Relations Practitioners Research Articles

Calcium and vitamin D substitution for hypoparathyroidism after thyroidectomy – how is it continued after discharge from hospital?

PurposePostoperative hypoparathyroidism (HypoPT) is one of the most feared complications after thyroid surgery. In most cases, HypoPT is transient, requiring temporary substitution with calcium and active vitamin D. The analysis was conducted to investigate how calcium and vitamin D substitution was managed in routine postoperative clinical practice after discharge from hospital.MethodsFrom March 2015 to December 2023, patients with HypoPT after thyroidectomy at the university medical center (UMC) Mainz, were included in a retrospective study. The rate of continued prescription of calcium and vitamin D by external practitioners in relation to the PTH and calcium levels at the first postoperative outpatient visit at the outpatient clinic of the UMC Mainz was analyzed and critically discussed.ResultsNinety-four of 332 patients (28.3%) were continuously prescribed with calcium/vitamin D supplements: 14 had PTH deficiency and hypocalcemia and 14 had normal/elevated PTH levels with hypocalcemia, 59 had PTH values below the normal range and normo- or hypercalcemia and 7 had normal or elevated PTH levels with normocalcemia.ConclusionsThere are inconsistent procedures regarding the adjustment of the calcium and vitamin D substitution by the practices providing external follow-up treatment. To avoid iatrogenic suppression of PTH levels, high calcium load and potential affection of the kidney function, a reduction scheme should be actively recommended by thyroid surgeons.

Exploration and Practice of Digital Technology and Virtual Reality Technology in the Creation of Public Art with Chinese Characters: Take Qingshan Hongfang as an Example

Abstract: In the modern context of rapid development of artificial intelligence, it provides a new direction for the development of public art in the new situation. The digital reconstruction of modern and contemporary public art has provided new experiences in terms of interaction and emotion. The popularization of interactive devices and virtual reality technologies has made the forms of public art more diverse and the audience's experience more personalized. As the carrier of Chinese civilization, Chinese characters have their special cultural significance and resonance. Translating Chinese characters through public art is a good form of expression. Currently, there is a lack of public art works with cultural identity in urban public spaces in China. This article will use a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze the public art and Chinese character design cases of the Red Steel City Red House architectural complex in Qingshan District by sorting out relevant concepts and combining case study methods. Ultimately exploring the combination of digital technology and virtual reality, incorporating Chinese characters as a creative element in contemporary art and design. Intended to provide reference and inspiration for art creators and related practitioners.

Manipulator with Integrated Flexible Tactile Sensing Arrays for Kiwifruit Ripeness and Size Classification.

Fruit grading for ripeness and size is an essential process in the supply chain. Incorrect grading can easily lead to spoiled and degraded fruits entering the market, reducing consumers' confidence in purchasing. At the same time, it is easy to cause the fruit supply chain to reduce profits, unreasonable resource allocation, and related practitioners' income. The current mainstream machine vision grading and manual grading in the production line have dilemmas such as susceptibility to environmental interference, inconsistent grading standards, high cost, and labor shortage. To overcome these problems, this study proposes an integrated flexible tactile sensing array (3 × 4) manipulator for efficient, stable, low-cost, and accurate ripeness and size grading of kiwifruit. The flexible sensing manipulator grasps the kiwifruit, detects the hardness of the kiwifruit by relying on tactile sensing, and determines the ripeness level based on the hardness. The size of the kiwifruit is also differentiated according to whether there is a significant change in the resistance of the topmost sensing unit of the flexible pressure sensor array. The 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 anomalies that may occur in actual production were tested and combined with machine learning KNN, SVM, and RF algorithms for data modeling and grading. The results show that the lowest accuracy of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 possible outliers is 86.67% (KNN), 95.83% (SVM), and 92.5% (RF), respectively. KNN has the lowest classification effect, and SVM has the best. This study overcomes the drawbacks of inefficient destructive detection and unstable manual detection and makes up for the vulnerability of single machine vision to interference from environmental factors. This study can alleviate the challenges caused by fruit wastage and promote the sustainable production and consumption of the fruit industry chain.

