A Finite Element Model for Simulating Stress Responses of Permeable Road Pavement.

Permeable road pavements, due to their open-graded design, suffer from low structural strength, restricting their use in areas with light traffic volume and low bearing capacity. To expand application of permeable road pavements, accurate simulation of stress parameters used in pavement design is essential. A 3D finite element (3D FE) model was developed using ABAQUS/CAE 2021 to simulate pavement stress responses. Utilizing a 53 cm thick permeable road pavement and a 315/80 R22.5 wheel as prototypes, the model was calibrated and validated, with its accuracy confirmed through t-test statistical analysis. Simulations of wheel speeds at 11, 15, and 22 m/s revealed significant impact on pavement depths of 3 cm and 8 cm, while minimal effects were observed at depths of 13 cm and 33 cm. Notably, stress values at a depth of 3 cm with 15 m/s speed in the open-graded asphalt concrete (OGFC) surface layer exceeded those at the speed of 11 m/s, while at a depth of 8 cm in the porous asphalt concrete (PAC) base layer, an opposite performance was observed. This may be attributed to the higher elastic modulus of the OGFC surface layer, which results in different response trends to velocity changes. Overall, lower speeds increase stress responses and prolong action times for both layers, negatively affecting pavement performance. Increasing the moduli of layers is recommended for new permeable road pavements for low-speed traffic. Furthermore, considering the effects of heavy loads and changes in wheel speed, the recommended design depth for permeable road pavement is 30 cm. These conclusions provide a reference for the design of permeable road pavements to address climate change and improve performance.

Recent Advances in Engineering Carriers for siRNA Delivery.

RNA interference (RNAi) technology has been a promising treatment strategy for combating intractable diseases. However, the applications of RNAi in clinical are hampered by extracellular and intracellular barriers. To overcome these barriers, various siRNA delivery systems have been developed in the past two decades. The first approved RNAi therapeutic, Patisiran (ONPATTRO) using lipids as the carrier, for the treatment of amyloidosis is one of the most important milestones. This has greatly encouraged researchers to work on creating new functional siRNA carriers. In this review, the recent advances in siRNA carriers consisting of lipids, polymers, and polymer-modified inorganic particles for cancer therapy are summarized. Representative examples are presented to show the structural design of the carriers in order to overcome the delivery hurdles associated with RNAi therapies. Finally, the existing challenges and future perspective for developing RNAi as a clinical modality will be discussed and proposed. It is believed that the addressed contributions in this review will promote the development of siRNA delivery systems for future clinical applications.

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OBJECTIVES: To investigate the clinical application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in the etiological diagnosis and treatment of refractory pneumonia (RTP) in children. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 160 children with RTP who were admitted to the Department of Pediatric Internal Medicine, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, from January 2020 to March 2023. According to whether mNGS was performed, they were divided into two groups: mNGS (n=80) and traditional testing (n=80). All children received the tests of inflammatory markers and pathogen tests after admission. Traditional pathogenicity tests included microbial culture (sputum specimen collected by suction tube), nucleic acid detection of respiratory pathogens, and serological test (mycoplasma, tuberculosis, and fungi). For the mNGS group, BALF specimens were collected after bronchoscopy and were sent to the laboratory for mNGS and microbial culture. The two groups were analyzed and compared in terms of the detection of pathogens and treatment. RESULTS: Compared with the traditional testing group, the mNGS group had a significantly higher detection rate of pathogens (92% vs 58%, P<0.05), with more types of pathogens and a higher diagnostic rate of mixed infections. Compared with the traditional testing group, the mNGS group had a significantly higher treatment response rate and a significantly lower incidence rate of complications during hospitalization (P<0.05). Treatment was adjusted for 68 children in the mNGS group according to the results of mNGS, with a treatment response rate of 96% (65/68) after adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with traditional pathogen tests, BALF mNGS can significantly improve the detection rate of pathogens and find some rare pathogens. In clinical practice, when encountering bottlenecks during the diagnosis and treatment of children with RTP, it is advisable to promptly perform the mNGS to identify the pathogens.

A case report of Williams syndrome with main clinical manifestation of hypercalcemia and gastrointestinal bleeding as the main clinical manifestations, and with an accompanying literature review.

