Search

Clearly determining the magnitude of fracture pressure is a crucial indicator for fracturing design. Traditional methods for predicting fracture pressure suffer from challenges such as difficulties in obtaining required data, low prediction accuracy, and local limitations in application. In light of these issues, the article proposes a fracture pressure prediction model based on reinforcement learning and XGBoost utilizing geophysical well logging data. Based on the relevance analysis, optimal input parameters, including DEPTH, DEN, AC, GR, CRL, and RT, are selected from geophysical well logging data. We have developed a framework for a fracture pressure prediction model based on XGBoost, wherein hyperparameters are fine-tuned using an improved Q-learning algorithm. The optimized XGBoost model for fracture pressure prediction attains outstanding performance metrics, including an R 2 value of 0.992, a root mean square error of 0.006%, and a mean absolute error of 0.539%. In direct comparison with grid search, Bayesian optimization, and ant colony optimization, the improved Q-learning algorithm emerges as the most effective optimization approach. The predictions generated by the proposed method exhibit remarkable consistency with fracture pressure data measured on-site. This approach successfully addresses the shortcomings encountered with traditional fracture pressure prediction methods, such as inadequate accuracy, demanding data prerequisites, and constrained applicability.

Background Recent studies have found that middle-aged individuals account for over 40% of patients with chronic disease comorbidities, and this percentage is still increasing. This comorbidity not only reduces the quality of life for these patients but can also lead to premature death. However, research on the distribution and influencing factors of chronic comorbidities in middle-aged adults is still limited. Objective To provide a scientific basis for managing such patients by retrospectively analyzing the disease distribution and influencing factors of chronic comorbidities among middle-aged inpatients. Methods From July 1, 2017 to February 28, 2023, a total of 5 931 inpatients were admitted to the Department of General Medicine, the Second Hospital of Lanzhou University. Among them, 1 650 middle-aged patients (aged 45 to 59 years) were included as subjects for this study. General information of the subjects was collected, and the comorbidity conditions of chronic diseases were statistically analyzed. Multifactorial Logistic regression analysis was employed to investigate the influencing factors associated with different chronic disease comorbidities. Results Among the 1 650 middle-aged patients attending the department of general practice, 79 (4.8%), 359 (21.8%), and 1 212 (73.4%) patients suffered from 0, 1, and ≥2 chronic diseases, respectively. Comparison of gender, age, ethnicity, occupation, and route of admission of patients with 0, 1, and ≥2 chronic diseases showed statistically significant differences (P

This study presents the validation process of a listening test based on a communicative language test proposed by Bachman (Fundamental considerations in language testing, 1990). It was administered to third-grade high school students by the sixteen Korean Provincial Offices of Education for Curriculum and Evaluation in September 2012 to assess their listening ability at the end of high school learning and compare it with the standard of the CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test). The research questions were the following. First, to what extent does the test measure the listening comprehension construct? Second, what sub-skills does the test measure? Third, to what extent does the test measure communicative ability? To answer these three questions, a study was designed to examine the test's construct validity using classical test theory (CTT). Then, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were applied to find a model that would fit the score of 400 examinees to explain the correlation between six divisible sub-skills of English listening comprehension and twenty listening items. R-program is used as a tool to analyze the above data. The results show that this test is not discriminatory, as the purpose of a summative assessment is not to level students into different groups. With an acceptable measurement of the construct, this research concludes that the test does not have a clear division of listening sub-skills but, on the other hand, sufficiently measures communicative ability.

C40H39SmN8O14, triclinic, P1̄ (no. 2), a = 8.2799(1) Å, b = 16.6666(5) Å, c = 17.1471(3) Å, α = 73.549(2)∘$73.549{(2)}^{\circ }$, β = 89.123(1)∘$89.123{(1)}^{\circ }$, γ = 83.045(2)°, V = 2252.2(1) Å3, Z = 2, Rgt${R}_{gt}$ (F) = 0.0592, wRref$w{R}_{ref}$ (F2) = 0.1438, T = 297.71(13) K.

INTRODUCTION:HIV epidemic is increasing among men who have sex with men (MSM) in China, yet HIV testing uptake remains low. As an emerging approach, HIV self-testing (HIVST) has the potential to promote HIV testing coverage and frequency in this population. However, evidence of the effectiveness on implementation of HIVST among Chinese MSM and their sexual partners is scarce. METHODS AND ANALYSIS:The randomised controlled trial will be performed in Changsha, Changde, Shaoyang and Yiyang, Hunan province, China, recruiting 184 recent testers (men who had at least one HIV test within the past 2 years) and 26 non-recent testers (men who did not have HIV tests within 2 years or never had an HIV test). Eligible men will be randomly divided 1:1 into two groups: intervention (with free HIVST kits plus site-based HIV testing services) and control (site-based HIV testing services only). Participants in the intervention group will be provided with two free finger-prick-based HIVST kits, and can apply for two to four kits every 3 months for 1 year.Participants in both groups will complete questionnaires via WeChat at five separate times: baseline, third, sixth, ninth and twelfth month. The primary outcome is the mean number of HIV tests for MSM over the 12-month study period. The secondary outcome is the mean number of HIV tests for sexual partners of MSM over the 12-month study period. The tertiary outcomes are the self-reported proportion of consistent condom usage for anal sex, and the numbers of sexual partners during the 12-month study period. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION:The study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of Behavioural and Nursing Research in Xiangya School of Nursing of Central South University, China (2018002). Study results will be disseminated through conferences and academic journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:ChiCTR1800015584; Pre-results.

