Practical Performance Research Articles

Implementing Formative Assessment in Human Anatomy Practical Sessions: Medical Students' Perception and Effect on Final Exam Performance.

Formative assessment with feedback is part of the assessment program in medical education to improve students' learning. Limited research has focused on its application and impact on practical anatomy education. This study aimed to examine medical students' perceptions of formative assessment in practical anatomy sessions of body systems-based educational units and explore its influence on final practical exam performance. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted. Data was collected from 173 Year 2 medical students through a survey that addressed their perception of process and importance of formative assessment and feedback. The survey employed a 5-point Likert scale. Two open-ended questions were appended at the end of the survey. Students' performance in Unit 3 (where formative assessment was conducted) was compared to their performance in Unit 2 (where no formative assessment was conducted) and with the performance of the previous academic year's students in Unit 3 (where no formative assessment was conducted). Descriptive statistics were used. The level of statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05. Responses to open-ended questions (qualitative data) were counted, categorized as themes, and presented as frequencies and percentages. The survey showed high internal consistency, and its validity was established through exploratory factor analysis. Results showed that the mean mark for the unit with formative assessment and feedback was significantly higher than for the units without formative assessment and feedback. Students showed positive perception of formative assessment and feedback conducted after practical anatomy sessions. They reported useful insights regarding the benefits they gained from formative assessment and feedback as well as constructive suggestions for future improvements. The study indicates that students positively perceived formative assessment and feedback sessions after practical anatomy sessions. Findings also refer to a positive effect of formative assessment on students' performance in summative practical assessment in anatomy.

Team climate, job satsfaction and burnout: results from a national survey of staff in general practice in England.

Measures are needed to address recruitment and retention problems in general practice. A good team climate (relational processes of team working) can mitigate the effects of pressured work environments, but little is known about it in British general practice. To assess team climate, explore practice characteristics and workforce combinations associated with favourable team climates, and analyse associations between practice team climate and job satisfaction, intention to remain in post, burnout and measures of practice performance. An online questionnaire distributed to practices (for all their staff) via Clinical Research Networks, mid 2022, comprising validated measures: 14 item Team Climate Inventory (TCI) and single items on job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion/burnout; a question on intention to remain in post; participant role, age group, gender. Anonymous completion; submission through the Oxford RCGP RSC. Responses received from 4.8% of national staff headcount, n = 9835, (21.6% GP, 22.9% nurse/direct patient care, 55.5% non-clinical). Mean TCI score, 3.73 (scale 1-5 best); 78.3% were satisfied in their jobs; 26.1% reported high burnout. GPs perceived significantly better team climate, and reported lower job satisfaction, higher burnout (especially male GPs) and lower intention to quit than other groups. After adjusting for practice and workforce characteristics, team climate was better in smaller practices and associated with more job satisfaction, less burnout, increased intention to remain and improved patient-reported experiences; climate was unrelated to QOF performance. Team climate could be used to improve morale and patient experience. Micro teams might be beneficial in larger practices.

Evolutionary reinforcement learning with action sequence search for imperfect information games

Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) has achieved remarkable success in perfect information games. However, when applied to imperfect information games like Contract Bridge, DRL faces challenges not only from unobservable partial information but also from the lack of efficient exploration. Although several Evolutionary Reinforcement Learning algorithms (ERLs) have harnessed Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) to enhance exploration capabilities, the practical performance of EAs is limited either by the high-dimensional parameter space or possibly inaccurate guidance from value networks. In this paper, we introduce a novel ERL algorithm that employs the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm to search for superior action sequences, thereby aiding agents in exploring uncharted territory. We conduct the search in action space and evaluate action sequences through interactions with the environment to avoid the limitations of parameter space and value networks, respectively. The diverse experiences collected in the search and evaluation can boost the learning of the DRL agent. In addition, the action sequence search is executed only when the agent converges to local optima, which can reduce the overall cost of action evaluation and avoid influencing the optimization process of DRL. Through experimental comparisons conducted on Contract Bridge, our method demonstrates superior performance when compared with several state-of-the-art DRL and ERL algorithms. Furthermore, we utilize our method in the Bridge Competition of AAMAS 2023 Imperfect Information Card Games Competition and rank the first.