Unveiling the microservices testing methods, challenges, solutions, and solutions gaps: A systematic mapping study

Microservices architecture (MSA) is widely used by enterprises and related practitioners. Due to the importance of MSA in the industry, failure to identify its potential faults and errors will cause serious consequences. Consequently, it is imperative to conduct testing on the MSA to guarantee its quality and reliability. As a key task in the software development lifecycle, microservices testing can effectively identify defects and errors caused by incorrect or unexpected behavior of microservices software, ensuring the quality of microservices software. Currently, related reviews lack a comprehensive summary of the challenges and solutions faced by microservices testing. To fill this gap, this study provides a comprehensive review of the microservices testing. It analyzes 93 primary studies from 19595 pieces of research, eventually identifying nine categories of microservices testing methods, four types of challenges, and 5 specific solutions to challenges. The conclusion shows that the current part of microservices testing methods is significantly different from other architectural testing methods, lacking exploration of testing methods under different communication mechanisms. Furthermore, this paper discusses the above conclusions, providing directions to further narrow the gap in solutions to challenges and future development directions for microservices testing.

Political Ideology and Anthropomorphized Servant Versus Partner Brand Roles

Going beyond the realm of politics, consumers’ political ideology influences how they perceive brands portrayed in advertisements. This research examines how consumers respond to two distinct anthropomorphized brand roles (servant vs. partner). Across three experiments, we show the impact of brand roles on consumers’ willingness to purchase is contingent upon their political ideology. Politically conservative consumers manifest greater willingness to purchase servant brands over partner brands, as servant brand roles align better with their inherent beliefs of social dominance orientation, leading to temporarily heightened relaxation. In contrast, their politically liberal counterparts tend to be indifferent toward different brand roles, as they are less motivated to support social hierarchy. This research offers valuable implications for academics and industry practitioners in relation to understanding the social nature of brands and optimizing branding strategies by leveraging consumers’ political ideology.

Unleashing the role of e-word of mouth on purchase intention in select Facebook fan pages of smart phone users.

This study aims to examine the impact of e-WOM on customer purchase intentions in Facebook fan pages using theories of trust, value co-creation and brand attitude. The present research has set out to explore this emerging domain of study and has thus developed & tested propositions which attempt to establish a relationship between e-WOM and customer's purchase intentions. A deeper understanding of this possible association is obtained by studying the mediating roles of Trust, Value Co-Creation, Brand Image and Brand Attitude. The context for exploring this phenomenon is chosen to be the fan pages of smartphone brands on Facebook. The study involved conducting a sample survey of 490 respondents, comprising of both male and female, who belong to 5 smartphone brands Facebook fan pages-Samsung, Moto G, Lenovo, MI and ASUS are considered for the study. Out of which sample of 100 each has been targeted individually. The findings suggested that e-WOM significantly predicts the purchase intentions of the customers of a specific product and considerable impacted on the purchase decision. The findings of the study also reveal that customer 's trust beliefs, perceived value co-creation, brand image and brand attitude partially mediate in between relationships of e-WOM and purchase intention. The actual presence of different types of consumer electronics brands on the social media, more prominently, the smartphones, which undoubtedly are the most ubiquitous product of this segment. In fact, this indicates that presence on social media is a well- thought organizational strategy developed by companies to gain partial control over the customer 's decision- making process by establishing a close connect with the customers for a long period. This consequence will significantly impact the decision-making process of marketers or practitioners in relation to their marketing tactics. This research also indicates that marketers could devise more effective methods for distributing marketing content through social networking sites, while corporations can cultivate favorable electronic word-of-mouth for their products or services. Through the implementation of social media marketing strategies, companies can increase their sales volume and generate higher revenue. The study examined the role of trust, virtual community participation, and desire to purchase as mediators on smartphone brand fan sites on Facebook. It was observed that these factors had a partial influence on customer purchase intention.

Exploring medical and dental practitioner perspectives and developing a knowledge attitude and practice (KAP) evaluation tool for the common risk factor approach in managing non-communicable and periodontal diseases

