Scientific Research Training Research Articles

Systemic Therapy for Previously Treated Advanced Gastric Cancer: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

Background: Failure of first-line systemic therapy is commonly observed among patients with advanced gastric cancer. Although paclitaxel plus ramucirumab has been recommended as the preferred second-line strategy, other regimens also display potentially comparable efficacies. Moreover, there is currently lacking of consensus on the systemic treatment among refractory patients. Unfortunately, despite of several previously published systematic reviews, there is still lacking of a comprehensive and hierarchical evidence that properly compares all eligible literatures simultaneously. Hence, we performed a systematic review as well as network meta-analysis in order to summarize and analyze all potential knowledge on this field. Methods: Record retrieval was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, ASCO and ESMO meeting abstract library from inception to August 2018. Regarding survival and tolerability, randomized controlled trials featuring comparisons between different systemic treatments among previously treated patients with advanced gastric cancer were eligible for our systematic review. The quantitative network meta-analyses were additionally performed among second-line unselected patients with fluoropyrimidine-based first-line regimens and refractory unselected cases. Overall survival was the primary endpoint, while progression-free survival, objective response rate, hematological and non-hematological adverse events were selected as secondary endpoints. Hazard ratio (HR) and risk ratio (RR) with their 95% confidence interval were used for time-to-event survival and dichotomous variables respectively. Pairwise and network calculation were based on random-effects model and the relative ranking of each regimen was numerically indicated by P-score. Findings: A total of 36 studies were included into our systematic review. The demographic characteristics were comparable across the studies and the overall risk of bias was in low level. Concerning second-line unselected patients with fluoropyrimidine-based first-line regimens, PO (paclitaxel plus olaparib) (HR 1.00 (0.77-1.28), P-score=0.909) and PRa (paclitaxel plus ramucirumab) (HR 1.00, P-score=0.907) dominated the overall survival ranking while PRa additionally topped the hierarchy for progression-free survival (HR 1.00, P-score=0.983) and objective response rate (RR 1.00, P-score=0.925). Both PO and PRa displayed acceptable tolerability. As for second-line HER2 positive patients, trastuzumab-based doublets failed to surpass taxane monotherapy in survival efficacies. Among general refractory or third-line only cases, apatinib reigned the hierarchy by significantly and insignificantly surpassing placebo and nivolumab respectively, irrespective of overall and progression-free survival, while showing comparable adverse events as well. Interpretation: In conclusion, paclitaxel plus ramucirumab is the optimal regimen for second-line unselected patients with fluoropyrimidine-based first-line regimens while olaparib-based medications also have the potential to become vital alternatives against advanced gastric cancer, especially among eastern population where paclitaxel plus ramucirumab seems less effective. Paclitaxel monotherapy should be recommended as the preferred second-line regimen among HER2 positive patients who receive standard first-line treatment. Both apatinib and nivolumab could be potentially recommended as refractory regimens due to their significant superiority against placebo, however their mutual efficacies still need to be verified in further global investigations. Funding Statement: Scientific Research Training Program for Young Talents (2017); National Natural Science Foundation of China (81572413). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: All procedures were conducted according to Cochrane Handbook 5.1 and PRISMA for Network Meta-analysis (CRD42018104672).

Are Doctoral Students Satisfied with the Education Process? A Study from the Perspective of Data Monitoring

This study uses national time-series survey data to monitor the levels and changing trends of doctoral student satisfaction with their education process. From 2012 to 2016, advising ranked highest on the satisfaction continuum, followed by scientific research training, curriculum and teaching, the financial aid system, and management and service. The latter three indicators show the most significant weaknesses, albeit with a steady upward trend, and therefore require stronger reforms and pinpointed policy implementation.

Intelligent System for the use of the Scientific Research Information System

As part of the digital governance of scientific research of Moroccan universities and national research institutions, the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Executive Training has shown great interest in setting up the Moroccan Information System for Scientific Research (SIMARECH). Despite a great effort that was made for the implementation of SIMARECH in Moroccan universities, difficulties appear in the use of this information system. This prompted Abdelmalek Essaadi University to consider developing an intelligent system to provide remote training for users to use SIMARECH to facilitate the learning process, reduce administrative costs for displacement to national universities and save time training, etc. This article is in the context of a new rapidly expanding learning paradigm in the field of artificial intelligence for education. It encompasses the design and development of a SIMARECH Intelligent Learning System of Global Use and Features to provide customized learning and adapt to different environments as well as the types of learning scenarios for user training of SIMARECH, this system is named ISSIMA (intelligent system for the use of SIMARECH).

