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A simulation-based empirical study on the role of aviation logistics in driving high-quality and sustainable regional economic development: Focusing on dynamic mechanisms and key factors
This study incorporates aviation logistics equipment into the analysis, considering current policy trends and development hotspots. By exploring the intricate relationship between aviation logistics and the regional economy, a System Dynamics model is created to identify the dynamic mechanisms and key factors that drive high-quality and sustainable regional economic development through aviation logistics. The primary objective is to establish a framework for resource allocation and policy adjustments tailored to regional needs. To validate the proposed framework, an empirical analysis of Sichuan Province is conducted. The findings indicate that: (1) Aviation logistics significantly contributes to regional economic development; (2) Aviation logistics equipment, a crucial component of the aviation logistics supply subsystem, demonstrates notable stability compared to demand and plays a pivotal role in fostering regional economic development; (3) Aviation logistics equipment software, in contrast to hardware, has a more pronounced impact on regional economic development and structural optimization. This study offers both theoretical and practical contributions: Firstly, it integrates aviation logistics equipment into the complex system framework, addressing a gap in the literature by defining and categorizing its role within the framework. Secondly, the dynamic model developed provides theoretical support for regional management and policy-making, facilitating improved resource allocation and policy optimization for high-quality and sustainable regional economic development. Finally, the study presents practical policy recommendations, making it highly valuable in practice based on the Sichuan case.
‘Who wants to be a teacher in Ghana?’ A structural equation modelling analysis of prospective language teachers’ behavioural intentions to pursue a career in teaching
Despite its significant role in the development of society, the teaching profession is arguably one of the least preferred professions in Ghana. It has been argued that the declining interest in the teaching profession is partly contingent on the deteriorated conditions of service and the unfavourable reputation it has earned in Ghana in contemporary times. Amid these concerns, we were compelled to investigate prospective language teachers’ behavioural intention to pursue a career in teaching. Using Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour, 111 prospective language teachers in two higher educational institutions in Ghana were engaged in this inquiry. The study’s results, obtained through a partial least squares structural equation modelling analysis, indicated that prospective language teachers’ behavioural beliefs, control beliefs, and subjective norms significantly influenced their intention to pursue a teaching career (R2 = 56.1%). We, thus, recommend that the Ministry of Education should consider addressing teachers’ working conditions and launching public awareness campaigns to enhance the perception of teaching’s importance. By improving teachers’ professional identity, policymakers, particularly the Ghana Education Service, can attract prospective teachers and instill a positive view of teaching as an ideal profession for the youth.
The association between relative fat mass (RFM) and lumbar bone density in US adults: Insight from 2011–2018 NHANES
Background The relationship between obesity and osteoporosis has been widely studied. Studies have shown that relative fat mass (RFM) can be used to predict obesity. However, its relationship with bone mineral density (BMD) is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between RFM and lumbar BMD. Methods We used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2011 to 2018. Multiple linear regression models were applied to examine the relationship between RFM and lumbar BMD. We used smoothed curve fitting and threshold effect analysis to check for non-linear trends. Subgroup analyses were performed to explore differences in various populations. The Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic potential of body mass index (BMI), weight-adjusted waist circumference index (WWI), waist circumference (WC), and RFM for OP. Results A total of 10636 participants were included. Multiple linear regression showed a significant negative link between RFM and lumbar BMD. In subgroup studies and smoothed curve fitting, RFM was consistently associated with lower BMD across subgroups. ROC curve indicate that RFM is more sensitive than BMI, WWI and WC in diagnosing OP capacity. Conclusion RFM is negatively associated with lumbar BMD in US adults. This suggests that RFM contributes to the study of low BMD.