Exploring the interpretation techniques in Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 Prelude: A theoretical and practical approach to baroque performance practice

This study investigates the essential strategies for interpreting Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 Prelude, with a specific emphasis on historically informed performance practices (HIP). The focus of this study is the intricate implementation of Baroque performance methods, including slurs, detached notes, double stops, cross-string techniques, and ornamentation. These skills are crucial for providing a faithful interpretation of Bach's music. The significance of this research is to connect historical performance techniques with present interpretative approaches, guaranteeing that contemporary performers may give performances that are both historically precise and emotionally captivating. The research methodology employed in this study involves an extensive examination of relevant literature, specifically focusing on the contributions of prominent academics such as Frederick Neumann, David Schulenberg, and Jean Claude Veilhan. These scholars have offered valuable insights into the fundamental aspects of Baroque performance practices. Furthermore, this analysis examines the incorporation of historical knowledge with contemporary performance practices by studying the practical insights of esteemed cellists such as Anner Bylsma and Pieter Wispelwey. This dual approach enables a comprehensive comprehension of both the theoretical foundations and actual implementations of the performance strategies in question. This research emphasizes the crucial function of slurs in producing smooth and connected phrasing, the significance of detached notes for precise rhythm, the utilization of double stops and cross-string techniques to enhance harmonic richness and technical complexity, and the importance of ornamentation in deepening the expressive quality of the Prelude. This research offers a complete framework for interpreting Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 Prelude by combining theoretical analysis with practical performance suggestions. This technique not only respects the artistic authenticity of Baroque music but also guarantees that Bach's enduring masterpiece remains relevant to contemporary audiences, thus contributing to the continuous development of classical music performance.

School Occupational Health and Safety Performance Scale: Validity and Reliability Study for Scale Development

The aim of this study is to develope a scale to evaluate the performance of occupational health and safety practices in schools. The form created for this purpose was presented to experts and the content validity rates of the items were determined in line with the feedback received. The items with a content validity ratio below .80 were excluded from the study. The 49-item trial form was applied via e-mail to 990 teachers working at primary, secondary, and high school levels in public and private schools in İstanbul, affiliated with the Ministry of National Education, and the data obtained were analyzed. With exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), a two-dimensional structure consisting of 40 items in total revealed "Occupational Health and Safety Training Practices Applied in Schools" and "Occupational Health and Safety Practices Applied in Schools, Managerial Precautions and Precautions". It was determined that the goodness of-fit indices of the model were quite high. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) also confirmed the EFA results. The obtained correlation coefficients were examined. Item-total score correlation coefficients were between r = .878 and r = .650, and a significant relationship was observed at the p &lt; .01 level. The internal consistency coefficient obtained for the entire scale was .92. There was a significant (p&lt; 0.05) difference between the items and the total score between the 27% lower and 27% upper groups. It was determined that this difference was in favor of the upper 27% group. There was high reliability in the items on the scale, and the items were distinguishable on the basis of the characteristics the scorers of the scale were looking for.

Lithium niobate on insulator – fundamental opto-electronic properties and photonic device prospects

Abstract Lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) combines a variety of optoelectronic properties and can meet practical performance requirements that are uncommon in optoelectronic materials. This review introduces the fundamentals and the photonic device concepts that arise from the LNOI materials platform. Firstly, the nonlinear optical response of LNOI is presented, including birefringent phase matching (BPM), modal phase matching (MPM), and quasi-phase matching (QPM). The tunable properties are also introduced, including electro-optical (EO), thermo-optical (TO), and acousto-optical (AO) effects. The structures of nonlinear optical devices, such as ridge waveguides (including periodically polarized inversion waveguides), Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) modulators and micro-resonators (such as disks and rings) are demonstrated. Finally, the future of LNOI devices is discussed. In the already mature and developed optoelectronic material systems, it is rare to find one particular material system supporting so many basic optical components, photonic devices and optoelectronic devices as LNOI does in the field of integrated photonic chips.

