Application of situational simulation based on the Mini-CEX and DOPS rating scales in urology clinical training.

Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate the application effect of scenario simulation teaching based on the Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX) and direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS) rating scales in urology clinical apprenticeship training.

Materials And Methods: A total of 32 students from the class of 2015-2017 who completed their traineeship in the Department of Urology of our hospital were selected and divided into a research group and a routine group. Routine teaching was implemented for the trainees in the control group, while situational simulation teaching based on the Mini-CEX and DOPS scoring scales was implemented for the trainees in the research group.

Constructing an Evaluation and Assessment System for Urology Specialists Based on Entrustable Professional Activities.

Purpose: This study aimed to establish a comprehensive evaluation and assessment system for urology specialists based on entrustable professional activities (EPAs).

Methods: A research group was formed to develop a preliminary index system for the evaluation and assessment of urology specialists through an extensive literature review and group discussions. The Delphi method was employed to design a questionnaire, and two rounds of expert consultations were conducted to finalize the index system and design a corresponding assessment method.

Cold Tolerance and Physiological Response of Natural Overwintering Pomacea canaliculata in South China.

Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck 1822), a freshwater gastropod indigenous to lower Del Plata Basin of Argentina, has become the most destructive and invasive rice pests in south China since its introduction in the 1980s. In Guangdong, the main production areas for double rice, most of P. canaliculata overwinter in paddy field ditches after late-rice harvesting in mid-November and diapause to temporarily to avoid the damaging effects of extreme low temperatures.

Off-Stoichiometry Thiol-Ene (OSTE) Micro Mushroom Forest: A Superhydrophobic Substrate.

Superhydrophobic surfaces have been used in various fields of engineering due to their resistance to corrosion and fouling and their ability to control fluid movement. Traditionally, superhydrophobic surfaces are fabricated via chemical methods of changing the surface energy or mechanical methods of controlling the surface topology. Many of the conventional mechanical methods use a top-to-bottom scheme to control the surface topolopy.

Microplastics predominantly affect gut microbiota by altering community structure rather than richness and diversity: A meta-analysis of aquatic animals.

The impacts of microplastics on the gut microbiota, a crucial component of the health of aquatic animals, remain inadequately understood. This phylogenetically controlled meta-analysis aims to identify general patterns of microplastic effects on the alpha diversity (richness and Shannon index), beta diversity, and community structure of gut microbiota in aquatic animals. Data from 63 peer-reviewed articles on the Web of Science were synthesized, encompassing 424 observations across 31 aquatic species.

Strategies of invasive snail Pomacea canaliculata during hibernation in rice fields of south China: effects of body size, sex, and soil depth.

Background: The invasive freshwater snail Pomacea canaliculata is an agricultural pest with a certain level of tolerance to abiotic stress. After the harvest of late rice, the snails usually burrow themselves into the soil surface layers to overwinter and pose a renewed threat to rice production in the following year. Revealing the response of snails to environmental stresses is crucial for developing countermeasures to control their damage and spread.

Impacts of conventional and biodegradable microplastics in maize-soil ecosystems: Above and below ground.

The increasing accumulation of microplastics (MPs) in agroecosystems has raised significant environmental and public health concerns, facilitating the application of biodegradable plastics. However, the comparative effects of conventional and biodegradable MPs in agroecosystem are still far from fully understood. Here we developed microcosm experiments to reveal the ecological effects of conventional (polyethylene [PE] and polypropylene [PP]) and biodegradable (polyadipate/butylene terephthalate [PBAT] and polycaprolactone [PCL]) MPs (0, 1%, 5%; w/w) in the maize-soil ecosystem.

Biochar of invasive plants alleviated impact of acid rain on soil microbial community structure and functionality better than liming.

Acid rain and invasive plants have quintessential adverse impacts on terrestrial ecosystems. As an environmentally safe method for disposal of invasive plants, we tested the effect of biochar produced from these plants in altering soil deterioration under acid rain as compared with lime. Given the impacts of the feedstock type and soil properties on the response of soil to the added biochar, we hypothesized that the microbial community and functions would respond differently to the charred invasive plants under acid rain.

