Degree Of Cooperation Research Articles

Public Psychosocial and Behavioral Responses in the First Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Large Survey in China.

Background: The COVID-19 has grown into a global pandemic. This study investigated the public psychosocial and behavioral responses through different time periods of the pandemic, and assessed whether these changes are different in age, gender, and region.Methods: A three-phase survey was conducted through the DaDui Social Q&A Software for COVID-19. A total of 13,214 effective responses of COVID-19 were collected. Statistical analysis was performed based on their basic information and psychosocial responses.Results: The degree of attention, understanding, and cooperation with preventive and control measures of the disease increased and then decreased. The panic level gradually increased with the epidemic process. The degree of satisfaction with management measures and of confidence in defeating COVID-19 increased throughout the survey. Compared with residents in other areas, respondents from the COVID-19 epicenter (Wuhan) reported a higher degree of self-protection during the outbreak and a significantly lower degree of satisfaction with respect to government prevention and control measures during all phases. Shortages of medical supplies and low testing capacity were reported as the biggest shortcoming in the prevention and control strategies during COVID-19, and an abundance of disorderly and inaccurate information from different sources was the primary cause of panic.Conclusions and Relevance: Major public health events elicit psychosocial and behavioral changes that reflect the different phases of the biologic curve. Sufficient medical supplies and improved organization and accurate information during epidemics may reduce panic and improve compliance with requested changes in behavior. We need to recognize this natural phenomenon and our public policy preparedness should attempt to move the social/psychological curve to the left in order to minimize and flatten the biologic curve.

The Institutional Challenges of a Cross-Border Insolvency Regime

Policymakers in India deferred including a regime for cross-border insolvencies in the otherwise comprehensive Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code of 2016. Since then, the government has proposed adopting the UNCITRAL model law on cross-border insolvencies, spurring a flurry of discussion and debate about the design of that particular regime and other possible alternatives. It appears likely, although not certain, that the country will soon adopt the model law. This symposium Essay focuses on an important question of implementation, i.e., that the effectiveness of any approach to cross-border insolvency depends not only on the design of the applicable legal regime but also on other various institutional factors. Chief among these factors in India will be the performance of the National Company Law Tribunals that are charged with employing the regime to resolve cross-border insolvencies. As an initial matter, these tribunals will need to develop expertise in the growing jurisprudence related to the UNCITRAL model law. Furthermore, any modern approach to cross-border insolvencies, and especially the UNCITRAL model law, is premised on a high degree of international cooperation, efficient communication and coordination, predictability, and, occasionally, the exercise of deference to foreign jurisdictions and judicial actors. The tribunals have limited experience with this kind of highly cooperative and deferential approach to cross-border commercial litigation, so the underlying institutional capacity to employ the regime as designed will need to be developed over time. Policymakers should anticipate that after the legal design of India’s cross-border insolvency regime is settled, careful attention should be given to implementing it by, among other things, helping the NCLT develop the necessary expertise and an institutional commitment to facilitating cross-border insolvencies under the new regime.

Trajectory of age-associated changes in small intestinal microbial community of healthy person metaorganism

The study of the small intestinal microbiota in humans is complicated due to the low availability of biomaterial. Non-invasive methods of metabolomics and bioinformatic data analysis can expand our understanding of the small intestinal microbiota structure and its role in maintaining body homeostasis. Here we assess the trajectory of age-related changes in the small intestinal microbial community of healthy individuals in the context of metaorganism-wide interaction between cytokine and neuroendocrine systems, by using the methods of gas chromatography mass spectrometry of microbial markers (GCMS MM) and optimal scaling. 110 apparently healthy children, adults and elderly individuals were enrolled to the study. The main types of the small intestine microbiota (Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Fusobacteria) were quantified in peripheral blood by the GCMS MM method. To construct age-related trajectories of changes in the small intestinal microbiota and parameters of cytokine and neuroendocrine systems, the optimal scaling technique based on the multivariate Gifi transformation (CATPCA method) was used. It was found, that the small intestinal bacterial community of both children and seniors contained significantly lowered total number of microorganisms due to the low number of bacteria of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria types along with high number of members of Proteobacteria and Fusobacteria types compared with adults. Assessment of the trajectory of age-associated changes in microbiota of the small intestine showed that 1) children have strong dynamic fluctuations in the number and links within microbial community along with formation of links between the main regulatory immune and neuroendocrine systems of the metaorganism, 2) adults display plasticity and consistency in functioning of immune and nervous systems that determine the state of dynamic balance of the small intestinal microbiota, 3) healthy aging is characterized by high degree of cooperation between the main members of the bacterial community, which ensures system stability at new level, as one of the mechanisms of host adaptation. Thus, using methods of GCMS MM and optimal scaling, allows us to expand our understanding about age-associated trajectory of changes in the small intestinal microbiota and its cooperation with immune and neuroendocrine systems within the metaorganism, which can be used to develop new methods of therapy for infectious and non-infectious diseases.

