Important Value Research Articles

Iron oxyhydroxide catalyzes production of artificial humic substances from waste biomass

Production of artificial humic substances (AHS) from waste biomass will contribute to environmental protection and agricultural productivity. However, there is still a lack of a faster, more efficient and eco-friendly way for sustainable production. In this study, we proposed a method to accelerate the production of AHS from cotton stalks by mild pyrolysis and H2O2 oxidation in only 4 hours, and investigated the formation of AHS during biomass transformation. We found that the process increased the aromatic matrix and facilitated biomass transformation by enhancing the depolymerization of lignin into micromolecular phenolics (e.g., guaiacol, p-ethyl guaiacol, etc.). The optimum conditions of pyrolysis at 250 °C and oxidation with 6 mL H2O2 (5 wt%) yielded up to 19.28 ± 1.30 wt% artificial humic acid (AHA) from cotton stalks. In addition, we used iron oxyhydroxide (FeOOH) to catalyze biomass transformation and investigated the effect of FeOOH on the composition and properties of AHS. 1.5 wt% FeOOH promoted the increased content of artificial fulvic acid (AFA) in AHS from 10.1% to 26.5%, eventually improving the activity of AHS. FeOOH raised the content of oxygen-containing groups, such as carboxylic acids and aldehyde, and significantly increased polysaccharide (10.94%–18.95%) and protein (1.95%–2.18%) derivatives. Polymerization of amino acid analogs and many small-molecule carbohydrates (e.g., furans, aldehydes, ketones, and their derivatives) promoted AFA formation. Finally, carbon flow analysis and maize incubation tests confirmed that AHS were expected to achieve carbon emission reductions and reduce environmental pollution from fertilizers. This study provides a sustainable strategy for the accelerated production of AHS, which has important application value for waste biomass resource utilization.

The Extern of Practicing Islamic Values Among Al Ain University Students and The University’s Role in Developing Them

The study aimed to know the reality of practicing Islamic values among Al Ain University students and the university’s role in developing them. To achieve the goal, the researchers designed the study tool, which is a questionnaire consisting of (25) items distributed in one field, which is “Islamic values.” Its validity and apparent reliability were confirmed, and it was distributed to the study sample consisting of (1,100) male and female students at Al Ain University. The study concluded that the reality of practicing Islamic values has reached a significant degree. The study also showed that there were no statistically significant differences due to the gender variable. The study also showed that there are 15 items that the study sample members agreed were important and effective values that the university works to develop among students through courses, workshops, seminars, and everything related to the environment.

User involvement in the design of outdoor environments to support mental health recovery—From reflection to action

One out of eight people worldwide struggles with mental health illnesses. The treatment is slowly shifting from a biomedical perspective, primarily paying attention to symptom reduction and medicine, towards a more holistic and recovery-oriented perspective. At the same time research shows that the outdoor environment can help relieve pain and stress and improve mental well-being. The study presents a practice-oriented method, inspired by evidence-based design, for developing a master plan for two outdoor gardens at a Mental Health Center in the Capital Region of Denmark. We aimed to provide guidelines for how to set up and perform a flexible design process that combines established knowledge with the needs of the patients and staff. The empirical data were collected through a systematic literature review, semi-structured interviews with patients and staff, workshops and presentations at two different mental health units. The two case studies showed good results in involving patients and staff in the design process and based on the findings of our study involving users. In conclusion, it was apparent that the use of interdisciplinary collaboration informed the design outcome. Based on the two cases, the following advice can be given to the architectural profession: Architects should integrate interdisciplinary knowledge into the design process of outdoor facilities for people with special needs. Interdisciplinary knowledge and user involvement complement each other by adding important site-specific details from the user to the more general design guidelines. This way, the design becomes more nuanced and customized to the users of a specific site. The study showed how architects can import knowledge, skills and values from other disciplines such as environmental psychology to improve the decision-making process of future projects for the benefits of mental patients.