BACKGROUND: Williams syndrome is an autosomal dominant multisystem disorder caused by a 1.5-1.8 Mb deletion on chromosome 7q11.23. It is characterized by facial deformations, cardiovascular abnormalities, developmental delays, gastrointestinal manifestations, and endocrine disorders. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 1-year-old child presenting with developmental delays, special facial features, gastrointestinal bleeding, renal calcium deposition, and hypotonia was admitted to the hospital for "hypercalcemia and gastrointestinal bleeding." Genetic testing showed a deletion mutation in the 7q11.23 region. Currently, the child receiving treatment to promote calcium excretion and rehabilitation training, but hypercalcemia has recurred. CONCLUSION: The clinical phenotype of Williams syndrome is complex, and different severities, characterized by developmental delays, facial deformities, cardiovascular abnormalities, gastrointestinal symptoms and endocrine disorders, should be considered in children. The syndrome may require thorough genetic testing for diagnosis and early intervention treatment to improve patient quality of life.

Changes to Material Phase and Morphology Due to High-Level Molybdenum Doping of ZnO Nanorods: Influence on Luminescence and Defects.

The influence of Mo on the electronic states and crystalline structure, as well as morphology, phase composition, luminescence, and defects in ZnO rods grown as free-standing nanoparticles, was studied using a variety of experimental techniques. Mo has almost no influence on the luminescence of the grown ZnO particles, whereas shallow donors are strongly affected in ZnO rods. Annealing in air causes exciton and defect-related bands to drop upon Mo doping level. The increase of the Mo doping level from 20 to 30% leads to the creation of dominating molybdates. This leads to a concomitant drop in the number of formed ZnO nanorods.

N6-Methyladenosine RNA Modification Landscape in the Occurrence and Recurrence of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

Background: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a type of squamous head and neck cancer with variable geographic distributions, with the highest incidence in Southeast Asia. Its primary treatment is radiotherapy due to its high radio sensitivity. However, the N6-methyladenosine (m6A) landscape in NPC, including recurrent NPC, has not been reported. Methods: In this study, m6A RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) sequencing and microarray sequencing were performed on 12 tissue samples tissues of patients with primary and recurrent NPC. The expression profiles of m6A-related and non-coding RNAs were constructed and explored. Then, function experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of methyltransferase (METTL)3, METTL14 and WT1 associated protein (WTAP) on progressions of NPC. Finally, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and survival analysis were performed to confirm the correlation between METTL3, METTL14 and WTAP and NPC patients' clinical outcomes. Results: This study mapped m6A RNA modification and RNA expression profiles in normal nasopharynx, primary NPC, and recurrent NPC tissues. This study also explored the role of m6A modificators in NPC development and recurrence. METTL3, METTL14, and WTAP could promote invasion and metastasis of NPC, and that these three proteins could induce radiotherapy resistance in NPC cells through DNA repair. Moreover, we found that METTL3, METTL14, and WTAP promoted an increase in exosomes within NPC microenvironment. Conclusions: This study suggests that the alteration of m6A modification in primary and recurrent NPCs may play an important role in the development and progression of NPC.

PBDB-T-Based Binary-OSCs Achieving over 15.83% Efficiency via End-Group Functionalization and Alkyl-Chain Engineering of Quinoxaline-Containing Non-Fullerene Acceptors.

Molecular backbone modification, alkyl-chain engineering, and end-group functionalization are promising strategies for developing efficient high-performance non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs). Herein, two new NFAs, named TPQ-eC7-4F and TPQ-eC7-4Cl, are designed and synthesized. Both molecules have linear octyl chains on fused quinoxaline-containing heterocyclics as the central backbone and difluorinated (2F)/dichlorinated (2Cl) 1,1-dicyanomethylene-3-indanone (IC) as the end-group units. The influences of alkyl-chains on fused quinoxaline backbone and different halogenated end-groups on optical, electrochemical, and photovoltaic performances of organic solar cells (OSCs) are studied. In comparison with TPQ-eC7-4Cl, TPQ-eC7-4F exhibits blue-shifted absorptions with higher molar extinction coefficients in the film state as well as in the donor/acceptor (D/A) blend film state and up-shifting lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level. As a result, the OSC devices based on the PBDB-T:TPQ-eC7-4F display an outstanding power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.83% with a simultaneously increased open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.85 V, a short-circuit current-density (Jsc) of 25.89 mA cm-2, and a fill factor (FF) of 72.20%, whereas the PBDB-T:TPQ-eC7-4Cl-based OSC device shows a decent PCE of 14.48% with a Voc of 0.84 V, a Jsc of 24.56 mA/cm2, and an FF of 69.77%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest photovoltaic performance of PBDB-T-based single-junction binary-OSCs. In comparison, ascribed to the high crystallinity and low solubility of BTP-eC7-4Cl, the corresponding PBDB-T:BTP-eC7-4Cl-based OSC device shows poor photovoltaic performance (PCE of 11.87%). The experimental results demonstrate that fine-tuning the fused quinoxaline backbone with alkyl-chain and end-group functionalization are promising strategies to construct high-performance NFAs for PBDB-T-based single-junction binary-OSCs.

