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Abstract Background Asthma, a prevalent chronic inflammatory disorder, is shaped by a multifaceted interplay between genetic susceptibilities and environmental exposures. Despite strides in deciphering its pathophysiological landscape, the intricate molecular underpinnings of asthma remain elusive. The focus has increasingly shifted toward the metabolic aberrations accompanying asthma, particularly within the domain of pyrimidine metabolism (PyM)—a critical pathway in nucleotide synthesis and degradation. While the therapeutic relevance of PyM has been recognized across various diseases, its specific contributions to asthma pathology are yet underexplored. This study employs sophisticated bioinformatics approaches to delineate and confirm the involvement of PyM genes (PyMGs) in asthma, aiming to bridge this significant gap in knowledge. Methods Employing cutting-edge bioinformatics techniques, this research aimed to elucidate the role of PyMGs in asthma. We conducted a detailed examination of 31 PyMGs to assess their differential expression. Through Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and Gene Set Variation Analysis (GSVA), we explored the biological functions and pathways linked to these genes. We utilized Lasso regression and Support Vector Machine-Recursive Feature Elimination (SVM-RFE) to pinpoint critical hub genes and to ascertain the diagnostic accuracy of eight PyMGs in distinguishing asthma, complemented by an extensive correlation study with the clinical features of the disease. Validation of the gene expressions was performed using datasets GSE76262 and GSE147878. Results Our analyses revealed that eleven PyMGs—DHODH, UMPS, NME7, NME1, POLR2B, POLR3B, POLR1C, POLE, ENPP3, RRM2B, TK2—are significantly associated with asthma. These genes play crucial roles in essential biological processes such as RNA splicing, anatomical structure maintenance, and metabolic processes involving purine compounds. Conclusions This investigation identifies eleven PyMGs at the core of asthma's pathogenesis, establishing them as potential biomarkers for this disease. Our findings enhance the understanding of asthma’s molecular mechanisms and open new avenues for improving diagnostics, monitoring, and progression evaluation. By providing new insights into non-cancerous pathologies, our work introduces a novel perspective and sets the stage for further studies in this field.

Abstract Background Effective interprofessional teamwork is essential for the efficiency, safety and quality of healthcare system services and requires interprofessional education for medical students. Physical education is a simple and easy way to teach teamwork, which translates into team performance in the work environment. This study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of the physical education competition model, instead of the exams model, for improving teamwork skills among medical students. Methods A quasiexperimental intervention design was used to measure the effect of a 16-week cheerleading programme on subjects' teamwork skills by completing a teamwork scale comprising four subdimensions, namely, personal characteristics, teamwork, leadership, and conflict management, before the start and at the end of the programme, and by comparing nonwinning to winning students to measure the effect of teamwork skills on team performance. Results A total of 179 students completed the valid baseline and posttest (effective rate = 95.21%). The teamwork scale scores (B M = 4.81, R M = 5.05, p < 0.001) and 4 subdimension scores (personal characteristics p = 0.002, teamwork p = 0.028, leadership p < 0.001, conflict management p < 0.001) were statistically significant. Twenty-two of the 44 items in the scale improved significantly. The differences between students who won the competition and those who did not (N M=4.86, W M=5.14, p

Abstract Aims Additional evidence has indicated a correlation between N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation and cardiovascular disease. Nevertheless, the alterations in RNA methylation modification and the expression of numerous genes remains unclear. This study aimed to identify the role of m6A in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods Two microarray datasets (GSE123342 and GSE59867) were downloaded from the GEO database. After merging the data and batch normalization, differentially expressed regulators were identified using the limma package. Subtyping consistency analysis was performed to group samples. The random forest algorithm and support vector machine were used to identify diagnostic biomarkers. Immune infiltration and inflammation levels among the subtypes were assessed using a single-sample gene set enrichment analysis. Results A total of 15 key differential m6A regulators (RBM15B, ELAVL1, ALKBH5, METTL16, ZC3H13, RBM15, YTHDC1, YTHDC2, YTHDF3, HNRNPC, FMR1, LRPPRC, HNRNPA2B1, RBMX, FTO) were identified using the random forest classifier and were found to be highly correlated by PPI analysis. Two distinct RNA modification patterns (cluster A and B) were validated based on the expression levels of the 15 key m6A regulators. GO and KEGG annotations showed that immunity and inflammation pathways were enriched. Immune infiltration analysis revealed that cluster 2 had higher immune activation than cluster 1. Further analysis showed that cluster 2 had a higher inflammation level, with IL-4 and IL-33 showing differential expression (p