More deterministic assembly constrains the diversity of gut microbiota in freshwater snails.

Growing evidence has suggested a strong link between gut microbiota and host fitness, yet our understanding of the assembly mechanisms governing gut microbiota remains limited. Here, we collected invasive and native freshwater snails coexisting at four independent sites in Guangdong, China. We used high-throughput sequencing to study the assembly processes of their gut microbiota.

Role of self-actualization in green production behavior: Evidence from rice smallholders in China.

Understanding who adopt green production and why they choose this strategy is an important issue that needs to be addressed in the context of increasingly severe agricultural pollution. Previous studies have generally investigated subsistence-oriented smallholders, typically employing profit maximization or risk minimization models. However, Chinese farmers have differentiated, and have unique characteristics.

Effect of Metaldehyde on Survival, Enzyme Activities, and Histopathology of the Apple Snail (Lamarck 1822).

, as an invasive exotic species in Asia, can adversely affect crop yields, eco-environment, and human health. Application of molluscicides containing metaldehyde is one effective method for controlling . In order to investigate the effects of metaldehyde on adult snails, we conducted acute toxicological experiments to investigate the changes in enzyme activities and histopathology after 24 h and 48 h of metaldehyde action.

A Bibliometric Analysis on Research Progress of Earthworms in Soil Ecosystems.

The earthworm, as a soil engineer, plays highly important roles in the soil ecosystem for shaping soil structure, promoting soil fertility, regulating microbial community composition and activities and decomposing soil pollutants. However, the research progresses on this important soil fauna have rarely been reviewed so far. Therefore, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of the literature published during 1900-2022, which was collected from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS).

Influences of crop diversification on yield, resource use efficiency, and environmental footprint in farmland landscapes in intensive farming.

Enhancing crop diversification in intensive fields has the potential to increase crop yield and reduce environmental footprint. However, these relationships at the landscape scale remained unclear in intensive farming. Addressing this gap, this paper aims to elucidate how crop yield, resources use efficiency (RUE), and environmental footprint (EF) vary with crop diversification levels in the North China Plain.

Carbon footprint of synthetic nitrogen under staple crops: A first cradle-to-grave analysis.

More than half of the world's population is nourished by crops fertilized with synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizers. However, N fertilization is a major source of anthropogenic emissions, augmenting the carbon footprint (CF). To date, no global quantification of the CF induced by N fertilization of the main grain crops has been performed, and quantifications at the national scale have neglected the CO assimilated by plants.

Rice-fish coculture without phosphorus addition improves paddy soil nitrogen availability by shaping ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria in subtropical regions of South China.

Rice-fish coculture (RFC), as a traditional agricultural strategy in China, can optimally utilize the scarce resource, especially in subtropical regions where phosphorus (P) deficiency limits agricultural production. However, ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) are involved in the ammonia oxidation, but it remains uncertain whether their community compositions are related to the RFC combined with and without P addition that improves soil nitrogen (N) use efficiency. Here, a microcosm experiment was conducted to assess the impacts of RFC combined with and without inorganic P (0 and 50 mg P kg as KHPO) addition on AOA and AOB community diversities, enzyme activities and N availability.

Influence of nitrogen substitution at an equivalent total nitrogen level on bacterial and fungal communities, as well as enzyme activities of the ditch bottom soil in a rice-fish coculture system.

Background: Rice-fish coculture system (RFS) operates through effectively utilizing water and land resources in a complementary form, but it requires more efficient utilization of fertilizer and feed without compromising rice yield. However, the knowledge of how to regulate the proportion of nitrogen (N) supplied from fertilizer and feed at an equivalent total N level to improve the benefits of RFS remains limited. Therefore, four treatments (S0: RFS with 0% N from fertilizer and 100% N from feed; S25: RFS with 25% N from fertilizer and 75% N from feed; S50: RFS with 50% N from fertilizer and 50% N from feed; S75: RFS with 75% N from fertilizer and 25% N from feed) were conducted to assess the variation of ditch bottom soil properties, microbial communities and enzyme activities, as well as to obtain the optimal ratio of N supplied from fish feed and fertilizer.