A Study on the Design Depth of Permeable Road Pavement through Dynamic Load Experiment.

This study investigated vertical strain and stress through a dynamic load experiment at the testing area of Ke-Da Road, Pingtung, Taiwan. A thirty-five-ton truck was moved at constant speeds of 40, 60, and 80 km/h to simulate heavy load conditions to study the mechanical variations. From the results, it was found that the strain and stress curves of the permeable road pavement showed asymmetry due to the viscoelastic property of the open-grade friction course. The results showed that vertical strains and vertical stresses of permeable road pavement were greatly affected by the axle configuration and the change in traffic speed. Furthermore, to propose the design thickness of a permeable road pavement, the pavement strain and stress were modelled with respect to depth using regression based on these collected data. According to the stress regression models and considering the construction uncertainty, the recommend design depth of a permeable pavement is 30 cm. The findings of this study would be helpful in determining the permeable road pavement depth when subjected to heavy traffic load, and the material combination of open-graded friction concrete, porous asphalt concrete, and permeable cement concrete was proposed in this study during the design period.

How Does Entrepreneurial Team Relational Governance Promote Social Start-Ups' Organizational Resilience?

Why are some social entrepreneurial teams able to adapt to challenges and leverage the opportunities that are generated from a crisis, and why can some start-ups achieve sustained growth yet others do not? From the perspective of relational governance, this study unpacked the mechanism of how entrepreneurial teams promote social start-ups' abilities to deal with crises and the mediating role of team learning through a survey of 396 social entrepreneurial team members. The results showed four key findings. (1) Trust among entrepreneurial team members has a positive effect on organizational resilience, whereas shared vision and communication-cooperation do not. (2) All the dimensions of relational governance positively promote team learning, and team learning is positively associated with organizational resilience. (3) Team learning mediates the effect of entrepreneurial team relational governance on organizational resilience; specifically, team learning plays a complete intermediary effect on shared vision and communication-cooperation to organizational resilience, whereas it plays a partial intermediary effect on trust in organizational resilience. (4) Team learning is the key factor to organizational resilience, whereas communication-cooperation promotes team learning the most. Practically, to strengthen social start-ups' organizational resilience, entrepreneurial team members must first improve their understanding of environmental adaptability and then engage in productive and creative dialogues to manage issues, improve team members' capability in information integration, as well as agree upon the action and activities that should be performed.

Antibiotics prescription for targeted therapy of pediatric invasive pneumococcal diseases in China: a multicenter retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) is a major cause of bacterial meningitis, septicemia and pneumonia in children. Inappropriate choice of antibiotic can have important adverse consequences for both the individual and the community. Here, we focused on penicillin/cefotaxime non-susceptibility of S. pneumoniae and evaluated appropriateness of targeted antibiotic therapy for children with IPD (invasive pneumococcal diseases) in China. METHODS: A multicenter retrospective study was conducted in 14 hospitals from 13 provinces in China. Antibiotics prescription, clinical features and resistance patterns of IPD cases from January 2012 to December 2017 were collected. Appropriateness of targeted antibiotics therapy was assessed. RESULTS: 806 IPD cases were collected. The non-susceptibility rates of S. pneumoniae to penicillin and cefotaxime were 40.9% and 20.7% respectively in 492 non-meningitis cases, whereas those were 73.2% and 43.0% respectively in 314 meningitis cases. Carbapenems were used in 21.3% of non-meningitis cases and 42.0% of meningitis cases for targeted therapy. For 390 non-meningitis cases with isolates susceptible to cefotaxime, vancomycin and linezolid were used in 17.9% and 8.7% of cases respectively for targeted therapy. For 179 meningitis cases with isolates susceptible to cefotaxime, vancomycin and linezolid were prescribed in 55.3% and 15.6% of cases respectively. Overall, inappropriate targeted therapies were identified in 361 (44.8%) of 806 IPD cases, including 232 (28.8%) cases with inappropriate use of carbapenems, 169 (21.0%) cases with inappropriate use of vancomycin and 62 (7.7%) cases with inappropriate use of linezolid. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic regimens for IPD definite therapy were often excessive with extensive prescription of carbapenems, vancomycin or linezolid in China. Antimicrobial stewardship programs should be implemented to improve antimicrobial use.