Detection of partial discharge patterns in hybrid high voltage power transmission lines based on parallel recognition method

Due to their specially designed structures, the partial discharge detection of hybrid high-voltage power transmission lines (HHVPTL) composed of overhead lines and power cables has made it difficult to monitor the conditions of power transmission lines. A parallel recognition method for partial discharge patterns of HHVPTLs is proposed by implementing wavelet analysis and improved backpropagation neural network (BPNN) to address the shortcomings of low efficiency, poor accuracy, and inability to parallel analysis of current partial discharge (PD) detection algorithms for HHVPTLs. Firstly, considering the non-smoothness of the partial discharge of the HHVPTLs, the wavelet packet decomposition algorithm is implemented to decompose the PD of the HHVPTL and resolve the relevant signal indicators to form the attribute vectors. Then, BPNN is implemented as a classification model. A beetle optimization (DBO) algorithm based on orthogonal contrastive learning improvement is introduced to optimize the BPNN parameters since BPNN has a slow convergence problem and fails easily into a local optimum. The proposed IDBO-BPNN is employed as the model that recognizes and analyzes the parallel partial discharge patterns of HHVPTLs. Finally, the suggested model is implemented to investigate the local discharge data of an HHVPTL in the Kaggle Featured Prediction Competition and is compared with other algorithms. The experimental results indicate that the proposed model can more accurately identify whether PDs occur in an HHVPTL and detect phases where PDs occur, with higher overall accuracy and efficiency. An excellent practical performance is achieved. The proposed model can achieve the recognition accuracy of 95.5%, which is 5.3333% higher than that of the DBO-BPNN and far more than other recognition algorithms.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Persian Version of Spiritual Self-Care Practice Scale in Iranian Patients with Cancer.

Spiritual self-care is defined as a set of patient-centered or family-centered spiritual activities aimed at promoting health and well-being. In chronic diseases such as cancer, the responsibility for care typically falls on the patient or their family, necessitating an accurate assessment of the patient's self-care practices to achieve this goal. The objective of this study was to translate, culturally adapt, and examine the psychometrics of the Persian version of the spiritual self-care practice scale (SSCPS) in cancer patients. This scale is designed to be administered directly to patients to assess their spiritual self-care practices. This cross-sectional study was conducted at the oncology ward in Afzalipoor Hospital, Javad Al-Aemeh Clinic, and Physicians Clinics affiliated with Kerman University of Medical Sciences in Kerman, southeast Iran. The study included qualitative and quantitative assessments of face validity, content validity, item analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (construct validity), and reliability. Data collection took place between March 20, 2023, and December 30, 2023. The scale's content validity index was calculated to be 0.948, with mostly minor revision comments for most items. The item-content validity indices ranged from 0.7 to 1. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a five-factor solution with 23 items, explaining 61.251% of the total variance. The identified factors were labeled as 'personal and interpersonal spiritual practices,' 'shaping and strengthening relationship practices,' 'religious practices,' 'physical spiritual practices,' and 'reshaping relationship practices.' Most of the confirmatory factor analysis indices were satisfactory (χ2/df = 1.665, CFI = 0.934, IFI = 0.935, RMSEA = 0.058). The Cronbach's α coefficient for the total scale was 0.89, while it ranged from 0.596 to 0.882 for the subscales. The Persian version of SSCPS with 23 items demonstrates reliability and effectiveness in assessing the spiritual practice performance of Iranian cancer patients. Compared to the original version, the Persian adaptation of SSCPS is concise, making it a suitable instrument for future research and practice on spiritual self-care among Iranian cancer patients.