From brewery waste to agricultural wealth: Enhancing nitrogen use efficiency and productivity of maize through brewery sludge and blended NPS fertilizer in North Mecha District, Northwestern Ethiopia
The expansion of brewery factories with huge production potential of brewery sludge in Ethiopia presents a significant opportunity to enhance sustainable soil and crop productivity. Hence, this field experiment was conducted in North Mecha district, Northwestern Ethiopia, to improve the yield and nnitrogen use efficiency of maize by applying brewery sludge (BS), blended nitrogen, phosphorous and sulfur (NPS) fertilizers alone and in combination. Six treatments (T1: control, T2: 100% recommended dose of blended nitrogen, phosphorous, sulfur (RDNPS (100 kg NPS ha-1)); T3: 75% RDNPS + 25% recommended dose of brewery sludge (RDBS); T4: 50% RDNPS + 50% RDBS; T5: 25% RDNPS + 75% RDBS; T6: 100% RDBS (10 t BS ha-1) were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The results revealed that both single and combined fertilizer applications resulted in higher production, nitrogen uptake, and efficiency as compared to no fertilizer application. Notably, the combined application of 75% RDBS with 25% RDNPS produced the highest above-ground biomass yield (23161.9 kg ha-1), grain yield (10620.6 kg ha-1), stover yield (12541.3 kg ha-1), harvest index (45.85%), nitrogen concentration in grain (1.71%) and stover (1.00%), as well as grain (181.72 kg ha-1), stover (124.17 kg ha-1), and total (305.89 kg ha-1) nitrogen uptake. Furthermore, the combined application of 75% RDBS with 25% RDNPS produced the highest grain yield (10620.6 kg ha-1), net benefit (170987.97 Ethiopian Birr (ETB) ha-1), and an acceptable marginal rate of return (MRR) (12613.93%) for maize production in the region. Hence, the study reveals that using BS and blended NPS at precise ratios can improve maize productivity in the North Mecha district. However, as the experiment was carried out only in one location for one cropping season, further studies at different locations for several years or seasons should be conducted to come up with strong and reliable recommendations.
Knowledge, attitude, and practice toward genetic testing in breast cancer patients in China
Genetic testing is widely recommended in the diagnosis and management of breast cancer. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) toward genetic testing in Chinese patients with breast cancer. This multicenter cross-sectional study enrolled breast cancer patients in seven public hospitals in Shanghai, China, between November 2022 and January 2023. A self-administered web-based questionnaire was used to collect the participants’ demographic information and their KAP regarding genetic testing. A total of 592 valid questionnaires were collected in this study; 145 (24.49%) patients underwent genetic testing, and 20.61% of the patients never learned about genetic testing. The knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were 4.59 ± 4.49 (22.95%, possible range: 0–20), 16.72 ± 2.92 (83.60%, possible range: 0–20), and 23.67 ± 5.18 (73.97%, possible range: 0–32), respectively. Multivariable logistic regression showed that knowledge (OR = 1.21, 95%CI: 1.51–1.28, P < 0.001), attitude (OR = 1.10, 95%CI: 1.01–1.19, P = 0.027), Jiangsu Province (OR = 0.40, 95%CI: 0.19–0.84, P = 0.016), monthly income of 5000–10,000 CNY (OR = 0.46, 95%CI: 0.25–0.86, P = 0.015), disease duration of 5–10 years (OR = 0.50, 95%CI: 0.27–0.94, P = 0.030) and disease duration of ≥ 10 years (OR = 0.26, 95%CI: 0.11–0.60, P = 0.002), triple-negative subtype (OR = 3.45, 95%CI: 1.51–7.85, P = 0.003) were independently associated with patients’ behavior of undergoing genetic testing. The structural equation modeling showed that knowledge directly positively influenced attitude (β = 0.343, P < 0.001), while attitude directly positively influenced practice (β = 0.942, P < 0.001). Chinese patients with breast cancer demonstrated poor knowledge, positive attitude, and suboptimal practice toward genetic testing. More education and counseling on genetic testing for patients are necessary.
Deep learning based semantic segmentation of leukemia effected white blood cell
Medical image segmentation has numerous applications in diagnosing different diseases. Various types of diseases are found in white blood and Red blood cells. This paper represents the segmentation of WBCs from blood smear images. It is a complex and challenging task due to the frequent overlapping and variants in size and shape of WBCs with each other and RBCs. This overlapping is due to the rough border of the immature cells. The paper describes a new approach to WBC segmentation using UNet++, the marker watershed algorithm, and Neural Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE). This technique uses UNet++ for pre-segmentation, followed by the marker watershed method, which has been integrated using ODE to deepen the segmentation process. This novel integration enhances clinical applications in automated blood cell analysis, diagnostic imaging, and disease monitoring, improving accuracy and robustness. The ODE is used after the convolution operation to reduce the error at each step, preventing the massive propagation of error in the forward and the backpropagation. The White blood cells are segmented from the input smear images using ALL_IDB1 and ALL_IDB2 datasets, which are further used in the experiment section. UNet ++ is used to generate the pre-segmented probabilistic grayscale images. Some white blood cells are connected and make groups appearing in the grayscale images. These groups of WBCs are separated using a technique called the marker watershed, which gives us the final segmented result. The experimentation results show that the mean intersection over union (Jaccard method), the Dice similarity coefficient, and the mean pixel accuracy are 97.73%, 98.36%, and 98.97%, respectively. The structure and size of the white blood cells vary from red blood cells and platelets, which makes this work different from others. Furthermore, the combination of UNet++, marker watershed, and Neural Ordinary Differential Equation makes the proposed system unique from existing systems. This work can be further investigated to reduce computational complexity and memory space for optimizing deployment on low-resource devices, such as smart healthcare systems. Techniques like model pruning, quantization, or learned information distillation might be explored to create a lightweight version of the model without much loss in accuracy. Such developments would make possible mass uses of automated white blood cell segmentation in portable, low-cost health devices for point-of-care remote diagnostics and monitoring.
