking (CT) is an imperative competency in the 21st century. Mindtools can assist students in understanding concepts and decomposing tasks during CT development through programming. However, students may encounter challenges in complex CT problem-solving tasks due to being confused when using mindtools without proper guidance. Research evidence shows the potential of reflection in complex CT problem-solving by regulating cognitive activities. Accordingly, this study designed a reflection-guided visualized mindtool strategy to address CT development challenges. A quasi-experiment and lag sequential analysis were conducted by recruiting 97 junior high school students to examine the effects of the proposed strategy on CT development and to explore students' behavior patterns. Results revealed that the proposed approach improved students' CT performance, CT disposition, meta-cognitive awareness, and learning motivation. Students learning with the proposed strategy exhibited more key behaviors of facilitating CT problem-solving (e.g., generalizing the knowledge, re-designing the algorithm scheme, and evaluating the feasibility of their proposed schemes) than students in the control group, revealing the essential process of CT development and enlightening teachers on guiding students to produce such learning processes when cultivating CT.

Despite the extensive use of effective vaccines and antiviral drugs, chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection continues to pose a serious threat to global public health. Therapies with novel mechanisms of action against HBV are being explored for achieving a functional cure. In this study, five murine models of HBV replication were used to investigate the inhibitory effect of RNA binding motif protein 24 (RBM24) on HBV replication. The findings revealed that RBM24 serves as a host restriction factor and suppresses HBV replication in vivo. The transient overexpression of RBM24 in hydrodynamics‐based mouse models of HBV replication driven by the CMV or HBV promoters suppressed HBV replication. Additionally, the ectopic expression of RBM24 decreased viral accumulation and the levels of HBV covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) in an rcccDNA mouse model. The liver‐directed transduction of adeno‐associated viruses (AAV)‐RBM24 mediated the stable hepatic expression of RBM24 in pAAV‐HBV1.2 and HBV/tg mouse models, and markedly reduced the levels of HBV cccDNA and other viral indicators. Altogether, these findings revealed that RBM24 inhibits the replication of HBV in vivo, and RBM24 may be a potential therapeutic target for combating HBV infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synergistic regulation of the water–energy–food nexus in irrigation districts is important for promoting the sustainable management of agricultural resources in irrigation districts. In this paper, a new integrated optimization–evaluation modelling framework for the water–energy–food nexus in agricultural irrigation areas is developed. It can measure the synergistic effects of economic, social and environmental multidimensional objectives on the sustainable management of agricultural resources in irrigation areas. The model couples an optimisation module and an evaluation module, combines a multiobjective nonlinear planning model with an opportunity-constrained planning model and uses an entropy-weighted TOPSIS assessment approach to sustainably assess the multidimensional indicators of the water–energy–food nexus in irrigation districts, with full consideration given to the effects of uncertainty in agricultural water and soil resources and social systems. The feasibility of the constructed model is verified through a study of the Jinxi irrigation district. The results show that compared to the actual area, the optimised surface water and groundwater availability increased by 23.5% and 22.7%; the optimised total area increased by 4%, whereas corn decreased by 40%, rice increased by 34.6% and soybean decreased by 33.8%; the energy consumption decreased by 17.6% and the total recycled resources amounted to 8.97 × 109 kg, with a combined net economic benefit of CNY 1.25 × 109 more than the actual current amount. The synergistic development of the water–energy–food nexus (WEFN) in the district is relatively harmonious, suggesting that the district should focus on developing agricultural mechanisation and balancing economic benefits with environmental and ecological protection; furthermore, the model constructed should provide decision-making support for the efficient use of agricultural resources in the irrigation district. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]