Multifunctional fluorescence/photoacoustic bimodal imaging of γ-glutamyltranspeptidase in liver disorders under different triggering conditions

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) seriously threatens the human health. Previous investigations revealed that γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) was tightly associated with the chronic injury, hepatic fibrosis, and the development of HCC, therefore might act as a potential indicator for monitoring the HCC-related processes. Herein, with the contribution of a structurally optimized probe ETYZE-GGT, the bimodal imaging in both far red fluorescence (FL) and photoacoustic (PA) modes has been achieved in multiple HCC-related models. To our knowledge, this work covered the most comprehensive models including the fibrosis and developed HCC processes as well as the premonitory induction stages (autoimmune hepatitis, drug-induced liver injury, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease). ETYZE-GGT exhibited steady and practical monitoring performances on reporting the HCC stages via visualizing the GGT dynamics. The two modes exhibited working consistency and complementarity with high spatial resolution, precise apparatus and desirable biocompatibility. In cooperation with the existing techniques including testing serum indexes and conducting pathological staining, ETYZE-GGT basically realized the universal application for the accurate pre-clinical diagnosis of as many HCC stages as possible. By deeply exploring the mechanically correlation between GGT and the HCC process, especially during the premonitory induction stages, we may further raise the efficacy for the early diagnosis and treatment of HCC.

Human Resource Management Practices and Organizational Performance: Towards a Proposed Employee Engagement Program

The management of human resources in education is crucial, and failing to do so could have dire repercussions. This is due to the fact that education professionals are a key tool for attaining educational objectives and, as a result, contributing to national development. This study assessed the human resource management practices and their effect on organizational performance at School C in Shanxi Province, China. The researcher used adapted questionnaires that assessed the HRM practices in their school in terms of Compensation and benefits, training and development, and performance evaluation. Additionally, they assessed the performance of the organization based on their perceptions of its organization and governance, academic programs and curricula, institutional resources, and quality assurance. The participants in this study were 212 non-teaching employees from the various departments at School C in Shanxi Province, China. The goal of this research was to propose an employee engagement program designed to boost employee engagement, enhance HRM practices, foster a positive work environment, and ultimately improve overall organizational performance.

Scaling to practical pouch cell supercapacitor: Electrodes by electrophoretic deposition

The scale-up of supercapacitors by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) from coin cell to pouch cell with commercially relevant mass loadings and thicknesses is reported. The use of EPD in electrode fabrication mainly reduces the interfacial resistance and increases the mechanical flexibility of the electrodes. The cycling performance or conversion efficiency can also be improved due to the highly porous EPD coatings. An exemplary investigation of activated carbon (AC) electrodes with an electrolyte comprising of tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate in acetonitrile is carried out. According to the general literature, EPD of AC on metal substrates has not performed well for supercapacitor electrodes unless they were thinner and with lower mass loadings than commercial requirements. As a consequence, and to redress this research gap, all the electrodes prepared in this work demonstrate high mass loadings (8 mg cm−2) and practical layer thicknesses (125 µm) and contain polyvinylidene fluoride binders with electrically conductive carbon black particles. Research investigations include: (a) impact of EPD of AC onto small (10 cm2) and large areas (50 cm2) of aluminum foil current collectors, (b) scaling-up of coin to pouch cells, and (c) the preparation of electrode coatings on both sides of the current collector for the first time using EPD for pouch cell investigations. Our research learning shows the evidence of practical cell performance, including current loading (40 A g−1), tens of thousands of successive charge and discharge operation (150,000 cycles), power (30 kW kg−1) and energy densities (10 W h kg−1), capacitance (154 F g−1), capacitance retention (80%) and coulombic efficiency (relatively close to 100%). Based upon the success of the pouch cells investigated in this work, further research studies on the use of EPD for preparing energy storage electrodes for commercial cylindrical types of supercapacitors is envisaged.