Development and validation of nurse's assessment ability questionnaire in delirium subtypes: Based on Delphi expert consensus.

Delirium, a common occurrence in clinical work, can be divided into three subtypes according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5 th Edition (DSM-5). Each subtype has its special significance and focus. As the primary caregivers and observer of delirious patients, nurses should be able to quickly and accurately indentify each subtype. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify nurses' assessment ability of delirium subtypes. However, there is currently no suitable questionnaire available for investigating nurses' assessment ability of delirium subtypes. To develop a scientifically validated questionnaire for assessing nursing assessment ability of delirium subtypes based on Knowledge-Attitude-Practice(KAP) Model. The questionnaire was conducted from October 2021 to February 2022 to assess the KAP status of nurses the regarding delirium subtype. A two-round Delphi Method was employed to revise the draft questionnaire, ensuring the importance and rationality of each item. Ten experts specializing in critically ill patients, clinical nursing, and nursing management were invited from seven provinces in China for the Delphi process. Additionally, we validated the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. The return rate in the first and second rounds were 83% and 100%, respectively. The individual authority coefficients for the two rounds of correspondence ranged from 0.787 to 0.987, while the overall authority coefficient of experts was 0.866. Kendall's coefficient of coordination for the importance scores were found to be 0.192 and 0.156, respectively, whereas those for rationality scores were calculated as 0.149 and 0.141, respectively. Notably, all mean values of importance and rationality scores in the two rounds were exceeded a threshold of 4.10 across both rounds of assessment with coefficient variations (CV) ranging from 0.00 to 0.19 for importance ratings and 0.00 to 0.16 for rationality ratings, both of which were <0.25. Experts proposed modifications to eleven items while introducing four new ones into consideration during this process; thus ensuring that reliability and validity standards were met by the final questionnaire design which consists of a total of thirty-seven items distributed across four dimensions: delirium subtype-related knowledge, assessment attitude, assessment practice, and knowledge source-thereby establishing its clinical relevance as a reliable scientific instrument. The development process is both scientific and theoretical, encompassing reliable expert correspondence results and a diverse range of question formats. As thus, effectively captures the current landscape of delirium subtypes assessment among clinical nurses from multiple perspectives, including knowledge level and source, attitude, assessment behavior, and assessment barriers. It offers comprehensive and detailed insights.

Groups or values? Testing the effectiveness of online social cure, group‐affirmation, and self‐affirmation manipulations on wellbeing outcomes

AbstractWe tested the effectiveness of three brief, online manipulations theorised to have beneficial effects on wellbeing: a social cure manipulation priming important group memberships, a self‐affirmation manipulation priming important values, and a group‐affirmation manipulation priming values important to one's group. A control condition required respondents to reflect on films. Study 1 (N = 201) had no explicit stressor, whereas study 2 (N = 379) had an acute stressor immediately before the manipulations. The outcomes were a set of hedonic, evaluative, and eudaimonic wellbeing measures. With no acute stressor, all three manipulations boosted wellbeing perceptions, but in diverse ways. After a stressor, the social cure manipulation was the most frequent predictor. In all cases, main effects of the manipulations boosted wellbeing perceptions; however, where effects were moderated by baseline anxiety or stress induced by the stressor, the benefits were restricted to those lower in anxiety and stress. Overall, the results lend support to the idea that brief online manipulations, especially ones priming collective identities, can be beneficial for wellbeing. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

Effect of Integrated Weed Management Practices on Weed Dynamics, Growth Performance and Yield of Direct Sown Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana L.)