Research on group awareness of networked collaboration within the design team and between teams

Group awareness is the critical content of collaboration in a networked collaborative design team, and it is a meaningful way to study teamwork efficiency. However, existing methods that describe awareness information are not comprehensive. They all set an ideal collaborative environment of the single role and single activity, ignoring the bidirectional and overlapping of the collaboration process. To meet this gap, a novel group awareness method for the networked collaboration design team is proposed in this paper from the actual collaborative process. Firstly, the awareness information granularity in the joint work of the networked collaborative design team is described in detail, and the group awareness model is established. Then, the intra- and inter-team collaboration of networked collaborative design team is quantified, and correspondingly, combined with the degree of cooperation between members, a method for solving the group awareness ability of intra- and inter-team association by adopting awareness calculation is presented. Last, to illustrate the feasibility of the suggested approach, a vehicle interior collaborative design task is taken as an example. This study can provide practical guidance for a related design service platform to optimize team collaboration efficiency and select team members objectively and fairly.

APPLICATION OF DEEP LEARNING

In the last decade, there has been a significant increase in the number of papers related to machine learning and the application of machine learning in various fields of science. Belmonte et al. observed that between 2010 and 2018, the growth in the number of papers related to machine learning topics and big data was exponential. They analysed 4240 scientific publications from the Web of Science citation database [1]. Xu et al., in the analysis of publications in the International Journal of Machine Learning and Cybernetics, noted that from 2010 to 2017, the number of publications, the cooperation rate, the total number of authors, and the degree of cooperation had shown an increasing trend [2]. Dokic et al. analysed the publication of papers in which deep learning is applied in the field of agriculture and noticed that the first papers were published in 2014, and in the second half of the second decade of the 21st century, exponential growth in the number of published papers was observed [3]. The objectives of this paper are primarily to analyze the literature related to the application of deep learning in apple growing, to propose the division of these papers depending on the area, and to analyze the observed trends in publishing papers related to this topic. In the analysis, only papers published in scientific journals were considered, and the condition is that they be found in the citation databases of the Web of Science or Scopus. The second section gives a brief overview of deep learning and its development and a presentation of the importance of apple growing in agriculture. The third section is an overview of papers that use deep learning methods and solve some problems in growing apples. The third section is divided into four parts, depending on the area the paper deals with. The fourth section is a discussion and conclusion.

The adventure of an adventure videogame in French

With the understanding that videogames have become a powerful resource not only for entertainment but also as an educational resource for foreign language teaching today, the objective of this study was to examine the use of the videogame Broken Sword for the teaching of French as a second language in a higher education setting. To assess the suitability of the video game as a foreign language teaching tool, a quantitative methodology based on a 22-item ad hoc questionnaire was used, through which we collected the assessment of the students. Despite the expectations and the high degree of participation and cooperation of the students surveyed, the results revealed an attitude of indifference regarding the videogame’s contributions to language learning. We considered the results to be very positive, as for many of the students this exercise was not only a test with a language that they did not master yet, but also had technical difficulties that they had to overcome. The challenge of this experience invites us to continue working with new videogames titles and to improve our future methodological interventions.