Pulsed field ablation for atrial fibrillation: efficacy, safety and lesion durability in patients with recurrences

Abstract Background Initial findings from feasibility studies regarding pulsed field ablation (PFA) for atrial fibrillation (AF) indicated substantial efficacy and safety of the procedure, including high rates of lesion durability upon systematic remapping. However, data regarding PFA for AF in real-life settings remains scarce. Objective This pooled analysis was conducted to provide insights into PFA’s practical performance and safety profile in real-life settings, as well as information regarding lesion durability in patients with arrhythmia recurrences. Methods MEDLINE/EMBASE databases were searched up to August 31, 2023 for studies including patients undergoing catheter ablation for AF using PFA. Independent searches were performed by 2 investigators (K.B. and K.V.). Feasibility studies, first-in-human studies, small studies with population overlap, and those with a follow-up duration shorter than one year were excluded from the analysis. Authors were contacted for missing information or to confirm the absence of population overlap. Two investigators (K.B. and K.V.) independently extracted data from studies meeting inclusion criteria. Any discrepancies were resolved by a third experienced reviewer. Results We assessed for relevance a total of 952 references. Five studies met the inclusion criteria (comprising of 1 randomized trial, 2 single arm prospective trials, and 2 post-market registries), with a combined cohort of 2,359 patients who underwent PFA for AF. The pooled rate of acute PVI was 99.6% (95%CI 99.2-99.8, I2:7%). The pooled one-year rates of freedom from atrial arrhythmia for individuals with paroxysmal or persistent AF were 79.5% (95%CI 75.7-83.1, I2:70%) and 67.5% (95%CI 60.9-73.7, I2:60%), respectively. Among patients who underwent repeat catheter ablation for AF recurrences (n=197), the pooled rate of durable PVI per patient was 48.9% (95%CI 30.4-67.7, I2:71%), while durable PVI per vein was 74.1% (95%CI 65.1-82.2, I2: 75%). Incidence of overall complications and serious procedure-related complications were 1.8% (95% CI: 0.2-4.8, I2: 92%) and 0.9% (95% CI: 0.3-1.7, I2:59%), respectively. The most prevalent complication types were access site complications (48.6%), pericardial effusions/tamponades (24.8%) and stroke/transient ischemic attack (9.5%). No esophageal damage or PV stenosis were reported . There was one case of persistent phrenic nerve palsy and two cases of reversible coronary spasm (during ablation along the posterior mitral isthmus, and during PVI, both resolving with intracoronary nitroglycerin). Conclusion This pooled analysis confirms that catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation using pulsed field ablation is associated with high rates of atrial arrhythmia-free survival at one year while maintaining low rates of procedure-related complications. Durable pulmonary vein isolation is observed in approximately half of the patients undergoing a repeat procedure for atrial fibrillation recurrence.

Quasi-Homogeneous Photocatalysis in Ultrastiff Microporous Polymer Aerogels.

The development of efficient and low-cost catalysts is essential for photocatalysis; however, the intrinsically low photocatalytic efficiency as well as the difficulty in using and recycling photocatalysts in powder morphology greatly limit their practical performance. Herein, we describe quasi-homogeneous photocatalysis to overcome these two limitations by constructing ultrastiff, hierarchically porous, and photoactive aerogels of conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs). The CMP aerogels exhibit low density but high stiffness beyond 105 m2 s-2, outperforming most low-density materials. Extraordinary stiffness ensures their use as robust scaffolds for scaled photocatalysis and recycling without damage at the macroscopic level. A challenging but desirable reaction for direct deaminative borylation is demonstrated using CMP aerogel-based quasi-homogeneous photocatalysis with gram-scale productivity and record-high efficiency under ambient conditions. Combined terahertz and transient absorption spectroscopic studies unveil the generation of high-mobility free carriers and long-lived excitonic species in the CMP aerogels, underlying the observed superior catalytic performance.