Background: Finger millet is an important dryland crops since they can tolerate unfavorable weather and are frequently planted in soils with low nutrient and poor water holding capacity in soils. The main cause for yield loss is weed infestation which occurs in finger millet. Several integrated weed management techniques were carried out to control them particularly and to increase yield which benefits farmers. Methods: In this context a field experiment was conducted in Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore, during Rabi season of 2022-23 in direct sown finger millet under irrigated condition. The experiment was laid out in RCBD with ten treatments and three replications viz., PE pendimethalin @ 0.75 kg ha-1 8 DAS + Hand weeding @ 35 DAS, PoE 2,4-D @ 2 kg ha-1 40 DAS + Hand weeding @ 35 DAS, PE pretilachlor @ 0.75 kg ha-1 8 DAS + Hand weeding @ 35 DAS, PoE 2,4-D @ 2 kg ha-1 40 DAS + Twin wheel hoe @ 30 DAS, PE pendimethalin @ 0.75 kg ha-1 8 DAS + Twin wheel hoe @ 30 DAS, PE pretilachlor @ 0.75 kg ha-1 8 DAS + Twin wheel hoe @ 30 DAS, Hand weeding @ 25 and 40 DAS, Twin wheel hoe @ 25 and 40 DAS, Hand weeding @ 25 DAS + Twin wheel hoe @ 40 DAS and Unweeded control. The CO 14 finger millet was used a test variety with 110 days medium duration. Result: The result showed that pre-emergence pretilachlor @ 0.75 kg ha-1 8 DAS + Twin wheel hoe weeding @ 30 DAS significantly decreased weed density, importance value index and summed dominance ratio of weeds with higher weed control. The same treatment combination recorded higher plant height (115.8 cm) and grain yield (2368 kg ha-1) at harvest.

Multidimensional Measurement and Regulation of Regional Coordinated and Balanced Development Levels: Using the Yangtze River Delta Region in China as an Example

In recent years, the problem of unbalanced and insufficient development in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region has become increasingly prominent, posing higher requirements for regional coordinated development. Based on elucidating the connotations of the balanced development of regional coordination, this article constructed an evaluation index system for the balanced development of regional coordination in the YRD region in 12 dimensions, such as people’s living standards, basic public services, and beautiful ecology. It attempted to quantitatively reveal the level of balanced development of regional coordination in the YRD region in 2020 and develop optimization strategies using mathematical models such as the entropy method, spatial autocorrelation, and the Gini coefficient, which have important value for clarifying the inherent contradictions in the balanced development of regional coordination in this region and promoting regional sustainable development. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) At the provincial level, Jiangsu Province won in two sub-categories, coordination and integration; Zhejiang won in the balance sub-category; and Anhui performed better in the integration sub-category. (2) The main reasons for the significant differences between the cities were the public basic services in the equilibrium index, the industrial coordination and human–nature coordination in the coordination index, and the market unity sub-item in the integration index. (3) Based on the coordinated and balanced development level in each city’s regions, four types of regulatory areas were further divided, namely, key development areas, optimized development areas, relatively underdeveloped areas, and important safety barrier areas. Differentiated regulatory policies were proposed for these areas.

Assessment of Alterations in Settlement Patterns of Agricultural Landscape in the Example of Kashubia in Poland

Traditional agricultural landscapes are heavily exposed to change due to their relatively low agricultural productivity. However, they represent cultural values of great importance in maintaining the resilience of the environment and society. Although their cultural potential is important for sustainable development, it is still insufficiently recognized. The article fills this gap by examining old farmstead buildings as a distinguishing element of the agricultural landscape. The study was conducted in Poland in the area of farm settlements in Kashubia. A spatial database and archival maps were used for comparison of the spatial distribution and the number of farmsteads and buildings in 1937 and 2020. The types of settlements in the selected area of research were recorded and classified. The results obtained from the study may support the spatial planning and local management of agricultural areas for the purpose of preserving rural identity and economy.