Abstract Background This study delves into the intricate landscape of atherosclerosis (AS), a chronic inflammatory disorder with significant implications for cardiovascular health. AS poses a considerable burden on global healthcare systems, elevating both mortality and morbidity rates. The pathological underpinnings of AS involve a marked metabolic disequilibrium, particularly within pyrimidine metabolism (PyM), a crucial enzymatic network central to nucleotide synthesis and degradation. While the therapeutic relevance of pyrimidine metabolism in diverse diseases is acknowledged, the explicit role of pyrimidine metabolism genes (PyMGs) in the context of AS remains elusive. Utilizing bioinformatics methodologies, this investigation aims to reveal and substantiate PyMGs intricately linked with AS. Methods A set of 41 candidate PyMGs was scrutinized through differential expression analysis. GSEA and GSVA were employed to illuminate potential biological pathways and functions associated with the identified PyMGs. Simultaneously, Lasso regression and SVM-RFE were utilized to distill core genes and assess the diagnostic potential of four quintessential PyMGs (CMPK1, CMPK2, NT5C2, RRM1) in discriminating AS. The relationship between key PyMGs and clinical presentations was also explored. Validation of the expression levels of the four PyMGs was performed using the GSE43292 and GSE9820 datasets. Results This investigation identified four PyMGs, with NT5C2 and RRM1 emerging as key players, intricately linked to AS pathogenesis. Functional analysis underscored their critical involvement in metabolic processes, including pyrimidine-containing compound metabolism and nucleotide biosynthesis. Diagnostic evaluation of these PyMGs in distinguishing AS showcased promising results. Conclusion In conclusion, this exploration has illuminated a constellation of four PyMGs with a potential nexus to AS pathogenesis. These findings unveil emerging biomarkers, paving the way for novel approaches to disease monitoring and progression, and providing new avenues for therapeutic intervention in the realm of atherosclerosis.

Team sports require athletes’ exceptional perceptual-cognitive skills, such as anticipation and decision-making. Perceptual-cognitive training in laboratories aims to enhance these abilities. However, its effectiveness in real-game performance remains controversial, necessitating a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine optimal training methods. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we searched databases (e.g., PubMed, WOS, Scopus, and EBSCO) for relevant studies published before November 2023, assessed study quality, extracted important characteristics, and conducted a meta-analysis using Stata 15.1. This study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023494324). A total of 22 quantitative studies involving 45 effect sizes were included. Perceptual-cognitive training positively influenced elite athletes’ anticipation and decision-making. However, its transfer effect on real-game performance improvement (ES = 0.65) was inferior to laboratory performance improvement (ES = 1.51). Sub-group analyses indicated that the effects of training interventions varied based on stimulus presentation and intervention duration. Based on our findings, we concluded that while perceptual-cognitive training improved on-court performance, its transfer effects were limited. To maximize effectiveness, future interventions should use virtual reality to present training stimuli and incorporate participants’ sport-specific responses to reflect real-game scenarios.

Abstract Background Acute postoperative pain remains a major clinical problem that affects patient recovery. Distal acupoint and peri-incisional stimulation are both used for relieving acute postoperative pain in hospital. Our objective was to assess and compare the effects of distal and peri-incisional stimulation on postoperative pain in open abdominal surgery. Methods MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Chinese databases CNKI and Wanfangdata were searched to identify eligible randomized controlled trials. Intensity of postoperative pain, opioid consumption and related data were extracted and analyzed using a random effects model. Risk of bias was assessed. Subgroup analyses were conducted when data were enough. Results Thirty-five trials were included, in which 17 trials studied distal stimulation, another 17 trials studied peri-incisional stimulation and one studied the combination of the two approaches. No studies that directly compared the two approaches were identified. Subgroup analysis showed that both distal and peri-incisional stimulation significantly alleviated postoperative resting and movement pain from 4 h to 48 h after surgery by 6 to 25 mm on a 100 mm visual analogue scale. Peri-incisional stimulation showed a better reduction in postoperative opioid consumption. No studies compared the effects of the combined peri-incisional and distal stimulation with either mode alone. Overall the quality of evidence was moderate due to a lack of blinding in some studies, and unclear risk of allocation concealment. Conclusion Both distal and peri-incisional modes of stimulation were effective in reducing postoperative pain. Whether a combined peri-incisional stimulation and distal acupuncture has superior results requires further studies.

The widely distributed, thick Chang 7 Shale is the richest shale oil formation in China. A calculation method for the evaporative hydrocarbon recovery coefficient based on formation volume factor is proposed considering the correction of heterogeneity-based total organic carbon differences to improve the adsorbed oil calculation method, and light hydrocarbon evaporative sampling losses, which can make mobile and total oil calculations more accurate. The adsorbed oil, S1 evaporative loss, total oil yield, and movable oil yield of 200 shale samples from the Chang 7 Member were calculated using the new methods. Results show that S1 evaporative loss accounts for 29% of S1, total oil yield is 3.5 times S1, and movable oil yield accounts for 37% of total oil yield. Based on the calculated total oil yield and movable oil yield results, the relationships among total oil yield, movable oil yield, and total organic carbon of the Chang 7 were established yielding total oil yield and movable oil yield estimates of 11.12 × 10 9 t and 4.01 × 10 9 t, respectively, revealing its tremendous shale exploration potential.