The endangered clinician-investigator profession in Saudi Arabia: curricular attention is required

The endangered clinician-investigator profession in Saudi Arabia: curricular attention is required

Assessing the Curricula of Political Sciences’ Programs at the Palestinian Universities in Accordance with the Academic Standards of Political Sciences

The study aimed at answering the following key question: Are academic standards of political sciences fulfilled in the curricula of political science programs at the Palestinian universities? Accordingly, the study included a theoretical section that explained the basic concepts of quality in education, and some international experiences adopted for quality assurance of political sciences programs. Then the study analyzed, according to the standard criteria, the curricula of four departments that grant a bachelor's degree in political sciences, based on information published on the departments’ sites on the internet, and according to the academic guidebook of each department. The study concluded that the mission and objectives of three departments are clear, while the findings of the analysis showed that there is mismatch of requirements in the Palestinian curricula with academic standards. Most programs are rich with major materials, but need a little adjustment to conform to the standards. The findings also showed a number of negative points in study plans, which do not contain enough credit hours for scientific research, computer applications, and field training, while they have extra credit hours for university requirements. The study made several recommendations to address the problems of the curricula, including: Inviting departments to form committees to ensure quality, to modify the curricula, and develop it in accordance with international standards.
 Keywords: Academic program, Academic standards, Curricula assessment, Political sciences.

Research on the reform of curriculum system of health service management

Objective To understand the needs to reform curriculum for the graduate students in health management, and to provide evidence for the reform of the curriculum system. Methods From Jan-uary 2015 to May from China's colleges and universities carrying out health management professional post-graduate education, graduate students and supervisors from 3 universities were selected, and self-designed questionnaires were used to investigate their views on training objectives, abilities and curriculum settings, as well as the needs and suggestions for curriculum reform. The questionnaire survey data were collected and analyzed by SPSS 17.0. Results 120 questionnaires were issued and 100 were recovered in the study, with a recovery rate of 83.3%. 84.0% of the graduate students did not manage relevant work experience before entering the school. The graduate students thought that we should focus on the research and teaching ability training related to the management of health services, and then the cultivation of management ability. There were 60 questionnaires for instructors, and 51 were recovered, with a recovery rate of 85.0%. With regard to the demand for ability training, teachers and graduate students tended to agree on the goal and focus of the training. 100.0% instructors believed that learning was an important course, only 11.2% of the students thought that the course of study was not important, but to the current status of health manage-ment professional postgraduate courses, 79.3% instructors believed that the current curriculum was reason-able, and only 53.5% of the students thought it reasonable. Conclusion The emphasis should be given to optimizing the course setting, adding practical and innovative courses, and strengthening the training of scientific research, etc., which is the only way to improve the quality of health management postgraduate education and meet the needs of health development. Key words: Health service management; Graduate student; Curriculum; Questionnaire survey

Full-time doctor of medicine in China: current status, problems and solutions from special assessment perspective

Objective To analyze the problems of doctor of medicine in China, and to explore the efforts to improvethe training quality of doctor of medicine. Methods The paper selected 5medical colleges which participated the thematic evaluation of doctor of medicinedegreeauthorization centers in 2014, then analyzed the relevant data of doctor of medicine during 2011-2015, such as education condition, enrollment scale, training objective, curriculum setting, scientific research trainingand clinical practice by descriptive study. Results The average of affiliated hospitals is 6.0.The number of medical doctor entrance exam increased by 1.5 times during 2011-2015.The training institutions set up clear training objective of applied talents.A three-stage cultivation mode of course learning, clinical practice and scientific research training is widespread enforcement. However, the subject and basiccondition varies in different schools. The teachers’ professional level is uneven.The quality of candidates needsto be improved.Curriculum design is lack of pertinence.Standardization of clinical practice andscientific training system is not enoughat the same time. Conclusions The suggestions to promote the reform of full-time doctor of medicineare: improving the subject building; increasethe number of students enrollment appropriately; strengthening pertinence of curriculum system; perfecting quality evaluating system; exploring the training mode called 5+ 3+ X . Key words: Doctor of medicine; Culture system; Discipline development