Cultural care and Aboriginal land rights in New South Wales

AbstractAn appreciation of Aboriginal land rights in New South Wales (NSW) is characterised by two dominant narratives. One is that land rights are central to achieving and advancing recognition and support for the existence and survival of Aboriginal peoples in the settled spaces of south‐eastern Australia. In this view, Aboriginal land rights realise intrinsic political power. The second dominant narrative is that the land estate restituted to Aboriginal people's Local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALCs) is to be “activated” and “leveraged” for economic prosperity of collectively defined groups and shared to support and sustain individuals and families. This perspective holds that land enables realisation of wealth and prosperity. Although these narratives are based in truth, they have served to make some important work and values held by Aboriginal people less visible in any evaluation of the benefits of land rights. It is this less visible work the work of care that is unique to Aboriginal worlds and made possible by the resources and structures of LALCs realised through the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, 1983.

3D pore structure characterization and permeability anisotropy visualization simulation of fusain

The Jurassic‒Cretaceous coal seams in northern China are rich in fusains, and the pore size of the residual plant tissue in fusains is much larger than the limit value of seepage pores and even larger than that of some microfractures in coal. Therefore, understanding the 3D pore structure and permeability of fusains is helpful for determining the physical characteristics of inertinite-rich coal reservoirs. The porosity of the fusain varies widely, the pore structure has obvious directivity, and this study summarizes three pore types. Based on the visual distribution module of fluid migration, three types of seepage models of fusains were established, including the tubular cell structure seepage model, the broken cell wall pore seepage model, and the complete cell structure surface barrier seepage model. The results of the physical simulation verify the rationality of the three seepage models and show that the degree of fusification and cell pore fragmentation strongly affect the permeability of the fusain. For a low-rank coal reservoir with a rich fusain, the overall pore permeability is high, which is conducive to the seepage production of coalbed methane and is an important reference value for high-permeability layer selection.

Study on the diagnostic value of MDCT extramural vascular invasion in preoperative N staging of gastric cancer patients

BackgroundTo explore the diagnostic value of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) extramural vascular invasion (EMVI) in preoperative N Staging of gastric cancer patients.MethodsAccording to the MR-defined EMVI scoring standard of rectal cancer, we developed a 5-point scale scoring system to evaluate the status of CT-detected extramural vascular invasion(ctEMVI), 0–2 points were ctEMVI-negative status, and 3–4 points were positive status for ctEMVI. Patients were divided into ctEMVI positive group and ctEMVI negative group. The correlation between ctEMVI and clinical features was analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of ctEMVI for pathological metastatic lymph nodes and N staging, The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of pathological N staging using ctEMVI and short-axis diameter were generated and compared.ResultsThe occurrence rate of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) and proportion of tumors with a greatest diameter > 6 cm in the ctEMVI positive group was higher than that in the ctEMVI negative group (P < 0.05). Spearman correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between ctEMVI and LVI, N stage, and tumor size (P < 0.05). For ctEMVI scores ≥ 3,The AUC of ctEMVI for diagnosing lymph node metastasis, N stage ≥ N2, and N3 stage were 0.857, 0.802, and 0.758, respectively. The sensitivity, NPV and accuracy of ctEMVI for diagnosing N stage ≥ N2 were superior to those of short-axis diameter (P < 0.05), while sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of ctEMVI for diagnosing N3 stage were superior to those of short-axis diameter (P < 0.05).ConclusionctEMVI has important value in diagnosing metastatic lymph nodes and advanced N staging. As an important imaging marker, ctEMVI can be included in the preoperative imaging evaluation of patients, providing important assistance for clinical guidance and treatment.

Predicting CKD progression using time-series clustering and light gradient boosting machines