PERFORMANCES OF REGIONAL TOURISM IN THE AREA OF NORTHERN SLOVAKIA

Tourism is a dynamically developing segment, belonging to important components of the national and world economy. The Slovak Republic has a suitable starting potential for the development of tourism. The North of the Slovak Republic consists of two self-governing regions, acting as tourism regions, which are the subject of the study. Their offer in terms of tourism is diverse. At present, the development of the tourism phenomenon has been significantly slowed down by the Covid-19 pandemic. The study focuses on the Žilina self-governing region and the Presov self-governing region, which form a unified whole in the North of Slovakia. The aim of this paper is to use analytical methods to identify and describe the performance of tourism in selected regions that form the North of Slovakia. The analysis of tourism development in the Žilina self-governing region and the Presov self-governing region on the basis of selected statistical indicators, points to the development situation in the time horizon of 15 years. Despite the adjective most mountainous part of Slovakia, the results of the study confirm that these regions are attractive, and, in the past, they were experiencing an increase of visitors. This fact subsequently requires the expansion of services in tourism in the form of complex services and a higher degree of cooperation of entities in the region. © 2021, University of Montenegro. All rights reserved.

A Pragmatic Analysis of Questions and Responses in American Defense Attorneys' Cross-examinations

The structure of the interrogation process in cross-examinations is said to be diverse and complex in terms of question-response typology. This is because the counsel has to extract truth from an opposing party’s witness whose views are expected to advocate that party's views regarding the case. Accordingly, the study which is basically quantitative in nature aims to investigate what the examining party intends to obtain out of these questions and which of these questions are the most prevalently used. It also aims to measure the amount of cooperativity in witnesses' responses. Accordingly, three transcripts of cross-examination have been analyzed, using a pragmatically-oriented approach. The approach draws on Stenstorm (1984) and Archer's (2005) classification of questions; Stenstorm (1984) and Archer's (2002) classificatory scheme of responses which is based on the strategies of violating Grice's (1975) maxims to determine the degree of cooperation on the part of respondents. The analysis revealed a diversity in the attorneys' method, making the use of four types of leading questions as well as non-leading ones represented by WH questions. The latter recorded the least percentage in comparison with the overall percentage of leading questions. That is; a preference is shed on the part of cross-examining counsel towards leading over non-leading questions. Moreover, the majority of the responses given have indicated the witnesses' commitment to the purpose and format of the questions posed, showing a high level of cooperativity on the part of those witnesses

The relationship between dental fear and cooperation of children during dental treatments with their parents’ general health

Objective: Dental fear is a common phenomenon in children and parents can have a key role in the development of child's dental anxiety. There is moderate evidence to support the relationship between the parental general health and children’s dental fear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dental fear and cooperation of children during dental treatment with the general health of parents.Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was done on 130 children aged 6 to 12 at the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Guilan University of Medical Sciences from May to September 2020.The personality traits and general health of parents were assessed by using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). The Frankl's behavior rating scale and Children's Fear Survey Schedule Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) were used to respectively assess the degree of cooperation during dental practices and children’s dental fear. Statistical approaches included T-test, Chi-square and Pearson Linear correlation. A significant level of differences was taken as P<0.05.Results: 69.3 % of children behaved positively and definitely positively during dental treatment. 56 boys and 74 girls with mean age of 9.13 ±2.02 years participated in this study. There was a significant correlation between the children's age with dental fear and cooperation level (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in dental fear score (P=0.63) and cooperation level (P=0.99) between boys and girls. There was not statistically significant relationship between the general health of the parents and the level of children's cooperation and dental fear during dental treatment (P>0.001).Conclusion: There was not relationship between parent's general health with children's dental fear and cooperation.

Cooperation and opportunism in Galapagos sea lion hunting for shoaling fish.