Empirical Study on Procurement Planning Practices and Procurement Performance of Centenary Bank, Uganda

Purpose: Commercial banks have over time had procurement performance challenges owing from the poor procurement planning as reported in different procurement management literature. This study was carried out to examine the relationship between procurement planning and procurement performance of Centenary Bank Mapeera (CBM). Materials and Methods: Cross sectional survey research design was used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from centenary bank team leaders, tender committee members, procurement officers, legal officers, procurement and disposal unit staff, credit officers, branch management officers and from prequalified suppliers and provider’s FY 2022/23. From a total population of 190 employees, a sample size of 129 was determined using Slovin’s (1965) formula. Specific random and none random sampling techniques were used to select respondents. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview guide and was analyzed using correlation and thematic analysis techniques. Findings: The findings displayed in the correlation analysis results for CBM (r = 0.653, p&lt;.01) show a significant positive relationship between the predictor variable and the outcome variable. Specifically, budgeting and procurement performance at CBM were positive and significant (r =0.532, p&lt;.01); needs assessment and procurement performance were significant and positive (r =0.484, p&lt;.01); however, for contract administration and procurement performance the relationship was positive but none significant (r =0.613, p&gt;.05). The likely explanation here could have been the fact that entities are geared towards cost reduction at the cost of quality improvement which would be possible through procurement planning. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: From this study it is envisaged that commercial banks which institute systematic procurement planning systems would realize improvement in procurement performance. Keywords: Procurement, Performance, Central Bank, Uganda, Planning JEL Classification Codes: H32; H57; J18; L91; M21;

Research on the Effect of Design Thinking on Enterprise Sustainable Innovation Ability and Team Performance

Design thinking is an interdisciplinary problem-solving approach that combines user-centered focus, challenge framing, visual thinking, experimental methods, and cross-functional collaboration. It has always been regarded as an important means to improve corporate sustainable innovation capabilities and team performance. However, its effectiveness is a controversial topic, with some proponents praising its ability to solve systemic problems while others question its applicability within traditional business processes and its impact on sustainable innovation success. Because of its exploratory nature, there is currently a lack of quantitative empirical research on its impact. Therefore, this study takes Huawei’s electric vehicle R&amp;D sustainable innovation project as an example to explore the impact of design thinking on corporate sustainable innovation capabilities and team performance by analyzing the relationship between design thinking and team empowerment. The study included hypotheses, semi-structured qualitative interviews, quantitative questionnaire data, and structured equation model analysis. This study reveals the mechanism by which design thinking operates in industrial enterprises. There is a positive correlation between design thinking practice and team performance in sustainable innovation projects. Moreover, through the regulation of design thinking, team performance can be strengthened. However, the applicability of design thinking in highly sustainable innovation environments needs further research. In summary, this study provides fundamental insights into the complex relationships between design thinking, corporate sustainable innovation, and team performance, and provides direction for future research.

Strongly Tail-Optimal Scheduling in the Light-Tailed M/G/1

We study the problem of scheduling jobs in a queueing system, specifically an M/G/1 with light-tailed job sizes, to asymptotically optimize the response time tail. This means scheduling to make \mathbfP [T &gt; t], the chance a job's response time exceeds t, decay as quickly as possible in the t \to \infty limit. For some time, the best known policy was First-Come First-Served (FCFS), which has an asymptotically exponential tail: \mathbfP [T &gt; t] \sim C e^-γ t . FCFS achieves the optimal *decay rate* γ, but its *tail constant* C is suboptimal. Only recently have policies that improve upon FCFS's tail constant been discovered. But it is unknown what the optimal tail constant is, let alone what policy might achieve it. In this paper, we derive a closed-form expression for the optimal tail constant C, and we introduce *γ-Boost*, a new policy that achieves this optimal tail constant. Roughly speaking, γ-Boost operates similarly to FCFS, but it pretends that small jobs arrive earlier than their true arrival times. This significantly reduces the response time of small jobs without unduly delaying large jobs, improving upon FCFS's tail constant by up to 50% with only moderate job size variability, with even larger improvements for higher variability. While these results are for systems with full job size information, we also introduce and analyze a version of γ-Boost that works in settings with partial job size information, showing it too achieves significant gains over FCFS. Finally, we show via simulation that γ-Boost has excellent practical performance.