Cytokines and appetite-regulating hormones in human milk and associations with infant growth across four sites in a longitudinal cohort: The Mothers, Infants and Lactation Quality Study
Introduction In resource-poor settings, mother-infant dyads are commonly exposed to environmental factors increasing the risk of infectious diseases and possibly influencing the cytokine profile of human milk (HM). Hormones in HM have been proposed to influence appetite-regulation and possibly growth in exclusively breastfed infants. Objective To compare cytokines and appetite-regulating hormone (ARH) concentrations in HM of mothers from four contrasting populations and investigate associations with infant growth. Method HM samples from 825 mothers participating in the Mothers, Infants and Lactation Quality Study from Bangladesh (BD), Brazil (BR), Denmark (DK) and The Gambia (GM) were collected between 1–3.5 months postpartum and analysed for tumour-necrosis factor-α, interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-33, and insulin, leptin and adiponectin. Infant growth was measured twice between 1–5.99 months postpartum. Analysis of covariance was used to compare geometric means of HM markers between the four sites and associations between HM markers and infant growth were investigated using linear regression analysis. Results Differences in geometric means of all HM cytokines and ARHs were found among the four study sites after adjustment for possible explanatory variables. Lowest levels of most HM cytokines were found in BD, whereas highest levels of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-10 and IL-33 were found in DK. In GM, cytokines and ARHs were inversely associated with weight-for-age and weight-for-length Z-scores. Conclusion We showed significant differences in HM composition of cytokines and ARHs among the four countries. Highest levels of T helper cell type 2 cytokines, which is typically related to increased risk of atopic diseases, were found in DK. The results may reflect the influence of different environmental exposures in the four sites on HM composition, which may be associated with infant growth in GM.
Knowledge, attitude and practice toward childhood immunization among mothers in Lebanon
Background Barriers to childhood immunization in Lebanon are multifaceted. While Lebanon has historically maintained high immunization coverage, recent socio-economic challenges and recurrent political crisis have strained the healthcare system, leading to decreased vaccination rates. The knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of mothers play a key role in determining whether their children receive recommended immunizations. The aim of this study was to assess the KAP of Lebanese mothers regarding childhood immunization and to identify potential barriers to vaccination in children. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among Lebanese mothers with children aged between zero days to 5 years old. A stratified random sampling method was used and a structured questionnaire was administered to collect data on KAP regarding childhood immunization. Descriptive statistics were performed. Chi-square test and linear regression were used to assess the association between KAP and sociodemographic factors with significance set at p < 0.05. Results Most mothers demonstrated good knowledge (86.3%) and positive attitudes (94.8%) toward vaccination. However, only 43.3% exhibited good vaccination practices. Significant disparities were observed in rural regions such as Beqaa, where mothers had the lowest education levels, the highest rates of poor knowledge (11.9%), and the lowest vaccination practice scores (32.7%). Employment was significantly associated with higher knowledge scores (p = 0.002, 95% CI: -1.42 to -0.33), while household income was significantly associated with attitudes (p = 0.009, 95% CI: -0.96 to -0.13) and vaccination practices (p = 0.002, 95% CI: -0.48 to -0.11). Vaccine unavailability and cost were frequently cited as barriers, particularly in rural regions. Conclusions Discrepancy between knowledge and attitude v/s practice suggests that a number of barriers prevent mothers from translating their good knowledge and positive attitude into action. Significant regional disparities exist, with rural areas like Beqaa facing the greatest challenges. Strengthening vaccine accessibility, implementing targeted educational interventions, and increasing governmental support are critical to improving immunization coverage nationwide.