A Study on Heat Storage and Dissipation Efficiency at Permeable Road Pavements.

The main contributing factor of the urban heat island (UHI) effect is caused by daytime heating. Traditional pavements in cities aggravate the UHI effect due to their heat storage and volumetric heat capacity. In order to alleviate UHI, this study aims to understand the heating and dissipating process of different types of permeable road pavements. The Ke Da Road in Pingtung County of Taiwan has a permeable pavement materials experiment zone with two different section configurations which were named as section I and section II for semi-permeable pavement and fully permeable pavement, respectively. The temperature sensors were installed during construction at the depths of the surface course (0 cm and 5 cm), base course (30 cm and 55 cm) and subgrade (70 cm) to monitor the temperature variations in the permeable road pavements. Hourly temperature and weather station data in January and June 2017 were collected for analysis. Based on these collected data, heat storage and dissipation efficiencies with respect to depth have been modelled by using multi regression for the two studied pavement types. It is found that the fully permeable pavement has higher heat storage and heat dissipation efficiencies than semi-permeable pavement in winter and summer monitoring period. By observing the regressed model, it is found that the slope of the model lines are almost flat after the depth of 30 cm. Thus, from the view point of UHI, one can conclude that the reasonable design depth of permeable road pavement could be 30 cm.

Portable Interactive Pulse Tactile Recorder and Player System.

Pulse palpation is an effective method for diagnosing arterial diseases. However, most pulse measurement devices use preconfigured pressures to collect pulse signals, and most pulse tactile simulators can only display standard or predefined pulse waveforms. Here, a portable interactive human pulse measurement and reproduction system was developed that allows users to take arbitrary pulses and experience realistic simulated pulse tactile feedback in real time by using their natural pulse-taking behaviors. The system includes a pulse tactile recorder and a pulse tactile player. Pulse palpation forces and vibrations can be recorded and realistically replayed for later tactile exploration and examination. To retain subtle but vital pulse information, empirical mode decomposition was used to decompose pulse waveforms into several intrinsic mode functions. Artificial neural networks were then trained based on intrinsic mode functions to determine the relationship between the driving signals of the pulse tactile player and the resulting vibration waveforms. Experimental results indicate that the average normalized root mean square error and the average R-squared values between the reproduced and original pulses were 0.0654 and 0.958 respectively, which indicate that the system can reproduce high-fidelity pulse tactile vibrations.

miR-130a-Mediated KLF3 Can Inhibit the Growth of Lung Cancer Cells.

BACKGROUND: The role of microRNA (miR) in tumors has been reported in numerous articles. Previous studies have found that miR-130a is low expressed in lung cancer, but the related mechanism has not been fully elucidated. This study mainly explores the mechanism of miR-130a in lung cancer, so as to provide potential therapeutic targets for clinical applications. METHODS: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of miR-130a and KLF3 in the tissues of lung cancer patients. The miR-130a-mimics and miR-130a-inhibit were constructed. Cell proliferation, invasion, migration and apoptosis were determined by CCK-8, transwell, scratch test and flow cytometry. Western Blot was used to determine the expression of KLF3 protein in cells, and the dual-luciferase reporter to determine the relationship between KLF3 and miR-130a. RESULTS: miR-130a shows low expression in NSCLC patients, while KLF3 shows high expression, exhibiting a negative correlation. The 5-year survival rate of patients with low miR-130a expression and high KLF3 expression was reduced. Cox regression analysis showed that miR-130a was an independent prognostic factor for NSCLC patients. The dual-luciferase reporter revealed that miR-130a bound to KLF3 in a targeted manner, and cell experiments showed that miR-130a could inhibit the growth of lung cancer cells by regulating the expression of KLF3. CONCLUSION: miR-130a shows low expression in lung cancer and predicts a poor prognosis. In addition, up-regulation of miR-130a can down-regulate KLF3 and inhibit the growth of lung cancer.