For predators, cooperation can decrease the cost of hunting and potentially augment the benefits. It can also make prey accessible that a single predator could not catch. The degree of cooperation varies substantially and may range from common attraction to a productive food source to true cooperation involving communication and complementary action by the individuals involved. We here describe cooperative hunting of Galapagos sea lions (Zalophus wollebaeki) for Amberstripe scad (Decapterus muroadsi), a schooling, fast swimming semipelagic fish. A group of 6–10 sea lions, usually females only, drove scad over at least 600–800 m from open water into a cove where, in successful hunts, they drove them ashore. Frequently, these “core hunters” were joined toward the final stages of the hunt by another set of opportunistic sea lions from a local colony at that beach. The “core hunters” did not belong to that colony and apparently were together coming toward the area specifically for the scad hunt. Based on the observation of 40 such hunts from 2016 to 2020, it became evident that the females performed complementary actions in driving the scad toward the cove. No specialization of roles in the hunt was observed. All “core hunters” and also opportunistically joining sea lions from the cove shared the scad by randomly picking up a few of the 25–300 (mean 100) stranded fish as did scrounging brown pelicans. In one of these hunts, four individual sea lions were observed to consume 7–8 fish each in 25 s. We conclude that the core hunters must communicate about a goal that is not present to achieve joint hunting but presently cannot say how they do so. This is a surprising achievement for a species that usually hunts singly and in which joint hunting plays no known role in the evolution of its sociality.

Experimentally measured group direct benefits according to worker density explain group living of the termite Reticulitermes chinensis.

The evolution of cooperation requires more benefits of group living than solitary lifestyle. However, to some degree, our understanding about the benefits is hindered by abstract debates over theoretical and experimental evidences of individual selection or group selection because it is difficult to examine the actual benefits at the group level. Moreover, group density is a crucial ecological factor which deeply affects group reproduction and survival, few studies have been performed in social insects. Here, we study the effects of worker density on group direct benefits in the termite species Reticulitermes chinensis. The termite R. chinensis is an ideal model which lives with a high worker density in wood. We used the quantity of eggs and the total biomass (biomass of all group members) accumulation as two components of group benefits. We investigated the group benefits in the context of worker density according to eleven worker densities, and we measured the group benefits and the resource consumption with the same group members in two types of artificial nest areas. Moreover, we counted the stomodeal trophallaxis occurrences from any workers to queens under three worker densities to explore the degree of cooperation according to worker density. We found that both the number of eggs and the total biomass accumulation significantly increased with increasing worker density in groups. Furthermore, the consumption of resources was similar between groups with the same number of individuals gathered in small or large nest areas, but the production of eggs and the biomass accumulation were higher in groups of small nest areas than in large nest areas. Additionally, we found the stomodeal trophallaxis behavior significantly increased in higher worker density groups. Our results suggest that the group benefits influenced by the high worker density may at least partially explain the group living of eusocial insects in ecology.

Patchwork of Counterterrorism: Analyzing European Types of Cooperation in Sahel

Abstract The overlapping of a series of events in the region has brought the Sahel under the spotlight of many European countries. It has been argued that the peculiar transnational nature of many terrorist groups of the area represents a concrete threat to European security. France, specifically, has led and encouraged a series of European initiatives, which aim to stabilize the region, calling for different degrees of counterterrorism cooperation with its European allies. Many European countries, such as Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, or Italy, have indeed increased their engagement in the area. Yet, not only a variety of new actors are now involved in the response to terrorism, but European cooperation among key actors is also developing along political-strategic, organizational, and procedural dimensions largely unexplored by the existing literature. This paper specifically accounts for the different multilevel configurations of European counterterrorism cooperation in the Sahel between 2012 and 2018. More specifically, the aim of this contribution is twofold. First, theoretically, through the concept of “patchwork” the paper proposes a conceptual framework able to investigate and analyze the apparently confusing multidimensional and multi-actor European cooperation in counterterrorism. Second, it empirically researches and analyzes the types of cooperation and the actors that fulfil key strategic positions in the patchwork. Overall, this paper provides a first complete account of the universe of European actors involved in the region and the types of cooperative patterns.

Pay attention to the reversible changes of anesthetics and postoperative cognitive dysfunction.