Quantum twisting microscopy of phonons in twisted bilayer graphene
Identification of MsCYP79 and MsCYP83 gene families and its response to mechanical damage in Medicago sativa L.
Glucosinolate are one of the vital secondary metabolites in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), and primarily present as β-D-glucosinolate derivatives, improving the resistance in response to biotic and abiotic stresses of alfalfa. CYP79 (Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases) and CYP83 gene families play an important role in the core structure biosynthesis of glucosinolate. Nevertheless, a comprehensive exploration of CYP79 and CYP83 family members in alfalfa has thus far not been study. The types of glucosinolate in alfalfa were qualitative and quantitative analysis by UPLC-MS/MS. Then, we identified MsCYP79 and MsCYP83 gene families in alfalfa, and scrutinized the physicochemical attributes, gene architecture, collinearity, evolutionary trajectories, as well as expression patterns under mechanical damage. The findings revealed the glucosinolate metabolites of alfalfa divided into three classes, including 27 aliphatic glucosinolates, 9 aromatic glucosinolates, and 5 indole glucosinolates. In addition, 59 MsCYP79 family members and 56 MsCYP83 family members were identified in alfalfa, which were classified into eight main groups based on phylogenetic analysis. MsCYP79 and MsCYP83 were distributed unevenly on 26 chromosomes and had 2–6 exons. Then, employing MEME software unveiled 15 conserved motifs within the protein structures of MsCYP79 and MsCYP83. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression level of MsCYP79 and MsCYP83 genes and demonstrated that the selected genes in alfalfa were tissue-specific and had different expression patterns in response to mechanical damage. This investigation laid a robust groundwork for substantiating the functions of MsCYP79 and MsCYP83 and facilitating the cultivation of alfalfa varieties enriched in glucosinolate content.
The associated network embedded decision-making authority allocation and risk-taking of enterprise groups
This research examines the impact of the internal allocation of decision-making authority on the risk-taking behavior of enterprise groups, based on a sample of A-share listed parent-subsidiary companies from 2010 to 2022. The study finds that a centralized decision-making structure is associated with reduction in the overall risk profile of enterprise groups. This paper further employs a mechanism analysis through the establishment of a moderated mediation model with an associated network, which reveals that the centralization of internal decision-making authority achieves a reduction in the level of risk-taking through the operation of the internal capital market through two distinct mechanisms. Firstly, it operates the internal capital market, which suppresses diversified investments. Secondly, it improves the efficiency of internal capital allocation. Furthermore, when the associated network is embedded in the internal capital market model, the moderating effect demonstrates that the internal interlocking director network does not suppress diversified investments, but significantly enhances the efficiency of the internal capital market. The associated network of institutional investors serves to reinforce the risk-reducing effect of the internal capital market on risk by reducing noise trading and signal transmission through the diversification and efficiency enhancement of the internal capital market. This paper illuminates the characteristics of network relationships within the internal capital market and the impact of decision-making authority allocation on enterprise risk, and provides strategies to prevent and mitigate significant economic and financial risk.
Retraction: In Silico design of a multi-epitope vaccine for Human Parechovirus: Integrating immunoinformatics and computational techniques
Acceptability study of a co-designed educational game about dementia for children: The Kids Dementia Game
Background Dementia has physical, psychological, social and economic impacts, not only for people living with dementia, but also for their carers, families and wider society. Due to the growing number of people living with dementia, children are increasingly likely to encounter family members living with dementia. The aim of this project was to pilot an educational game which was co-designed with children and people living with dementia with the intention of improving children’s understanding and perception of dementia. Research design and methods An acceptability study of the Kids Dementia Game was conducted in three classes in three schools in Northern Ireland. This study investigated acceptability of the game and the feasibility of online data collection using a pre-post test methodology to explore how best to collect evaluation data if the game was to be delivered on a larger scale. Results Evaluation of the game with children showed a positive level of acceptability of the game. Children found the game engaging, easy to navigate and fun to play. Feasibility of the data collection method was found to be a barrier to the pre-post test evaluation of the game. Discussion and implications These findings suggest that the game shows evidence of promise for improving public perception and understanding of dementia using an early intervention approach with children.