BackgroundThe Common Risk Factor Approach (CRFA) is one of the methods to achieve medical-dental integration. CRFA addresses shared risk factors among major Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs). This study aimed to explore the perspectives of dental and medical practitioners concerning CRFA for managing NCDs and periodontal diseases and to create and validate a tool to evaluate the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) of medical and dental practitioners in relation to utilization of CRFA for management of NCDs and Periodontal diseases.MethodsThis research employed a concurrent mixed-method model and was carried out from January 2021 to February 2022, focusing on medical and dental practitioners in South India. In the qualitative phase, online interviews were conducted with dental and medical practitioners, recorded, and transcribed. Thematic analysis was applied after achieving data saturation. In the quantitative phase, a KAP questionnaire was developed. The sample size was determined by using the G power statistical power analysis program. A sample size of 220 in each group (dentists and medical practitioners) was estimated. Systematic random sampling was used to recruit the potential participants. The data obtained through the online dissemination of KAP tool was analysed and scores were standardized to categorize the KAP.ResultsQualitative thematic analysis identified four major themes: understanding of common risk factors, risk factor reduction and disease burden, integrating CRFA into clinical practice, and barriers to CRFA. In addition, thematic analysis revealed seventeen subthemes. For the quantitative phase, standardization was applied to a 14-item KAP questionnaire for medical practitioners and a 19-item KAP questionnaire for dental practitioners. The total KAP score for medical practitioners in the study was 21.84 ± 2.87, while dental practitioners scored 22.82 ± 3.21, which indicated a high level of KAP regarding CRFA. Meta integration of qualitative and quantitative data identified eight overarching themes: four were concordant, three were discordant, and one theme provided the explanatory component.ConclusionThe study’s structured, validated questionnaire showed that both medical and dental professionals had a high knowledge of CRFA. However, they were not appreciably aware of the risk factors that are shared between NCDs and periodontal disease. Both groups were interested in the idea of using CRFA in integrated medical and dental care.

Nora Helmer and Thora Helmer: Henrik Ibsen at Play with the Vaudeville

ABSTRACT This article gives evidence for considering the vaudeville genre as a factor that complicates our received understanding of the plays of Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. It situates Ibsen’s activity as a theater practitioner in relation to both the prolific French dramatist Eugène Scribe and the Danish theater director and dramatist Johan Ludvig Heiberg, explores Ibsen’s own critical writing about the popular theater, and then traces intertextual resonances with the work of yet another Danish dramatist, Erik Bøgh. In particular, the author links Bøgh’s all-but-forgotten 1853 vaudeville, Et enfoldigt Pigebarn (A Guileless Girl) with Ibsen’s universally acclaimed modern dramas, Et Dukkehjem (1879; A Doll’s House) and Hedda Gabler (1890; Hedda Gabler). What this re-contextualization reveals, is an Ibsen who was far more oriented toward and influenced by transnational popular theater genres than previous scholarship has recognized.

Research on Agricultural Product Price Prediction Based on Improved PSO-GA

The accurate prediction of scallion prices can not only optimize supply chain management and help related practitioners and consumers to make more reasonable purchasing decisions, but also provide guidance for farmers’ planting choices, thus enhancing market efficiency and promoting the sustainable development of the whole industry. This study adopts the idea of decomposition–denoising–aggregation, using three decomposition and denoising techniques combined with three single prediction models to form a base model. Various base models are divided into different combinations based on whether the computational structure is the same or not, and the optimal weights of the combinations are determined by using the improved particle swarm optimization–genetic algorithm (PSO-GA) optimization algorithm in different combinations. The experimental results show that the scallion price in Shandong Province from 2014 to 2023 shows an overall upward trend, and there is a cyclical and seasonal fluctuation pattern of “high in winter and low in summer”; the semi-heterogeneous-PSO-GA model reduces the MAPE by 49.03% and improves the directional accuracy by 41.52%, compared to the optimal single prediction model, ARIMA. In summary, the combined model has the most accurate prediction and strong robustness, which can provide ideas and references for the difficult problem of determining the optimal weights of the combined model in the field of predicting the prices of agricultural products.

Visual Communication Design of Mobile App Interface Based on Digital

With the obvious trend of population aging, the demand of digital products for the elderly is increasing, and the visual design of APP interface is very important for the user experience of the elderly. This study will focus on how to design and optimize the interface through visual communication to enhance the application experience of elderly users. Through a comprehensive analysis of the design principles, user characteristics and use requirements of the aging reading APP, this paper discusses how to design skillfully in the aspects of color application, picture selection, typesetting layout and interactive operation, so as to create an interface that conforms to the reading habits of elderly users. Through the discussion of this study, the purpose is to provide designers and related practitioners with practical guidance and inspiration for the design of aging APP interface for elderly users. The primary aim is to advance digital product design towards a more human-centered and universally accessible direction, enhancing convenience and comfort for elderly users.

What can Fraser and Bourdieu teach us about success and obstacles in the implementation of Recognition of Prior Learning?