Predicting the transition of kidney function in chronic kidney disease is difficult as specific symptoms are lacking and often overlooked, and progress occurs due to complicating factors. In this study, we applied time-series cluster analysis and a light gradient boosting machine to predict the trajectories of kidney function in non-dialysis dependent chronic kidney disease patients with baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) ≥ 45 mL/min/1.73 m2. Based on 5-year changes in estimated GFR, participants were stratified into groups with similar trajectories by cluster analysis. Next, we applied the light gradient boosting machine algorithm and Shapley addictive explanation to develop a prediction model for clusters and identify important parameters for prediction. Data from 780 participants were available for analysis. Participants were classified into five classes (Class 1: n = 78, mean [± standard deviation] estimated GFR 100 ± 19.3 mL/min/1.73 m2; Class 2: n = 176, 76.0 ± 9.3 mL/min/1.73 m2; Class 3: n = 191, 59.8 ± 5.9 mL/min/1.73 m2; Class 4: n = 261, 52.7 ± 4.6 mL/min/1.73 m2; and Class 5: n = 74, 53.5 ± 12.0 mL/min/1.73 m2). Declines in estimated GFR were 8.9% in Class 1, 12.2% in Class 2, 4.9% in Class 3, 12.0% in Class 4, and 45.1% in Class 5 during the 5-year period. The accuracy of prediction was 0.675, and the top three most important Shapley addictive explanation values were 1.61 for baseline estimated GFR, 0.12 for hemoglobin, and 0.11 for body mass index. The estimated GFR transition of patients with preserved chronic kidney disease mostly depended on baseline estimated GFR, and the borderline for estimated GFR trajectory was nearly 50 mL/min/1.73 m2.

Diagnosis and treatment of vascular cognitive disorders

Cognitive impairment (CI) usually is the earliest and most prevalent manifestation of cerebral vascular disease. Post stroke CI may have different clinical presentation depending on location of vascular lesion, so appropriate temporal association of CI onset with the event of stroke is of most important diagnostic value. Non-stroke (subcortical) variant of cerebral vascular disease usually is associated with small vessel disease. CI in subcortical variant is characterized with attention and executive functions deficit, frequently in combination with emotional disorders, postural instability and gait disturbances of frontal origin. Presence of vascular CI means essential need of thorough vascular risk factor (arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes etc.) control. Vasotropic agents are prescribed with pathogenic purposes. The article presents clinical experience of nicergoline treatment of patients with vascular CI of different severity.

Research on spatial-temporal heterogeneity of driving factors of green innovation efficiency in Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration—empirical test based on the Geographically Weighted Regression model

Firstly, based on the data of 40 cities in the Yangtze River Delta from 2010 to 2019, the paper uses the Unexpected Super-SBM model to estimate the green innovation efficiency of each city. On this basis, the paper establishes a Geographically Weighted Regression model to explore the spatial-temporal heterogeneity of the effects of influencing factors on green innovation efficiency. The findings indicate that: The direction and strength of each influencing element on the green innovation efficiency of the Yangtze River Delta cities are varied at the urban spatial scale. The degree of opening up significantly boosts the green innovation efficiency, but the impact intensity shows spatial differences. The green innovation efficiency is promoted by government technology support, but its intensity tends to weaken. In addition, financial support has a negative impact on most cities. Over time, the impact of economic development level on urban green innovation efficiency has changed from inhibition to promotion, and the impact intensity tends to weaken. Industrial structure and environmental regulation tend to show two effects of promotion and obstruction in different cities from weak inhibition. Industrial structure and environmental regulation tend to show two effects of promotion and obstruction in different cities from weak inhibition. The research conclusion of this paper has important theoretical significance and practical value for accelerating the construction of a green, low-carbon and circular economic system in the Yangtze River Delta region, and achieving the “dual carbon” goal.

LAFAL AL-SABR IN THE QURAN

The word al-sabr in the Qur'an often appears in various verses, this shows how important the meaning of the word al-sabr is. The Al-Quran has taught the early generations of Muslims the essence of patience and realization in every life problem faced by the Companions of the Prophet. This study tries to examine the pronunciation of the word al-sabr. This research uses a qualitative approach through the thematic analysis of verses. The object of this study focuses on makkiyyah verses in the Qur'an. The results of this study indicate that the narration of the patient verses in the Mecca period can at least be described in three main points, namely the first relates to the mental and physical strengthening of the Prophet Muhammad, second the introduction of the essence of patience in verses that couple the pronunciation of "sabrun" with "jamilun". for the essential type of patience that is clean from all that defiles, the third is the story of the patience of people who lie to the religion of Allah when they have been given punishment, is patience which is of no use at all. This research shows the important value of the contents of the Qur'an, especially in terms of the social dimension which also has a historical background to correlate with the current conditions of society.