Treatment with oxfendazole increased levels of cardiac troponin I in pigs naturally infected with Taenia solium cysticercosis
Background Experimental pigs have been used to study human Taenia solium cysticercosis and neurocysticercosis. Biomarkers such as cardiac troponin I (cTnI) have been used to study various disease states such acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and the effect these diseases have on this molecule. However, no studies have been done to establish the effect of anthelminthic treatment on cTnI in pigs with cysticercosis and the role this biomarker plays with regards to inflammation following treatment. Objective To investigate the effect of anthelminthic treatment on cardiac troponin I (cTnI) levels in pigs naturally infected with cysticercosis. Materials and methods A total of 36 pigs were included in this study and were assigned to either the positive (+ve) or negative (-ve) groups based on cysticercosis infection status as determined by tongue examination and Ag-ELISA (apDIA-Belgium). Pigs in each group were then randomly assigned to either treated or not-treated (control) groups. Treatment was done using oxfendazole (OXF) at effective dose of 30mg/kg orally. Baseline serum samples were collected prior to treatment and thereafter at 24hrs, 48hrs and 72hrs post treatment. This was followed by weekly sampling up to 11 weeks post treatment. Laboratory and statistical analysis of cTnI was done using Ag-ELISA and GraphPad prism software (9.0.0 version) i.e., two-way repeated measures ANOVA, respectively. Carcass dissections were done 12 weeks post treatment, and a correlation analysis was performed to establish the relationship between cTnI concentration and number of cysts in the positive pool of pigs. Results Both hourly and weekly observations post-treatment revealed a significantly high concentration of cTnI in the infected and treated (IT) group (mean = 0.041 ± 0.002 ng/ml) in comparison to the other treatment and control groups, i.e., infected and not-treated (INT) group (mean = 0.024 ± 0.009 ng/ml) (p = 0.015) as well as the negative groups [not infected and treated (NIT) (mean = 0.016 ± 0.0009 ng/ml) (p = 0.003) and not infected and not treated (NINT) (mean = 0.014 ± 0.006 ng/ml)(p = 0.001)], respectively, throughout the observation period. This study shows that there was a strong relationship between cardiac damage/inflammation and the rise in cTnI concentration following treatment with OXF. Pearson correlation analysis results revealed a strong positive correlation between the number of active cysts and the concentration of cTnI in the INT group. Conclusions This study shows that OXF treatment of pigs with T. solium cysticercosis results in increased concentration of cTnI possibly due to the cardiac damage/inflammatory response following treatment as the cysts degenerate/calcify. This makes cTnI a very good biomarker for cardiac injury/damage following treatment in pigs with cysticercosis.
Using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning to classify the status of kidney allograft in Electronic Medical Records written in Spanish
Introduction Accurate identification of graft loss in Electronic Medical Records of kidney transplant recipients is essential but challenging due to inconsistent and not mandatory International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes. We developed and validated Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning models to classify the status of kidney allografts in unstructured text in EMRs written in Spanish. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort of 2712 patients transplanted between July 2008 and January 2023, analyzing 117,566 unstructured medical records. NLP involved text normalization, tokenization, stopwords removal, spell-checking, elimination of low-frequency words and stemming. Data was split in training, validation and test sets. Data balance was performed using undersampling technique. Feature selection was performed using LASSO regression. We developed, validated and tested Logistic Regression, Random Forest, and Neural Networks models using 10-fold cross-validation. Performance metrics included area under the curve, F1 Score, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, Negative Predictive Value, and Positive Predictive Value. Results The test performance results showed that the Random Forest model achieved the highest AUC (0.98) and F1 score (0.65). However, it had a modest sensitivity (0.76) and a relatively low PPV (0.56), implying a significant number of false positives. The Neural Network model also performed well with a high AUC (0.98) and reasonable F1 score (0.61), but its PPV (0.49) was lower, indicating more false positives. The Logistic Regression model, while having the lowest AUC (0.91) and F1 score (0.49), showed the highest sensitivity (0.83) with the lowest PPV (0.35). Conclusion We developed and validated three machine learning models combined with NLP techniques for unstructured texts written in Spanish. The models performed well on the validation set but showed modest performance on the test set due to data imbalance. These models could be adapted for clinical practice, though they may require additional manual work due to high false positive rates.