The progress of human civilization and the development in the new era have put forward higher-level demands for medical industry. The enhancement of health awareness and the improvement of diagnosis and treatment methods have promoted the development of comfortable medicine. Anesthesiologists play such an important role in perioperative period and the comfortable medicine. Evidences show that the diagnosis and treatment of anesthesiologists enable patients to recover quickly, improve treatments, save money, reduce family and social burdens. Postoperative cognitive dysfunction is one of the most common problems faced in perioperative medicine. Although postoperative cognitive dysfunction isn’t a direct threat for life, it may reduce the degree of medical cooperation, occur adverse events unnecessarily, prolong hospital stay, increase expenses and the anxiety of patients and other negative effects. Therefore, clarifying the risk factors of postoperative cognitive dysfunction and exploring effective medical methods are necessary to solve the above problems. The Anesthesiology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association has established a special group for the research of postoperative cognitive dysfunction. At present, research teams in China have been committed to related research on postoperative cognitive dysfunction for a long time. Many results provided valuable suggestions for the prevention and treatment of cognitive dysfunction. Studies showed that age and coronary artery bypass grafting and other major operations are important risk factors for postoperative cognitive dysfunction. This provides warnings for the prevention of postoperative cognitive function in clinical diagnosis and treatment. The management of specific populations and types of surgery are necessary for anesthesiologists to carry out early psychological construction, humanistic care and even medical intervention for patients in particular. Another important finding in these studies is that the occurrence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction is reversible, and the risk period is mainly the early postoperative period and barely has a serious impact on the long-term cognition. These results point out the direction for further improvement of perioperative medicine. With the development of the western region of China, the team of Professor Zhao-Qiong Zhu from the Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University committed a lot for years in the field of postoperative cognitive dysfunction. The research team found that patients with postoperative cognitive dysfunction are mainly elderly people in clinical studies, and this phenomenon is reversible, and mainly happened in 1 week after surgery. It rarely lasts for months or years. This provides an important theoretical basis to explain the occurrence of this phenomenon and diagnosis as same as provide treatment timely in clinic. On this basis, the team of Professor Zhao-Qiong Zhu carried out further research from the perspectives of behavior, molecular biology, cell biology, morphology, imaging, etc. in order to ascertain the relevant mechanism of postoperative cognitive dysfunction. The results also revealed that the behavioral effects of inhalation anesthetics on experimental animals at clinical and subclinical concentrations are only limited to the early stage after drug application, and the related mechanism may be related to the activation of inflammasomes and central cholinergic receptors. The series of researches provide valuable suggestions for rationally explaining the occurrence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction in clinical diagnosis as well as treatment and further research for postoperative cognitive dysfunction in the future. With the improvement of living standards, the demand for health increases for people. The reversible changes of postoperative cognitive dysfunction as one of the key medical problems in the world will cause concerns for scholars committed to solving. With the efforts of diligent researchers, it is bound to promote the development of medicine.

Building Information Modelling (BIM): Contractual Issues of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Construction Projects

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an emerging technology that provides a platform for a comprehensive digital representation of a facility to be created by integrating data from design conception until demolition. In seeking the optimum use of BIM, a large degree of cooperation and collaboration among multi-disciplinary contributors are required for the digital data exchange and sharing process to be deployed. This situation, however, brings up new issues in delineating liabilities and limitations of contributors as the demarcation line of each contributor becomes unclear. In Malaysia, there is no known BIM-enabled standard form of contract that preserves the intellectual property rights (IPR) of the BIM projects’ contributors. Therefore, the present study attempts to investigate the issues pertaining to IPR in the context of BIM adoption in the construction project. Qualitative methodology involving literature review, analysis of existing IPR provisions and semi-structured interviews with the experts were conducted. The research identified two major issues related to IPR in BIM projects: copyright ownership of the BIM model and data infringement. This paper is substantial to deliver knowledge to the construction industry practitioners regarding the legal and contractual considerations in the adoption of BIM.

Influence of Standardized Nursing Management of Hospital Based on Smart Electronic Medical Blockchain on Nursing Quality of Digestive Endoscopy Room.