Exploration on Cultivating Innovative and Applied Talents in Robot Industry

Innovation is the uniquely human awareness and practical ability, as well as the human subjective initiative of high performance. Innovation-driven development is to promote the nation's progress and the inexhaustible motive force of social development. This paper mainly discusses how in the process of engineering undergraduate talents training, outstanding scientific research tasks and research tasks solution-oriented are realized. We employ the scientific research training, progressive training of applied innovation, multi-professional cross integration, university-industry depth cooperation, as well as international vision of innovation and entrepreneurship education, striving for the cultivation of application-oriented talents in robotics industry.

Examining Summer Laboratory Research Apprenticeships for High School Students as a Factor in Entry to MD/PhD Programs at Matriculation.

Do summer laboratory research apprenticeships during high school have an impact on entry into MD/PhD programs? Apart from the nearly decade-long span of time between high school and matriculation into an MD/PhD program, young people have many life-shaping experiences that presumably impact their education and career trajectories. This quantitative study (n = 236,432) examines the connection between early laboratory research apprenticeship experiences at the high school level and matriculation into one of the more rigorous educational programs for scientific research training. The span of time covered by this analysis reaches across more than a decade, examining the potential importance of research experiences during the precollege years in the educational trajectory of young people. Intertwined with this question on research experiences is a second major concern regarding diversity in the life sciences research corps. Diversity in this wide-ranging discipline refers specifically to the underrepresentation of Blacks/African Americans, Hispanics/Latino/as, and American Indians/Alaska Natives among the ranks of research scientists. Thus, this study includes analyses that specifically focus on research apprenticeships of Blacks/African Americans and Hispanics/Latino/as and their entrance into MD/PhD programs.

Prospects of the development of aviation technical justice experts

The question of creating a scientific research laboratories the tasks of this laboratory will be the formulation of scientific tasks and relevant research developments, training, retraining, certification and re-certification of internal and external experts, the implementation of examinations for resonant accidents, accumulation, processing, systematization of data and the finding appropriate consistent patterns to solve tasks of prevention, as well as improving the base of normative documents. Formulation of the problem. During of the aviation activity are frequent cases of accidents due to the significant omissions in the legal framework regulating the aviation activity, and excited in these cases, criminal cases, as a rule do not have the prospects of a judicial investigation, much of the business is limited to administrative responsibility, which is based on the findings official investigation, and does not always coincide with the findings of the forensic examination of aircraft maintenance, resulting in recommendations are ineffective and preventive work to prevent accidents in the future. Presenting main material. Without training aviation specialists of the highest qualification may unwittingly make mistakes, not only decoration, but a legal plan, going beyond its competence. This ultimately compromises made conclusions and requires additional or even re-examination. While the examination remains the departmental and executed with the assistance of specialists air transport is not certified as a forensic expert examination results depend on the experience and skills of conducting its employees. Judicial Aviation expert should have sufficient practical experience in the investigation aviation events, which is the foundation for the development of skills during the examination. This experience can be persons who have qualified pilot, aeronautical engineer, a specialist in the airworthiness and air traffic management must know aviation infrastructure and be able to establish connections between different areas of aviation activity. Conclusions. At present, the author together with the specialists of the National Bureau of Investigation of accidents and incidents with civil aircraft of Ukraine, with the support of the Research Institute of forensic examinations there is a work for the certification of personnel in "Judicial expert on the study of the circumstances of accidents." Create lab aviation transport forensic expert to develop modern technologies, will require the involvement of scientists of the highest caliber, the support of government agencies and financial investments. But the beginning of all - the staff, prepared legally Ph.D and Professors of sciences who possess specialized knowledge in the basic and engineering sciences and transport.