Evaluation of Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 and Bone Mineral Density in 268 Patients with Hip Fractures.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship among vitamin D nutritional status, bone mineral density, and other factors in elderly patients with brittle hip fractures. METHODS: The present study was a retrospective analysis of 268 patients, 102 men (38.06%) and 166 women (61.94%), with brittle hip fractures admitted to the Hip Joint Center of Tianjin Hospital from February 2016 to June 2018. The median age of the patients was 74 years (range, 50-93 years). The patients were divided into three groups based on age: ≤69 years, 70-79 years, and ≥80 years. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH) D3 ), parathyroid hormone (PTH), body mass index (BMI), and bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and hip were measured and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The median serum 25(OH)D3 level of patients was 9.90 (range, 2.60-42.70) ng/mL; the proportion of deficiency was 89.18% and the deficiency was severe in 136 cases (49.25%). The proportion of vitamin D deficiency was significantly lower in men than in women (P = 0.013). With the increase of age, 25(OH)D3 levels gradually decreased (P = 0.044) and PTH levels gradually increased (P < 0.001). There was significantly negative correlation (P < 0.001) between the levels of serum 25(OH)D3 and PTH. There were 200 cases (74.63%) in which T-values of BMD were less than -2.5 in any part of the lumbar vertebrae, femoral neck, and hip. T-values in 74 cases (27.61%) were less than -2.5 in all three parts. The T-values of BMD in men were significantly higher than those in men (P < 0.001). With the increase of age, the femoral neck BMD in men gradually decreased (P = 0.016), and the femoral neck and hip BMD in female gradually decreased (P-value was 0.001 and 0.003, respectively). Multivariate analysis suggested that gender and BMI were independent risk factors for BMD, and vitamin D deficiency affected BMD. CONCLUSION: Vitamin D deficiency is common in patients with brittle hip fractures, especially in women. With the increase of age, vitamin D continues to decrease and PTH increases. The decrease of BMD in patients with hip fractures is the result of a combination of age, gender, BMI, and vitamin D content.

Serum lipocalin-2 is a potential biomarker for the clinical diagnosis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a progressive form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) characterized by hepatic steatosis, inflammation, hepatocellular injury, and fibrosis. We aimed to investigate the usefulness of a key biomarker, lipocalin-2 (LCN2), for the detection of NASH progression. METHODS: A mouse NASH model was established using a high-fat diet and a high-sugar drinking water. Gene expression profile of the NASH model was analyzed using RNA sequencing. Moreover, 360 NAFLD patients (steatosis, 83; NASH, 277), 40 healthy individuals, and 87 patients with alcoholic fatty liver disease were recruited. RESULTS: Inflammatory infiltration, focal necrosis in the leaflets, steatosis, and fibrosis were documented in the mouse liver. In total, 504 genes were differentially expressed in the livers of NASH mice, and showed significant functional enrichment in the inflammation-related category. Upregulated liver LCN2 was found to be significantly interactive with various interleukins and toll-like receptors. Serum LCN2 levels were significantly increased in NAFLD patients. Serum LCN2 levels were correlated with steatosis, intralobular inflammation, semiquantitative fibrosis score, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease activity score. The area under the curve of serum LCN2 was 0.987 with a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 93.5% for NASH diagnosis, and 0.977 with almost the same specificity and sensitivity for steatosis. CONCLUSION: LCN2 might be involved in the transition from NAFL to NASH by mediating inflammation. Serum LCN2 levels might be a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of NASH.

Using high-dimensional features for high-accuracy pulse diagnosis.

Accurate pulse diagnosis is often based on extensive clinical experience. Recently, modern computer-aided pulse diagnostic methods have been developed to help doctors to quickly determine patients' physiological conditions. Most pulse diagnostic methods used low-dimensional feature vectors to classify pulse types. Therefore, some important but subtle pulse information might be ignored. In this study, a novel high-dimensional pulse classification method was developed to improve pulse diagnosis accuracy. To understand the underlying physical meaning or implications hidden in pulse discrimination, 71 pulse features were extracted from the time, spatial, and frequency domains to cover as much pulse information as possible. Then, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to extract the most representative components. Artificial neural networks were trained to classify 10 different pulse types. The results showed that PCA accounted for 95% of the total variances achieved the highest accuracy of 98.2% in pulse classification. The results also showed that pulse energy, local instantaneous characteristics, main frequency, and waveform complexity were the major factors determining pulse discriminability. This study demonstrated that using high-dimensional features could retain more pulse information and thus, effectively improve pulse diagnostic accuracy.

Factors Influencing the Willingness of Universities' Business Management Departments to Implement Online Entrepreneurship Program and Its Effectiveness.