Despite the adoption of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) policies, its implementation lags behind, remains un-coordinated and lacks institutional support. The key issues underlying these challenges include knowledge contestation and gatekeeping in the form of resistant cognitive structures in defence of the intellectual foundations of university knowledge. This article weaves the theories of Fraser and Bourdieu together to analyse the literature on RPL policy, pedagogic agency and practice in order to deepen understanding of RPL’s success and obstacles. Fraser’s notion of parity of participation is useful in that it theorises how adherence to social justice principles to promote RPL implementation can be created in the academy. Bourdieu’s work facilitates interrogation of the habitus, and social and cultural capital of RPL practitioners in relation to the habitus of academics, and how these impact the crossing of knowledge boundaries via RPL as a specialised pedagogy. The article concludes that successful RPL implementation requires, inter alia, that attention be directed to honing the class habitus of the academy as a whole, including adequate theorisation of the conditions necessary for the existence of pedagogic agency within the context of the prevailing knowledge difference discourse.

A Scoping Review on Delaying Cognitive Decline and Dementia with Aging

There are a lot of elderly people who are suffering from decline in cognition or even the dementia like Alzheimer’s disease as they are aging. Although cognitive decline is an irreversible trend for all the human beings, related practitioners can do some interventions to delay this trend. This review summarizes the current interventions to delay the cognitive decline among the elderly people and prevent cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s among them. The methods mainly include having healthier diets and performing healthier lifestyles. Most studies are performed in a longitudinal study which include several follow-ups which increase the preciseness and accuracy of the results. Results from current studies show that intaking healthier diets like drinking coffee and tea, eating mushroom as well as Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diets, and doing healthier lifestyle are proved to have influence in delaying decline of cognition and other dementias like Alzheimer’s disease. This sheds light on future treatment on the cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s disease among the elderly and have potentials to delay the cognitive decline.

<i>Re</i>-evaluating the Use of Corpus-Based Instruction in a Language Teacher Education Context

This paper presents a replication study of research published 16 years ago by one of the authors (Farr, 2008). At that time, research into the use of corpus-based approaches in teacher education was sparse. This has changed somewhat, but is still limited. Existing research shows that teachers identify a number of reservations to the integration of corpus-based approaches in their teaching, including time-related obstacles, and a lack of confidence, awareness and training (Boulton & Tyne, 2014). Clearly there are still challenges to be overcome and further insights to be gleaned from research into the integration of corpus linguistics into teacher education programmes. As with the original study, this paper reports the ways in which corpus approaches have been integrated into a 1-year MA in TESOL programme. It outlines findings from survey results, which explore the student teachers’ perspectives on their experiences of using corpora, both as a language awareness tool for professional development and research, and as a resource for materials development. Additionally, it discusses the potential issues foreseen by practitioners in relation to using such an approach in their careers. The investigation leads to the conclusion that there is generally a positive predisposition towards the use of corpora.

Practices of falls risk assessment and prevention in acute hospital settings: a realist investigation.

Falls are the most common safety incident reported by acute hospitals. The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence recommends multifactorial falls risk assessment and tailored interventions, but implementation is variable. To determine how and in what contexts multifactorial falls risk assessment and tailored interventions are used in acute National Health Service hospitals in England. Realist review and multisite case study. (1) Systematic searches to identify stakeholders' theories, tested using empirical data from primary studies. Review of falls prevention policies of acute Trusts. (2) Theory testing and refinement through observation, staff interviews (n = 50), patient and carer interviews (n = 31) and record review (n = 60). Three Trusts, one orthopaedic and one older person ward in each. Seventy-eight studies were used for theory construction and 50 for theory testing. Four theories were explored. (1) Leadership: wards had falls link practitioners but authority to allocate resources for falls prevention resided with senior nurses. (2) Shared responsibility: a key falls prevention strategy was patient supervision. This fell to nursing staff, constraining the extent to which responsibility for falls prevention could be shared. (3) Facilitation: assessments were consistently documented but workload pressures could reduce this to a tick-box exercise. Assessment items varied. While individual patient risk factors were identified, patients were categorised as high or low risk to determine who should receive supervision. (4) Patient participation: nursing staff lacked time to explain to patients their falls risks or how to prevent themselves from falling, although other staff could do so. Sensitive communication could prevent patients taking actions that increase their risk of falling. Within the realist review, we completed synthesis for only two theories. We could not access patient records before observations, preventing assessment of whether care plans were enacted. (1) Leadership: There should be a clear distinction between senior nurses' roles and falls link practitioners in relation to falls prevention; (2) shared responsibility: Trusts should consider how processes and systems, including the electronic health record, can be revised to better support a multidisciplinary approach, and alternatives to patient supervision should be considered; (3) facilitation: Trusts should consider how to reduce documentation burden and avoid tick-box responses, and ensure items included in the falls risk assessment tools align with guidance. Falls risk assessment tools and falls care plans should be presented as tools to support practice, rather than something to be audited; (4) patient participation: Trusts should consider how they can ensure patients receive individualised information about risks and preventing falls and provide staff with guidance on brief but sensitive ways to talk with patients to reduce the likelihood of actions that increase their risk of falling. (1) Development and evaluation of interventions to support multidisciplinary teams to undertake, and involve patients in, multifactorial falls risk assessment and selection and delivery of tailored interventions; (2) mixed method and economic evaluations of patient supervision; (3) evaluation of engagement support workers, volunteers and/or carers to support falls prevention. Research should include those with cognitive impairment and patients who do not speak English. This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42020184458. This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme (NIHR award ref: NIHR129488) and is published in full in Health and Social Care Delivery Research; Vol. 12, No. 5. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information.