Aggravation of global maize yield loss risk under various hot and dry scenarios using multiple types of prediction approaches

AbstractHigh temperature and drought are widely known to cause a reduction of crop yield, but the simultaneously occurring risks in major producing countries and the associated uncertainty across various climate change scenarios remain unclear at the global scale. Here, we evaluate global maize yield loss risk (i.e., the probability of yield reduction by over 10% relative to historical trend yield during 1981–2010) across 30 hot and dry scenarios using regression, machine learning and process‐based models. Besides examining yield loss risk in a single country, we predict the potential risks simultaneously occurring in the top two and top ten producing countries. The three approaches agree on the aggravation of yield loss risk under dry and hot scenarios, but show large discrepancy in the magnitude and sensitivities. Specifically, 2°C warming alone could lead to a global yield loss risk of 73%, 100% and 62% based on regression, long‐short term memory (LSTM) and process‐based models, respectively, and warming‐induced risks can be further aggravated by droughts especially in process models. Global yield loss by over 10% would even become the new norm (i.e., yield loss probability is 100%) when temperature increases by over 2°C in some models. Importantly, the probabilities of yield loss simultaneously occurring in the top two countries (i.e., United States and China) and top ten countries are unexpectedly high and could even become 100% under extreme hot and dry scenarios. Our results highlight the large risks that future climate change may bring to multiple exporting and importing countries simultaneously, thus threating global food market and security. We also emphasize the important value of using different types of prediction approaches for yield projection under hot and dry scenarios, which enables more realistic estimation of uncertainty range than a single type of model.

Exploration and Practice of “Guiding Interactive” Teaching in Advanced Geochemistry Courses from the Perspective of Constructivist Theory

The construction of geochemical disciplines has brought new vitality to the development of traditional geology. In the new round of “Double First-Class” discipline construction at Central South University, the course of Advanced Geochemistry has effectively stimulated students’ interest in learning and further improved their scientific thinking and research innovation skills through the implementation of “Guiding Interactive” teaching reform measures, which has important theoretical significance and practical value.

Application of Tabata Training to Improve Physical Fitness and DanceSports Skills for Guangdong University Students

Background and Aims: With the continuous popularization of all-round education, the status of physical education is gradually improving. DanceSports, as a relatively new course, has important aesthetic value in higher education and meets the specific needs of all-around education in colleges and universities. Dance Sport has a unique aesthetic value compared with other traditional sports. There were many problems and limitations in dance such as course content and training models. Especially the improvement of endurance. The traditional training usually applied moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) to train the Dance Sport athletes which could not meet the demand of aerobic and anaerobic endurance for them during competition. The new procedure to improve both aerobic and anaerobic endurance was the Tabata training method which was a high-intensity interval Training (HIIT) procedure that could be more advantageous than the MICT training procedure, the researcher plans to create a teaching model through the Tabata training method to prove this. This paper aims to Construct a DanceSports teaching program applying Tabata training to improve physical abilities and performance in DanceSports for university students. Materials and Methods: The program of Tabata training added to the DanceSports teaching program was developed by interviewing 9 experts and a consensus of 19 experts with the Delphi method. The validity of the program was average.90 (.60 -1.00) and efficiency were 71.6/71.40. The two groups' pretest-posttest experimental was used. The subjects were 60 students studying DanceSports in physical education courses at the university level at Guangdong University. They were divided into two groups by systematic based on physical fitness test scores. The Dance Sport with Tabata training was a treatment in the experimental group and the Dance Sport with MICT training was a treatment in the control group, the experiment operated for 8 weeks, 2 sessions a week with 2 hours a session. The research tools were the Physical fitness tests, Dance Sport performance test, the added Tabata training in the DanceSports teaching program, and Traditional MICT added in the DanceSports teaching program. The data analysis used a paired t-test and an independent t-test to compare the results of the experiment. Results: 1) The physical fitness in the Tabata training group was higher than in the MICT group at 0.05 significant level at the vital capacity, sprint, flexibility, long jump, abdominal muscle strength, and long-distance running. 2) The DanceSports performance in the Tabata training group was higher than in the MICT group at 0.05 significant level at the posture, dance hold, balance, foot action, Latin actions, general actions, and spins and turns. Conclusion: The Tabata training was significant in improving physical fitness and DanceSports performance in university students than the MICT training in the program. I could prove that the Tabata training procedure can enhance the physical fitness and DanceSports performance of university students and might be applied to elite DanceSports players’ training.