With the increase of the incidence rate of digestive system diseases, digestive endoscopy has become an essential measure. The nursing quality of digestive endoscopy room will have a direct impact on the examination results and treatment effect, so improving the nursing quality of digestive endoscopy room has always been the focus of attention. In this paper, the smart electronic medical blockchain technology and hospital standardized nursing management mode are combined to develop the smart medical standardized nursing management mode. Firstly, 88 patients with digestive endoscopy in a hospital from October 2018 to October 2019 were selected as the experimental subjects: 44 cases in the control group and 44 cases in the experimental group. The control group implemented the traditional management mode of digestive endoscopy room, and the experimental group implemented the standardized nursing management mode of smart medicine. The blood pressure level before and after nursing and the probability of adverse reactions in the process of nursing were counted. After nursing, the patients were asked to fill in the nursing satisfaction questionnaire, evaluate the nursing quality of nursing staff, and make statistics and comparison on the occurrence of safety events in digestive endoscopy room. After nursing, the systolic pressure drop of the experimental group was 125.36 ± 7.27 mmhg, diastolic pressure drop was 73.24 ± 4.21 mmhg, and the incidence of adverse reactions was 11.36%. The satisfaction rate of the experimental group was 15%, 29.55%, and 22.73% higher than that of the control group. The average scores of nursing skills, operation level, and examination results of nursing staff in the experimental group were 94.49, 95.12, and 95.89, respectively; the qualified rate of disinfection of digestive endoscopy room in the experimental group was 100%, the degree of cooperation between doctors and nurses was 100%, the timely rate of emergency measures was 95.45%, and the incidence of accidents was 0%. This shows that, under the standardized nursing of smart medicine, the blood pressure of patients is more stable, the incidence of adverse reactions is lower, the nursing satisfaction is higher, and the nursing quality of nursing staff and the safety of digestive endoscopy room are also improved.

Changes in the quality of life of patients with Blount’s disease undergoing simultaneous bilateral varus deformity correction with the use of the Ilizarov method.

IntroductionBlount’s disease is a growth disorder of the proximal tibia, which leads to the varus deformity and internal rotation of this bone. The treatment is mainly surgical and involves proximal tibial osteotomy and deformity correction. The aim of this study was to assess the change in the quality of life of patients with tibia vara deformity who underwent correction via the Ilizarov method.Material and methodsA total of 23 Blount’s disease patients who had undergone bilateral varus deformity correction with the Ilizarov method were included in this study. The following parameters were assessed retrospectively: duration of treatment with Ilizarov frames, baseline and postoperative values of the medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA) and mechanical axis deviation (MAD). The quality of life was assessed with a Short Form (SF)-36 survey.ResultsThe study population comprised 13 females and 10 males (mean age of 28.43), in whom the Ilizarov fixators were kept for an average duration of 106.65 days. MAD values diminished significantly after the surgery. We also observed significant increases in the MPTA values. The SF-36 scores increased across all of the questionnaire’s domains, which indicates a significant improvement in the postoperative quality of life.ConclusionsSimultaneous bilateral correction of the varus deformity with Ilizarov external fixators is a safe and effective treatment method. It helps reduce pain and improve gait, which translates to improving the quality of life in all its aspects. The duration of treatment depends to a large extent on the degree of patient cooperation, their attitude, and self-discipline.

In my tomb

In recent decades, popular music in the USA, UK and elsewhere has increasingly been addressed as cultural heritage: by state authorities, commercial and professional interests, and fans. This article contributes to the growing scholarship on popular music heritage through a case study of the 2005 dedication of a California state historical landmark at the site of the Beach Boys’ childhood home and the process that enabled it. Drawing on concepts rehearsed by scholars in popular music, heritage studies and related fields, it identifies the discourses and interests attached to the exercise, and argues that the landmark’s establishment saw a high degree of cooperation between public officials, professional interests and grass-roots activists. Although the landmark risked enshrining and entombing the group in a monument to their early-era image of surf, sand and romance, its dedication ceremony saw fans recognizing the group in more informed, realistic, respectful and up-to-date ways.

STOCHASTICITY AND COOPERATIVE HUNTING IN PREDATOR–PREY INTERACTIONS

We derive models of stochastic differential equations describing predator–prey interactions with cooperative hunting in predators based on a deterministic system proposed by Alves and Hilker. The deterministic model is analyzed first by providing a critical degree of cooperation below which the predators go extinct globally. Above the critical threshold, the deterministic model has two coexisting steady states and predators may persist depending on initial conditions. One of the stochastic models is derived from a continuous-time Markov chain while the other is based on a mean reverting process. Using Euler–Maruyama approximations, we investigate the stochastic systems numerically by providing estimated probabilities of predator extinction in the parameter regimes for which the predators cooperate intensively. It is found that predators may go extinct in the stochastic setting when they can otherwise survive indefinitely in the deterministic setting. The estimated probabilities of extinction are overall larger if populations are oscillating in the ODE system.