Understanding veterinary practitioners' responses to adverse events using a combined grounded theory and netnographic natural language processing approach.

Support that mitigates the detrimental impact of adverse events on human healthcare practitioners is underpinned by an understanding of their experiences. This study used a mixed methods approach to understand veterinary practitioners' responses to adverse events. 12 focus groups and 20 interviews with veterinary practitioners were conducted and analysed using grounded theory principles. Experiencing stress, externalising facts and feelings, morally contextualising events and catalysing personal and professional improvements were identified as components of practitioners' response. Natural language processing content analysis of posts regarding involvement in adverse events (n = 572) written by members of a veterinary member-only Facebook group was also performed, to categorise and count words within texts based on underlying meaning. Percentile scores of four summary variables along with relative frequency of function, psychological process and time orientation words used were recorded and compared with content analysis of posts where members discussed euthanasia (n = 471) and animal health certification (n = 419). Lower authenticity scores (reflecting lower honesty), differences in clout scores (reflecting dominance) and higher frequencies of moralisation, future focus, prosocial behaviour and interpersonal conflict were observed in the adverse event group compared to either comparison group. Analytical thinking scores (reflecting logical thinking) and frequencies of total, positive and negative emotion, anxiety, anger and cognitive processing words (reflecting debate) were not significantly different between the adverse events and euthanasia groups. Integration of findings confirmed and expanded inferences made in both studies regarding the emotionally detrimental impact of adverse events and the role that peer-to-peer mediated reflection and learning plays in mitigating pathologisation of responses in the aftermath of adverse events. Discordance in findings related to practitioners' intentions and expressions of honesty suggest that work is needed to normalise open discussion about adverse events. Findings may be used to lever, and to inform, peer-to-peer support for practitioners in relation to veterinary adverse events.

Approach, Attitudes, and Knowledge of General Practitioners about Helicobacter pylori in the Doctor Soliman Fakeeh Hospital (DSFH) in Jeddah

Objectives: Helicobacter pylori (HP) is a gram-negative twisting molded microscopic organism, known to colonize, principally in the gastric mucosa of the antrum. This study was designed to investigate the approach, attitudes, and knowledge of general practitioners in relation to HP among healthcare providers in Doctor Suliman Fakeeh Hospital (DSFH) in Jeddah. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021 in DSFH in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. An online self-administered questionnaire was distributed randomly for the period of July-September 2021, which was divided into 3 sections to gather information related to the consent, sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, and awareness of HP. Results: A total of 181 participants participated, 78% of participants were female. Among participants, it was revealed that the most prevalent reasons for the HP eradication therapy were peptic ulcer (48.4%), gastroesophageal reflux disease (41.8%), and dyspepsia (39.2%). There was a significant correlation between the knowledge of 181 healthcare respondents and which diagnostic test was used and when needed for HP confirmation was observed through statistical analysis and results showed data correlation to be statistically significant (p=0.30). There was a significant correlation between eradication treatment confirmation in suspected patients with infection and the experienced general practitioners of the DSFH analysis through statistical analysis and results showed data correlation to be statistically significant (p=0.20). Conclusion: The knowledge towards HP infection is still the most prevalent and persistent bacterial illness. There are numerous modalities for the diagnosing and eradication of HP.