With the steady increase and popularization of innovations and applications on the Internet, more and more people are searching for and purchasing products online. The boom in e-commerce stimulates opportunities in online entrepreneurship. However, the risks and failure rate for online entrepreneurship are relatively high. Therefore, some universities are standardizing the implementation of online entrepreneurship programs (OEPs) with the aim of equipping students with knowledge for online entrepreneurship through instruction and practical methods to increase the chance of successful online entrepreneurship and also enhance the professional image of the department. The main purpose of the present study is to explore the key influencing factors affecting the willingness of universities' department of business administration to implement OEP and its effectiveness. Using the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework by Tornatzky and Fleischer (1990), the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) by Rogers (1983), and the OEP characteristics as the foundation, the present study developed a model to analyze and elucidate the key factors for OEP implementation willingness and OEP effectiveness. Survey data were collected from teachers at universities' business management departments, and structural equation modeling (smartPLS) was utilized to verify the research model and hypothesis. The present study found that integrating the TOE framework and the IDT can be used to analyze the key factors influencing OEP implementation willingness and its effectiveness at universities' business management departments. When implementing the implementation of OEP, business management departments at universities need to take into account factors from three contexts: innovation, organization, and environment. Innovative factors greatly influence the willingness of departments to implement OEP, but organizational and environmental factors have a greater influence on the effectiveness of OEP implementation. The results of the present study will enable academia and education practitioners to better understand how to implement OEP and achieve results in the context of business education at universities.

Developing an Instrument for Assessing Self-Efficacy in Data Mining and Analysis.

With the continuous progress and penetration of automated data collection technology, enterprises and organizations are facing the problem of information overload. The demand for expertise in data mining and analysis is increasing. Self-efficacy is a pivotal construct that is significantly related to willingness and ability to perform a particular task. Thus, the objective of this study is to develop an instrument for assessing self-efficacy in data mining and analysis. An initial measurement list was developed based on the skills and abilities about executing data mining and analysis, and expert recommendations. A useful sample of 103 university students completed the online survey questionnaire. A 19-item four-factor model was extracted by exploratory factor analysis. Using the partial least squares-structural equation modeling technique (PLS-SEM), the model was cross-examined. The instrument showed satisfactory reliability and validity. The proposed instrument will be of value to researchers and practitioners in evaluating an individual's abilities and readiness in executing data mining and analysis.

Laser-cooling with an intermediate electronic state: Theoretical prediction on bismuth hydride.

The possibility of laser cooling of bismuth hydride (BiH) molecules has been investigated based on high-level ab initio calculations by considering the core-valence and the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effects. The potential energy curves of the 12 Λ-S states as well as the 25 Ω states that split from them via SOC are obtained by multireference configuration interaction plus the Davidson correction. The properties of b-X transition are investigated. Based on our calculations, we show that the transition between Ω states b0+-X10+ of BiH is a possible candidate for laser cooling, with consideration of the intermediate Ω state X21. An optical cycling scheme is proposed by utilizing four lasers at wavelengths around 471 and 601 nm with 5400 cycles for photon absorption/emission and a sub-microkelvin temperature. Our study should shed some light on searching for possible molecular candidates for laser cooling with the existence of an intermediate electronic state.

Reduced Vitamin D Levels are Associated with Stroke-Associated Pneumonia in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP) is a common complication in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). This study explored the potential relationship between serum vitamin D levels and SAP. METHODS: This study recruited 863 consecutive AIS patients. In-hospital SAP was defined as a complication that occurred after stroke, during hospitalization, that was confirmed radiographically. Serum vitamin D levels were measured within 24 hrs of admission and the patients were divided into vitamin D sufficient (>50 nmol/L), insufficient (25-50 nmol/L), and deficient (<25 nmol/L) groups. RESULTS: In this study, 102 (11.8%) patients were diagnosed with SAP. Compared to the patients without SAP, patients with SAP had significantly lower vitamin D levels (P = 0.023). The incidence of SAP was significantly higher in patients with vitamin D deficiency than in those with vitamin D insufficiency or sufficiency (21.2% vs 16.2% & 9.5%, P = 0.006). After adjusting for confounders, vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency were independently associated with SAP (OR = 3.034, 95% CI = 1.207-7.625, P = 0.018; OR = 1.921, 95% CI = 1.204-3.066, P = 0.006, respectively). In multiple-adjusted spline regression, vitamin D levels showed a linear association with the risk of SAP (P < 0.001 for linearity). CONCLUSION: Reduced vitamin D is a potential risk factor of in-hospital SAP, which can help clinicians identify high-risk SAP patients.