Role of the active cycle of breathing technique combined with phonophoresis for the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): study protocol for a preliminary randomized controlled trial

BackgroundChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory lung disease characterized by coughing, the production of excess sputum, and dyspnea. Patients with excessively thick sputum may have frequent attacks or develop more serious disease. The guidelines recommend airway clearance for patients with excessive sputum who are hospitalized with COPD. The active cycle of breathing technique is the most common non-pharmacological airway clearance technique used by physiotherapists. However, the effectiveness of the technique is not always guaranteed. Active cycle of breathing techniques require the initial dilution of the sputum, usually by inhalation drugs, which may have limited effects. Recent studies have found that phonophoresis decreases inflammation, suggesting the potential of the combined usage of active cycle of breathing techniques and phonophoresis. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the effectiveness and safety of combining active cycle of breathing technique and phonophoresis in treating COPD patients.Methods and analysisWe propose a single-blind randomized controlled trial using 75 hospitalized patients diagnosed with COPD with excessive sputum production. The patients will be divided into three groups. The intervention group will receive active cycle of breathing techniques combined with phonophoresis. The two comparison groups will be treated with active cycle of breathing techniques and phonophoresis, respectively. The program will be implemented daily for 1 week. The primary outcomes will be changes in sputum viscosity and production, lung function, and pulse oximetry. Secondary outcomes include the assessment of COPD and anxiety, measured by the COPD Assessment Test scale and the Anxiety Inventory for Respiratory Disease, respectively; self-satisfaction; the degree of cooperation; and the length of hospital stay. All outcome measures, with the exception of sputum production and additional secondary outcomes, will be assessed at the commencement of the study and after 1 week’s intervention. Analysis of variance will be used to investigate differences between the groups, and a p-value of less than 0.05 (two-tailed) will be considered statistically significant.DiscussionThis study introduces a combination of active cycle of breathing techniques and phonophoresis to explore the impact of these interventions on patients hospitalized with COPD. If this combined intervention is shown to be effective, it may prove to be a better treatment for patients with COPD.Trial registrationThe trial was registered prospectively on the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on 24 December 2019.ClinicalTrials.gov ChiCTR1900028506. Registered on December 2019.

Research supporting malaria control and elimination in China over four decades: a bibliometric analysis of academic articles published in Chinese from 1980 to 2019

BackgroundChina has accumulated considerable experience in malaria control and elimination over the past decades. Many research papers have been published in Chinese journals. This study intends to describe the development and experience of malaria control and elimination in China by quantitatively analysing relevant research using a bibliometric analysis.MethodsA long-term, multistage bibliometric analysis was performed. Research articles published in Chinese journals from 1980 to 2019 were retrieved from the Wanfang and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases. Year of publication, journal name and keywords were extracted by the Bibliographic Items Co-occurrence Matrix Builder (BICOMB). The K/A ratio (the frequency of a keyword among the total number of articles within a certain period) was considered an indicator of the popularity of a keyword in different decades. VOSviewer software was used to construct keyword co-occurrence network maps.ResultsA total of 16,290 articles were included. The overall number of articles continually increased. However, the number of articles published in the last three years decreased. There were two kinds of keyword frequency trends among the different decades. The K/A ratio of the keyword ‘Plasmodium falciparum’ decreased (17.05 in the 1980s, 13.04% in the 1990s, 9.86 in the 2000s, 5.28 in the 2010s), but those of ‘imported case’ and ‘surveillance’ increased. Drug resistance has been a continuous concern. The keyword co-occurrence network maps showed that the themes of malaria research diversified, and the degree of multidisciplinary cooperation gradually increased.ConclusionsThis bibliometric analysis revealed the trends in malaria research in China over the past 40 years. The results suggest emphasis on investigation, multidisciplinary participation and drug resistance by researchers and policymakers in malaria epidemic areas. The results also provide domestic experts with qualitative evidence of China’s experience in malaria control and elimination.