Social Anxiety Disorder: Individual Differences and Treatment

With the gradual development of human civilization and social environment, as well as the increasing content, the residents do welcome a good living environment and the living standard has been upgraded to a higher level. But social progress can sometimes have negative impacts such as increased levels of social anxiety disorder among the general public. These effects can remain in the public mind for a long time and to some extent put people in a negative state of mind. However, patients will always let other seemingly more important matters dilute the impact of social anxiety in their minds. It was only when it was realised that the condition was seriously affecting their ability to synthesize speech that they started trying to intervene. To a certain extent, psychologists sometimes have to pay attention to these mental illnesses that are widespread around the population of the society, and from time to time, face them with a positive attitude and human intervention. Therefore, by collecting data and information from multiple sources and analysing the content, this paper explores the causal features of social anxiety disorder and the corresponding mainstream treatment measures or methods of response. Finally, cognitive behavioral therapy and medication were introduced. The final recommendations provide direction for future research. Empirical summary reporting and review of social anxiety disorders and presentation of treatments focuses on meta-analyses to summarize current available results and reports using objective methods and data. In conclusion, related practitioners and researchers should better understand social anxiety and plan for the future.

Ethical challenges experienced by veterinary practitioners in relation to adverse events: Insights from a qualitative study.

Understanding ethical challenges experienced in relation to adverse events is necessary to inform strategies that optimise patient safety and practitioner wellbeing. A qualitative exploration of UK veterinary practitioners' experiences of adverse events was conducted. Data were collected via 12 focus groups and 20 interviews and analysed using an inductive coding technique. Questions surrounding acceptable boundaries of care, decision-making autonomy, personal scope of practice, use of evidence and speaking up about patient safety concerns were identified as ethically challenging to practitioners when endeavouring to prevent adverse events. Issues of appropriate accountability, interaction and communication with animal owners and the prioritisation of emotional and technical support for themselves and others were identified as ethically challenging in the aftermath of adverse events. The qualitative nature of this study limits the generalisability of the findings. Ethical challenges are experienced by veterinary practitioners in relation to both preventing and responding in the aftermath of adverse events. Strategies that facilitate ethical decision making and reflection and encourage openness and learning from adverse events would likely improve patient safety and enhance practitioner wellbeing. Further research is needed to develop and implement support for practitioners who experience ethical challenges in relation to adverse events.

Oral Complications related to tropical infectious Diseases: an introduction and analysis of survey data

BackgroundsThe non-indigenous tropical infectious diseases that occur in the non-tropics arise from personnel communication between locals and visitors. Many of these infectious diseases involve oral complications. It is very important for practitioners to manage such cases based on a clear understanding of the association between tropical infectious diseases and oral health. In this study, we summarize the oral complications related to tropical infectious diseases and investigate the understanding of infectious disease practitioners in relation to the association between these conditions. In addition, we provide supportive advice to facilitate the oral management of tropical infectious diseases.MethodsFirst, we investigate the oral complications related to tropical infectious diseases by performing an appropriate literature search. Then, we analyzed the understanding of 207 Chinese practitioners specializing in infectious diseases in relation to the association between these two conditions by applying a bespoke online questionnaire.ResultsAnalysis revealed that the Chinese practitioners had very poor attitudes and knowledge relating to the association between tropical infectious diseases and oral health. Different backgrounds had no significant impact on the understanding of Chinese practitioners with regards to the association between tropical infectious diseases and oral health.ConclusionMany oral complications are related to tropical infectious diseases. The understanding of Chinese practitioners with regards to the association between infectious disease and oral health was very inadequate. It is essential to promote publicity and education relating to infectious tropical diseases and oral health.

Bulgarian General Practitioners' Communication Styles about Child Vaccinations, Mainly Focused on Parental Decision Making in the Context of a Mandatory Immunization Schedule.

The communication practices of general practitioners in relation with vaccines have not been a topic of wide scientific interest. In this article, we outline them in the context of Bulgaria. A representative, cross-sectional, quantitative, face-to-face survey was conducted among 358 Bulgarian general practitioners in 2022 using simple random sampling. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis using questions about the role of the GPs, which measure models of communication. Based on the factor analysis, we distinguished four communication styles. They were called: active communicator, restrictive communicator, informing communicator, and strained communicator. One-way ANOVA and the T-test were carried out to explore the connections between factor scores (communication styles) and other variables. One of the most important results in the study was that the informing physician (emphasizing the choice of the parents) was the most common model in Bulgaria. This is somewhat contradictory, because of the mandatory status of most vaccines. We found connections between the communication styles and other variables-such as the type of settlement, having a hesitant parent in the practice, recommendations of non-mandatory vaccines, and experience with vaccine-preventable diseases. On the basis of the factor analysis and analysis of relationships with other variables, we reached the conclusion that in Bulgaria, hesitant parents are not sufficiently involved in active, effective communication about vaccines by GPs.