BACKGROUND:Globally, four out of ten individuals living with HIV have not been tested for HIV. Testing is especially important for men who have sex with men (MSM), among whom an increasing HIV epidemic has been identified in many regions of the world. As a supplement to site-based HIV testing services, HIV self-testing (HIVST) provides a promising approach to promote HIV testing. However, evidence is scattered and not well-summarized on the effect of HIVST to improve HIV testing behaviors, especially for MSM. METHODS:Seven databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, CINAHL Plus, WanFang, and China National Knowledge Internet) and conference abstracts from six HIV/sexually transmitted infections conferences were searched from January 2000-April 2017. RESULTS:Of 1,694 records retrieved, 23 studies were identified, 9 conducted in resource-limited countries and 14 in high-income countries. The pooled results showed that HIVST increased HIV test frequency for MSM by one additional test in a 6-month period (mean difference = 0.88 [95% CI 0.52-1.24]). The pooled proportion of first-time testers among those who took HIVST was 18.7% (95% CI: 9.9-32.4) globally, with a rate 3.32 times higher in resource-limited country settings (32.9% [95% CI: 21.3-47.6]) than in high-income countries (9.9% [95% CI: 7.4-13.8]). The pooled proportions included non-recent testers, 32.9% (95% CI: 28.1-38.3); ever or currently married MSM, 16.7% (95% CI: 14.5-19.4); and HIV positive men, 3.8% (95% CI: 2.0-5.7) globally; 6.5% [95% CI: 0.38-12.3] in resource-limited country settings; and 2.9% [95% CI: 2.0-5.0] in high-income countries). The rates reported for linkage to care ranged from 31.3% to 100%. CONCLUSIONS:HIVST could increase HIV testing frequency and potentially have capacity equivalent to that of site-based HIV testing services to reach first-time, delayed, married, and HIV-infected testers among MSM and link them to medical care. However, more rigorous study designs are needed to explore the specific self-testing approach (oral-fluid based or finger-prick based) on improving HIV testing for MSM in different social and economic settings.

X80 steel plays a pivotal role in the development of oil and gas pipelines; however, its welded joints, particularly the heat-affected zone (HAZ), are susceptible to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) due to their complex microstructures. This study investigates the SCC initiation mechanisms of X80 steel welded joints under practical pipeline conditions with varying levels of cathodic protection. The SCC behaviors were analyzed through electrochemical measurements, hydrogen permeation tests, and interrupted slow strain rate tensile tests (SSRTs) conducted in a near-neutral pH environment under different potential conditions (OCP, −1.1 VSCE, −1.2 VSCE). These behaviors were influenced by microstructure type, grain size, martensite/austenite (M/A) constituents, and dislocation density. The sub-zones of the weld exhibited differing SCC resistance, with the fine-grain (FG) HAZ, base metal (zone), welded metal (WM) zone, and coarse-grain (CG) HAZ in descending order. In particular, the presence of coarse grains, low dislocation density, and extensive M/A islands collectively increased corrosion susceptibility and SCC sensitivity in the CGHAZ compared to other sub-zones. The SCC initiation mechanisms of the sub-zones within the X80-steel welded joint were primarily anodic dissolution (AD) under open-circuit potential (OCP) condition, shifting to either hydrogen-enhanced local plasticity (HELP) or hydrogen embrittlement (HE) mechanisms at −1.1 VSCE or −1.2 VSCE, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stout beer was selected as the research object to screen angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptides. The peptide sequences of stout beer were identified using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry with de novo, and 41 peptides were identified with high confidence. Peptide Ranker was used to score the biological activity and six peptides with a score ≥ 0.5 were screened to predict their potential ACE inhibitory (ACEI) activity. The toxicity, hydrophilicity, absorption, and excretion of these peptides were predicted. In addition, molecular docking between the peptides and ACE revealed a significant property of the peptide DLGGFFGFQR. Furthermore, molecular docking conformation and molecular dynamics simulation revealed that DLGGFFGFQR could be tightly bound to ACE through hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction. Lastly, the ACEI activity of DLGGFFGFQR was confirmed using in vitro evaluation and the IC50 value was determined to be 24.45 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in men. With the rapidly increasing surgical rate of minimally invasive radical prostatectomy, there is still controversy about how to use a urinary catheter post‐operatively. Thus, we attempted to compare the post‐operative wound‐related outcomes through a meta‐analysis of urethral catheterisation (UC) versus suprapubic catheterisation (SPC) after minimally invasive radical prostatectomy. As of August 2023, the authors conducted systematic searches in databases such as PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library. The authors reviewed the relevant literature separately to determine comparisons between SPC and UC treatment after radical prostatectomy. A total of 395 subjects were enrolled in the five trials, met the eligibility criteria and were included in the meta‐analysis. Data collection and analysis revealed significant differences in catheter bother to patients for surgical trauma (MD, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.48, 1.48 p = 0.0001), with SPC causing less catheter bother to patients post‐operatively; post‐operative catheter‐related problems (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 0.03, 326.1 p = 0.61), the POD1 of the post‐operative period (MD, − 0.09; 95% CI, −0.75, 0.94 p = 0.83) and the POD3 of the post‐operative period (MD, −0.49; 95% CI, −0.99, 0.01 p = 0.06); there was no statistically significant difference in wound pain. Compared with UC, SPC patients had less post‐operative catheter distress. Thus, SPC is more beneficial in reducing post‐operative wound discomfort in patients. The validity of the results remains to be tested in more and better studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]