The correlation of metacognitive ability, self-directed learning ability and critical thinking in nursing students: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: To understand the status quo of metacognitive ability (MA), Self-directed learning (SDL) ability and critical thinking (CT) ability of five-year higher vocational nursing students as well as the correlation among them. BACKGROUND: MA, SDL ability and CT are the core abilities that nursing students must have and they are the important factors to improve students' nursing service quality and lifelong learning ability. DESIGN: A quantitative and cross-sectional descriptive study. METHOD: The survey collected data from 3,047 five-year vocational nursing students with questionnaires April-May in 2020. RESULTS: The total score of MA was 81.18 (SD 13.51), SDL ability score was 220.28 (SD 35.09), and CT ability score was 271.96 (SD 26.08). The positive correlations were found between those three (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: The overall metacognitive ability of nursing students was not high, SDL ability and CT ability were both at a medium level. Health educators need pay attention to cultivation and development of the core competencies.

Using Ipomoea aquatic as an environmental-friendly alternative to Elodea nuttallii for the aquaculture of Chinese mitten crab.

Elodea nuttallii is widely used in Chinese mitten crab (CMC) rearing practice, but it is not a native aquatic plant and cannot endure high temperature. Thus, large E. nuttallii mortality and water deterioration events could occur during high-temperature seasons. The aim of this study was to identify the use of local macrophytes in CMC rearing practice, including Ipomoea aquatic and Oryza sativa. A completely randomized field experiment was conducted to investigate the crab yield, water quality, bacterioplankton community and functions in the three different systems (E. nuttallii, I. aquatic, and O. sativa). Average crab yields in the different macrophyte systems did not differ significantly. The I. aquatic and O. sativa systems significantly decreased the total nitrogen and nitrate-N quantities in the outflow waters during the rearing period compared to the E. nuttallii system, and the I. aquatic and O. sativa plants assimilated more nitrogen than the E. nuttallii plant. Moreover, the significant changes of bacterioplankton abundances and biodiversity in the three systems implied that cleanliness of rearing waters was concomitantly attributed to the differential microbial community and functions. In addition, principle component analysis successfully differentiated the bacterioplankton communities of the three macrophytes systems. Environmental factor fitting and the co-occurrence network analyses indicated that pH was the driver of bacterioplankton community structure. Functional predictions using PICRUSt (v.1.1.3) software based on evolutionary modeling indicated a higher potential for microbial denitrification in the I. aquatic and O. sativa systems. Notably, the O. sativa plants stopped growing in the middle of the rearing period. Thus, the I. aquatic system rather than the O. sativa system could be a feasible and environmental-friendly alternative to the E. nuttallii system in CMC rearing practice.

Interleukin-33 is expressed in the lesional epidermis in herpes virus infection but not in verruca vulgaris.

Interleukin (IL)-33 is released on cell injury and activates the immune reaction. IL-33 is involved in antiviral reaction in herpes virus infection, but the source that secretes IL-33 has not been identified. We speculate that keratinocytes injured in herpes virus infection secrete IL-33. In order to detect IL-33 in the lesional epidermis of patients with herpes virus infection, we immunostained several cutaneous herpes virus infection samples with an anti-IL-33 antibody, and compared them with cutaneous human papilloma virus (HPV) infection samples. We observed strong nuclear and mild cytoplasmic staining in epidermal keratinocytes of the lesional skin samples with herpes simplex virus and varicella zoster virus infections. However, staining was not observed in the epidermis of verruca vulgaris (VV) samples. We assumed that the strong immune reaction to herpes virus infection may depend on strong IL-33 expression in the epidermis, while very weak immune reaction in samples from patients with VV may be due to low or no expression of IL-33 in the lesional epidermis.

Ultrasound-guided transcervical radiofrequency ablation for symptomatic uterine adenomyosis.

OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively evaluate the midterm outcomes of transvaginal ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for the treatment of symptomatic uterine adenomyosis. METHODS: 87 patients with symptomatic uterine adenomyosis, who met the inclusion criteria, were enrolled in our study from January 2013 to October 2015. All of the patients underwent transvaginal ultrasound-guided RFA and were followed up for 12 months. Assessment end points included uterus volume reduction rate, lesion regression rate, dysmenorrhoeal score, symptom severity score (SSS) and adverse events. RESULTS: In all 87 patients, 81 patients fulfilled the follow-up evaluations post-ablation. The mean uterine volume reduction rate was 35.8% at 1 month, 40.8% at 6 months and 41.2% at 12 months post-ablation. Dysmenorrhoea and SSS statistically significantly declined. Reintervention rate was 18.5%. Two patients developed intrauterine adhesion after ablation. No serious complications including penetration or burn injuries of the nearby organs were observed. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound-guided RFA might be a safe and effective minimally invasive alternative in the treatment of symptomatic adenomyosis. Advances in knowledge: This is the first study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided RFA for the treatment of adenomyosis to our knowledge. This is also the first study to provide various changes of intrauterine cavity after this treatment.

Association between red cell distribution width and the risk of heart events in patients with coronary artery disease.

Red cell distribution width (RDW) has been found to be a novel prognostic biomarker in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD); however, the association between RDW and the risk of heart events in patients with CAD is yet to be fully elucidated. Thus, the aim of the present study was to determine whether an elevated RDW was associated with the Framingham risk score (FRS) in patients with CAD. Data were retrospectively collected from Affiliated Dongyang Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University (Dongyang, China). The patients had undergone a coronary angiography and their clinical data were integrated. The patients (male, 260; female, 132) were divided into two groups based on the results of the coronary angiography, namely the CAD (n=283) and control groups (n=109). The FRS was calculated for all the subjects, and complete blood count testing with biochemical measurements was performed. The mean RDW level was 13.7±1.8% in the CAD group and 13.1±1.0% in the control group, while the mean FRS was 9.0±4.9 in the CAD group and 6.4±3.9 in the control group. The RDW and FRS were significantly higher in the CAD group compared with the control group (P<0.001). No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups with regard to the hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, platelets, glucose, urea, albumin, aspartate aminotransferase, total cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (P>0.05). The RDW was shown to significantly correlate with the red blood cell (RBC) count (r=-0.133, P=0.029), hemoglobin level (r=-0.207, P=0.001) and TG level (r=0.226, P<0.001) within the laboratory parameters, as well as the FRS (r=0.206, P<0.001). In the stepwise multivariate linear regression, which included the RBC count, hemoglobin level, TG level and RDW, the FRS was predicted by hemoglobin (r2=0.034, P=0.001), TG (r2=0.059, P<0.001) and RDW (r2=0.030, P=0.003) parameters. Therefore, a novel association was revealed between higher levels of RDW and an elevated FRS in patients with CAD, which raises the possibility that a simple marker, RDW, may be associated with an increased risk of heart events in CAD patients.

[Effects of poplar-amaranth intercropping system on the soil nitrogen loss under different nitrogen applying levels].

Characteristics of soil nitrogen loss were investigated based on field experiments in two types of poplar-amaranth intercropping systems (spacing: L1 2 m x 5 m, L2 2 m x 15 m) with four N application rates, i. e., 0 (N1), 91 (N2), 137 (N3) and 183 (N4) kg · hm(-2). The regulation effects on the soil surface runoff, leaching loss and soil erosion were different among the different types of intercropping systems: L1 > L2 > L3 (amaranth monocropping). Compared with the amaranth monocropping, the soil surface runoff rates of L1 and L2 decreased by 65.1% and 55.9%, the soil leaching rates of L1 and L2 with a distance of 0.5 m from the poplar tree row de- creased by 30.0% and 28.9%, the rates with a distance of 1. 5 m decreased by 25. 6% and 21.9%, and the soil erosion rates decreased by 65.0% and 55.1%, respectively. The control effects of two intercropping systems on TN, NO(3-)-N and NH(4+)-N in soil runoff and leaching loss were in the order of L1 > L2 > L3. Compared with the amaranth monocropping, TN, NO(3-)-N and NH(4+)-N loss rates in soil runoff of L1 decreased by 62.9%, 45.1% and 69.2%, while the loss rates of L2 decreased by 23.4%, 6.9% and 46.2% under N1 (91 kg · hm(-2)), respectively. High- er tree-planting density and closer positions to the polar tree row were more effective on controlling the loss rates of NO(3-)-N and NH(4+)-N caused by soil leaching. The loss proportion of NO(3-)-N in soil runoff decreased with the increasing nitrogen rate under the same tree-planting density, while that of NH(4+)-N increased. Leaching loss of NO(3-)-N had a similar trend with that of NH(4+)-N, i. e. , N3 > N2 > N1 > N0.