Internal fixation versus total hip arthroplasty for displaced femoral neck fractures in patients aged 60 to 80 years: Patient-reported outcomes and complications
Background The treatment of displaced femoral neck fractures in patients aged 60–80 years old remains controversial. Arthroplasty has been reported to have lower complication rates than internal fixation (IF). However, less is known about the outcomes as perceived by the patient. The aim of the present study (the cross-sectional study) was to evaluate the patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) of patients aged 60–80 years old with femoral neck fractures treated with IF or total hip arthroplasty (THA). Methods We investigated 92 patients affected by displaced femoral neck fractures who were treated between January 2015 and September 2022. Forty-eight patients were treated with IF, and 44 patients with THA. The outcomes were Harris Hip Score (HHS), Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS), Japanese Orthopaedic Association Hip-Disease Evaluation Questionnaire (JHEQ), visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, and VAS for patient satisfaction at 12 months postoperatively. Complications and reoperations were continuously monitored. Results The mean patient age was 68.1 ± 6.6 years. HHS, all dimensions of the HOOS and JHEQ scores, VAS for pain, and VAS for patient satisfaction at 12 months were significantly superior in the THA group compared to the IF group. All outcome measures were superior in the THA group, with mean differences exceeding their respective minimal clinically important differences or minimal detectable changes at 12 months. The rate of major reoperations was significantly higher in the IF group (14.5%) than the THA group (2.2%). Conclusion We found that patients aged 60–80 years old who underwent THA for displaced femoral neck fractures experienced better outcomes, including PROMs, than those who underwent IF. Furthermore, THA resulted in fewer reoperations than IF.
Correction: Adherence as a Predictor of Sexual Behaviors in People Living with HIV/AIDS during the First Year of Antiretroviral Therapy in Rural Cameroon: Data from Stratall ANRS 12110/ESTHER Trial
Causal relationship between schizophrenia and five types of dementia: A bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study
Background Although observational research indicates an association between schizophrenia and dementia, it is unclear whether the two are causally related. In order to examine the causal relationship between schizophrenia and five types of dementia (all-cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies), we performed a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis. Methods In this study, pooled statistics of schizophrenia and dementia were obtained from the Large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) in individuals of European ancestry. Inverse variance weighted (IVW) was the primary statistical approach used in this Mendelian randomization, to further support our findings, we also used MR-Egger, weighted median, and cML-MA. We also used a number of sensitivity analyses to evaluate pleiotropy and heterogeneity. Results In the study of the effect of schizophrenia on dementia, findings from the IVW analysis suggested that schizophrenia is associated with an increased risk of all-cause dementia (OR = 1.065, 95%CI: 1.027 ～ 1.104, P = 0.001, FDR-corrected P = 0.003), Alzheimer’s disease (OR = 1.029, 95%CI: 1.003 ～ 1.054, P = 0.027, FDR-corrected P = 0.045), and vascular dementia (OR = 1.106, 95%CI: 1.023 ～ 1.197, P = 0.012, FDR-corrected P = 0.029). In the study of the effect of dementia on schizophrenia, no form of dementia assessed in this study was found to be a risk factor for schizophrenia. Conclusion Our findings suggest that schizophrenia may be a risk factor for all-cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and vascular dementia, but no dementia of any kind was found to be a risk factor for schizophrenia. Our study provides insights into the potential genetic relationship between schizophrenia and dementia.
Swelling deformation and model calculation of Mg/Ca-bentonite under the influence of salt solution
The swelling characteristics and mechanisms of bentonite are significantly influenced by the chemical environment of the pore solution, making it essential to study its behavior under different pore solutions in various engineering applications. Taking magnesium-calcium-based bentonite (Mg/Ca-bentonite) as the research object, swelling tests with different concentrations of NaCl solution were carried out to study the effect of salt solution on the deformation characteristics of bentonite. The test results show that the soil expansion rate decreases from 43.7% to 37.1% with the increase of salt solution concentration. The swelling mechanism of bentonite under the influence of NaCl solution was explained from the aspects of lattice expansion theory, diffuse double layer (DDL) theory and comprehensive factors, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) test were introduced to further explain it from the microscopic aspect. With the increase in salt solution concentration, SEM results reveal that the soil pores become more compact and uniform. Correspondingly, the dual-peak structure observed in the MIP results transitions as the large-pore peak disappears, gradually forming a single peak within the small-pore range. Besides, the function of the swelling and time relationship curve of bentonite was fitted; the relationship model between swelling and solution concentration was established based on this, and the swelling of NaCl solution of different concentrations was simulated and verified, which provides a theoretical model basis for the practical application and numerical simulation of bentonite engineering.