Research Progress on the Microfracture of Shale: Experimental Methods, Microfracture Propagation, Simulations, and Perspectives

The fracture network generated by hydraulic fracturing in unconventional shale reservoirs contains numerous microfractures that are connected to macroscopic fractures. These microfractures serve as crucial pathways for shale gas to flow out from micro- and nano-scale pores, playing a critical role in enhancing shale gas recovery. Currently, more attention is being given by academia and industry to the evolution of macroscopic fracture networks, while the understanding of the microfracture mechanisms and evolution is relatively limited. A significant number of microfractures are generated during the hydraulic fracturing process of shale. These microfractures subsequently propagate, merge, and interconnect to form macroscopic fractures. Therefore, studying the fracture process of rock masses from a microscale perspective holds important theoretical significance and engineering value. Based on the authors’ research experience and literature review, this paper provides a brief overview of current progress in shale microfracture research from five aspects: in situ observation experiments of microfractures in shale, formation and evolution processes of discontinuous microfractures, the impact of inhomogeneity on microfracture propagation, measurement methods for microscale mechanical parameters and deformation quantities in shale, and numerical simulation of shale microfractures. This paper also summarizes the main challenges and future research prospects in shale microfracture studies, including: (1) quantitative characterization of in situ observation experimental data on shale microfractures; (2) formation and evolution laws of macroscopic, mesoscopic, and microscopic multi-scale discontinuous fractures; (3) more in-depth and microscale characterization of shale heterogeneity and its deformation and fracture mechanisms; (4) acquisition of shale micro-mechanical parameters; (5) refinement and accuracy improvement of the numerical simulation of microfractures in shale. Addressing these research questions will not only contribute to the further development of microfracture theory in rocks but also provide insights for hydraulic fracturing in shale gas extraction.

Study from the United States: increased prevalence of kidney stones in patients with high weight-adjusted waist index.

Using data from NHANES 2007-2018, to examine the association between WWI (weight-adjusted waist index) index and prevalence of kidney stones. Using multiple logistic regression analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2018, we evaluated the association between WWI index and the prevalence of kidney stones, followed by subgroup analysis of sensitive populations. Smooth curve fitting was used to determine whether there was a non-linear relationship between the WWI index and kidney stone prevalence, and threshold effect analysis was used to test this relationship. Among 29,280 participants, 2,760 self-reported renal calculi. After adjustment for all confounders, there was a positive association between WWI and kidney stone prevalence (OR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.28), and this positive association was stronger with increasing WWI (and P = 0.01 for trend). Our results indicate a non-linear positive correlation between WWI index and kidney stones, with the saturation threshold effect analysis and the most important threshold value at 11.02. According to subgroup analysis, WWI showed the strongest association with kidney stone prevalence in participants aged 20-39 years, males, other US ethnic groups, and participants without hypertension and diabetes. Increased WWI is positively associated with increased incidence of kidney stones, and increased WWI is a high risk for kidney stones that should be treated with caution. This association should be more pronounced in people between the ages of 20 and 39 years, in men, in other US ethnic populations, and in participants who do not have hypertension or diabetes.