Teaching Reform of Clinical Medicine Gastroenterology Based on Case-Based Learning and Experiential Teaching Concepts

Objective: To explore the value of the application of case-based learning (CBL) and experiential teaching concepts in the teaching reform of clinical medicine gastroenterology. Methods: 70 clinical medicine students who interned in the Department of Gastroenterology of our hospital from May 2022 to April 2023 were selected and divided into the control group and the study group of 35 each using the mean score method. The CBL teaching model was adopted in the control group and the CBL combined with experiential teaching model was adopted in the study group. At the end of the internship, Mini-CEX (mini-clinical evaluation exercise) scores, medical record writing scores, and teaching satisfaction surveys were applied to assess the teaching effects of the two groups. Results: All scores in the Mini-CEX evaluation scale of the students in the study group were higher than those of the control group (P &lt; 0.05); the assessment scores of the students in the study group in the areas of chief complaint, history of other diseases, and psychiatric examination were significantly higher than those of the control group (P &lt; 0.05); and the teaching satisfaction of the students in the study group was higher (94.29%) than that of the control group (71.43%), and the difference was statistically significant (P &lt; 0.05). Conclusion: The teaching effect of clinical medicine gastroenterology based on CBL and experiential teaching concepts is good, which can effectively improve the theoretical and practical performance of interns and increase teaching satisfaction, and it is worth popularizing and applying in the practice of clinical teaching reform.

Dual-Interface Solar Evaporator with Highly-Efficient Thermal Regulation via Suspended Multilayer Design.

Facing the increasing global shortage of freshwater resources, this study presents a suspended multilayer evaporator (SMLE), designed to tackle the principal issues plaguing current solar-driven interfacial evaporation technologies, specifically, substantial thermal losses and limited water production. This approach, through the implementation of a multilayer structural design, enables superior thermal regulation throughout the evaporation process. This evaporator consists of a radiation damping layer, a photothermal conversion layer, and a bottom layer that leverages radiation, wherein the bottom layer exhibits a notable infrared emissivity. The distinctive feature of the design effectively reduces radiative heat loss and facilitates dual-interface evaporation by heating the water surface through mid-infrared radiation. The refined design leads to a notable evaporation rate of 2.83kg m-2 h-1. Numerical simulations and practical performance evaluations validate the effectiveness of the multilayer evaporator in actual use scenarios. This energy-recycling and dual-interface evaporation multilayered approach propels the design of high-efficiency solar-driven interfacial evaporators forward, presenting new insights into developing effective water-energy transformation systems.

The effect of induced happiness versus sadness on three types of self-control tasks

ABSTRACT How can people succeed in situations that require self-control? One mechanism might be through positive emotions such as happiness, although previous studies are limited and have yielded inconsistent results. Three studies (total N = 424) therefore examined the effect of induced happiness versus sadness on three different self-control tasks that required delaying gratification (Study 1), persistence on an aversive task (Study 2), and breaking a habitual response (Study 3). Results showed that happiness improved performance on these tasks compared to sadness, while controlling for baseline emotions, practice performance, and trait self-control. This research advances our causal knowledge of the facilitating effect of happiness versus sadness on tasks that measure different self-control components, and has important practical implications that we discuss.

Within-Match Performance Fluctuations: Assessment and Observed vs. Expected Extent in Table Tennis.

This study aimed to assess within-match performance fluctuations in table tennis by utilising a dynamic performance indicator, a tailored version of a double moving average. This performance indicator applied to the sequence of wins and losses per rally, modelled a player's momentary point-winning probability or playing strength. Binomial distribution and Monte Carlo simulations were employed to obtain the expected distributions of double moving averages and their kurtosis. A total of two hundred and eleven single matches from the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games were examined to characterise the extent of empirical fluctuations and to test for deviations from the expected fluctuations. Results showed that there were large within-match fluctuations (average IQR per match = 0.27). In addition, only one out of the two hundred and eleven matches exhibited a significant deviation from the stochastically expected double moving average distribution. This deviation was observed in the kurtosis of sixteen matches (7.6%). These findings underline the importance of considering within-match dynamic changes when conducting theoretical or practical performance analyses. This consideration should also extend to other performance indicators and various sports games.