A series of significant breakthroughs in exploring conventional and unconventional natural gas resources have been achieved in new strata and new domains. However, the quality of the increased reserves has declined with the entry of unconventional resources into the reserves sequence. Therefore, the potential of conventional and unconventional natural gas resources as well as important exploration regions of the remaining natural gas resources need to be clarified, and favorable directions need to be established. On the basis of oil and gas exploration results, discoveries in petroleum geology, and exploration data of the past 10 years acquired by PetroChina, an entire system of resource assessment for conventional and unconventional oil and gas resources has been established. The fourth round of resource assessment has been systematically executed. The results indicate that the total conventional natural gas resources of China are 78 × 1012 m3, which shows an increase of 8 × 1012 m3 over the results of the third round of resource assessment. Unconventional resources include four types of resources: tight gas, shale gas, coalbed methane, and natural gas hydrates. Among them, tight gas reservoirs make up 21.86 × 1012 m3 (Jiyang, Dongpu, Nanxiang, Subei, and others were excluded from the assessed regions). In addition, shale gas, coalbed methane, and natural gas hydrate reservoirs make up 80.21 × 1012 m3, 29.82 × 1012 m3, and 153.06 × 1012 m3, respectively. The remaining resources for onshore conventional natural gas are distributed mainly in four significant domains, which are lithology–strata (clastic rock), marine carbonatites, foreland thrust belts, and complex tectonic belts. Of these, marine carbonatites and foreland thrust belts are the dominant domains. The resources for offshore natural gas are concentrated mainly in three domains, which are offshore structures, organic reefs, and lithology in deep water. The total remaining natural gas resources in marine carbonatites, foreland, lithology–strata, complex tectonic belts, and the South China Sea amount to 59.83 × 1012 m3, which is 94% of the remaining natural gas resources in China. Based on this assessment, favorable targets are selected including 10 targets for conventional resources, 4 for tight gas, 4 for coalbed methane, and 6 for shale gas. Keywords: Resources assessment, Resources potential of natural gas, Remaining resources potential of natural gas, Resources distribution, Major exploration region, Favorable target zone

Abstract: It is difficult for conventional temporary bridging methods to seal large pore throats, which usually make the dominant contribution to permeability. The reason is that the particle size of conventional bridging agents is optimized depending on the median pore size of target formation. High-permeability sandstone reservoirs have such features as wide permeability distribution range, high porosity, argillaceous cement, and wide distribution range of pore throat sizes. The key factors of reservoir damage are invaded particles and filtrate of drilling fluids, as well as the hydrate expansion and dispersion of clay. The KPAM polymer drilling fluids are optimized, and ideal packing approach is applied to the drilling fluids, and the instrument of dynamic fluid loss test is used to evaluate return permeability. The test results indicate that the ideal packing approach can reduce the dynamic fluid loss, improve the return permeability, and reduce breakthrough pressure. Key words: high-permeability reservoirs, formation damage, ideal packing, return permeability, formation damage control

The additional local stress concentration caused by undercut and misaligned defects could lead to lower fatigue strength of welded joints. The paper aims to investigate the effects of undercuts and misalignments on fatigue performance and reliability of Load‐carrying Cruciform Welded Joint (LCWJ) quantitatively by probabilistic statistics theory and fracture mechanics theory. Firstly, the geometrical characteristics of undercut and misalignment are summarized from the literature and our experiments. Subsequently, the probabilistic distributions of material fracture properties, the configurations of geometries, and flaws were evaluated under specific loading conditions. The fatigue strengths are further estimated by the probabilistic reliability theory by combining the actual fatigue data. The results demonstrate a clear disparity of fatigue crack growth threshold and resistances for the tested data of base metal and weldment. The level of defects determines the interval of fatigue life, and the larger the dispersion accompanying earlier fatigue failure occurs. Highlights: The effects of weld defects on fatigue strength and reliability were assessed quantitatively by the probabilistic method.FCGRs of HAZ and U‐WM are more conservative than the base metal.The SIFs in mismatched LCWJs were evaluated by the weight function theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robotic arms are frequently utilized in contemporary industrial production since they offer great qualities like high precision and low mass. How to minimize robotic arm tremors in order to maximize their control effect has emerged as one of the most critical issues to be resolved with the continued development of industrial intelligence. The study uses a combination of PID control and an artificial fish swarm technique to optimize the parameters and confirm the simulation control effect based on the kinematic analysis of a six-degree-of-freedom (Six-DOF) modular robotic arm. The findings demonstrated that the suggested fusion approach converges to zero in 80 iterations and has a recall of 0.893 and 0.785 at an accuracy of 0.8 and 0.9, respectively. The robotic arm control system's average control effect is 42.96 %, which is a respectable control performance. In the second and third studies, the fusion approach stabilized actuator end tremor suppression after 0.01 s and 0.0001 s, respectively. It shows that the technique can effectively suppress robotic arm bearing tremor and has high flexibility for robotic arm tremor suppression, which offers trustworthy technological support for improving the motion control system of industrial robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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