The Role of the ADAMTS18 Gene-Induced Immune Microenvironment in Mouse Kidney Development.

The aim of this study is to investigate the role of the ADAMTS18 gene in regulating the renal development of mice. PAS staining was used to observe the kidney development of E12.5-E17.

The progression of obstructive renal fibrosis in rats is regulated by ADAMTS18 gene methylation in the embryonic kidney through the AKT/Notch pathway.

This study aimed to explore the mechanism by which postembryonic renal ADAMTS18 methylation influences obstructive renal fibrosis in rats. After exposure to transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 during the embryonic period, analysis of postembryonic renal ADAMTS18 methylation and expression levels was conducted. Histological analysis was performed to assess embryonic kidney lesions and damage.

ZNF471 Interacts with BANP to Reduce Tumour Malignancy by Inactivating PI3K/AKT/mTOR Signalling but is Frequently Silenced by Aberrant Promoter Methylation in Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is one of the most common malignant tumours of the urinary system. However, the aetiology and pathogenesis of RCC remain unclear. The C2H2 zinc finger protein (ZNF) family is the largest transcriptional regulatory factor family found in mammals, and Krüppel-associated box domain-containing zinc finger proteins (KRAB-ZFPs) constitute the largest subfamily of the C2H2 zinc finger protein family and play an important role in the occurrence and development of tumours.

Polyethylene microplastics alter soil microbial community assembly and ecosystem multifunctionality.

Although pervasive microplastics (MPs) pollution in terrestrial ecosystems invites increasing global concern, impact of MPs on soil microbial community assembly and ecosystem multifunctionality received relatively little attention. Here, we manipulated a mesocosm experiment to investigate how polyethylene MPs (PE MPs; 0, 1%, and 5%, w/w) influence ecosystem functions including plant production, soil quality, microbial community diversity and assembly, enzyme activities in carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycling, and multifunctionality in the maize-soil continuum. Results showed that PE MPs exerted negligible effect on plant biomass (dry weight).

Curcumin inhibits lipopolysaccharide-induced proximal renal tubular epithelial cell death by regulating ADAMTS18 methylation and AKT/Notch pathways.

Introduction: This study aimed to explore the effect of curcumin on the activity of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced proximal renal tubular epithelial cells (PRTECs) and to analyze the molecular mechanism by which curcumin regulates their occurrence.

Material And Methods: LPS-induced PRTECs were used to construct an inflammatory cell model. RT-qPCR and western blot (WB) were used to detect ADAMTS18 expression.

Ca addition facilitates the shell repair with eggs production of Pomacea canaliculata through biomineralization and food intaking regulation.

Pomacea canaliculata was by far one of the most harmful invasive organisms in the world, causing serious harm to aquatic crops and ecosystem. Calcium carbonate is a common component of aquatic environment, which is important for the growth of Pomacea canaliculata. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the response characteristics of P.

Curcumin Interferes with TGF- β 1-Induced Fibrosis in NRK-49F Cells by Reversing ADAMTS18 Gene Methylation.

Objective: To explore the molecular mechanism by which curcumin affects renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF) progression by regulating ADAM metallopeptidase with thrombospondin type 1 motif 18 (ADAMTS18) methylation.

Methods: NRK-49F cells RIF model were induced with transforming growth factor β 1 (TGF- β 1). Effects of different concentrations of curcumin (0, 10, 20, and 30 μmol/L) on cell proliferation, cell cycle, cell apoptosis as well as cyclin D1 expression were analyzed by cell counting kit-8, flow cytometry and Western blot, respectively.