GEOHealth - The Caribbean Consortium for Research in Environmental and Occupational Health: Environmental Health Science Research Training in Suriname

GEOHealth - The Caribbean Consortium for Research in Environmental and Occupational Health: Environmental Health Science Research Training in Suriname

Analysis of the application and funding projects of National Natural Science Foundation of China in the field of burns and plastic surgery from 2010 to 2016

We analyzed the data of application and funding projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) during 2010-2016 in the field of burns and plastic surgery and summarized the NSFC funding pattern, the research hotspots, and weaknesses in this field. The NSFC has funded 460 projects in the field of burns and plastic surgery, with total funding of RMB 227.96 million. The scientific issues involved in the funding projects include orthotherapy against malformations, wound repair, basic research of burns, skin grafting, scars prevention, and regeneration of hair follicle and sweat glands. The research techniques involved in the funding projects are diversified. NSFC plays an important role in the scientific research and talents training in the field of burns and plastic surgery.

Application effect of nursing scientific research training based on system cybernetics in inservice nurses

Objective To explore the effect of nursing scientific research training based on system cybernetics. Methods The system cybernetics was applied in the scientific research training of 116 inservice nurses. The 4-level nursing scientific research management system which consisted of the mentor, research team, department head nurse and the director of nursing department was implemented. The key point of the training process was controlled from the aspects of training goal, curriculum content, teacher control, training method, information exchange, curriculum schedule and training effect. The scientific research ability, the scientific research quantity and the teaching satisfaction of nurses were compared between the data before and after training. Results After training, according to the scores of self-rating scientific research ability scale, the ability of finding problems (2.56±0.34) , the ability of consulting literature (2.78±0.31) , the ability of designing scientific researches (2.60±0.4) , the ability of processing data (2.35±0.39) , the ability of writing dissertation (2.41±0.37) , the practice ability of scientific researches (2.38±0.29) of 116 inservice nurses were all significantly higher than the data before training (t=30.404, 38.513, 26.951, 23.041, 25.069, 27.655; P<0.01) . After training, the numbers of written dissertations (116) , published papers (43) , project applications (20) , project approvals (8) were all higher than the data before training. The teaching satisfaction degree of nurses after training was higher than that before training. Conclusions The nursing scientific research training based on system cybernetics can effectively improve the scientific research ability of nurses and stimulate their studying enthusiasm. Key words: Nurses; System cybernetics; Nursing scientific research; Training

Protecting the Biodiversity in the Fast Urbanization Age – An Ecotourism Zone in Hainan, China

In China's rush to urbanize, development practices are often forceful on local people. Displacing development of the Chinese countryside to make way for expensive housing and large hotels is a regularity. This paper looks at the Yanoda Ecotourism Zone Planning project in Hainan, China as an example of the method of the Ecotourism and Sustainable Development approach.The design team thoroughly collected and analyzed the natural and culture elements of the area, and hosted public meetings of all parties including local governmental, developer, local farmers, potential buyers and came up an innovated master plan for the 164 km2 (40,525 acres) project areas that all parties receive some benefit; at the same time, the natural resource and cultural character of the area was preserved in a maximize way. The Ecoland design team also came up with a demonstration design for Phase I area as well as a design guideline for the rest of the project area. Three years after the project, the local residents’ income, the government tax income from tourism, and developer's investment return have all proved the success of the development. The goal of preserving the sensitive environmental area was accomplished as well. By incorporating scientific research, urban infrastructure, and job training, the plan shows that the goals of ecological, cultural, and economic sustainability can be combined to create a successful development for all parties involved. The result is a popular tourist destination that has the support of both the people and the government. Yanoda Ecotourism Zone shows how a model developed with the community can lead to successful future growth. The master plan for Yanoda is not merely a guideline for development but a model for a system of continued sustainability and growth.

Improved tutorial system + TBL research combat training, a novel teaching model of scientific research practice and its effects on medical undergraduates' cognition and behavior

Objective To investigate the effects of a novel scientific research practice model on medical undergraduates' cognition and behavior. Method Totally, 60 medical undergraduates took part in the research. All of them accepted scientific research training by using improved tutorial system + team-based learning (TBL) combat training models. Before and after training, students completed the same questionnaires respectively. The content included the purpose of participating in scientific research activities, the interest of scientific research, and the confidence and satisfaction of publishing scientific research papers, etc.. SPSS 16.0 was used to conduct non parametric Mann-Whitney test or Wilcoxon non parametric test to the pre and post survey data. Results Fifty-seven students (95.0%) were satisfied with the novel teaching model. Before and after training, the liking scores for scientific research practice rose from 1.12 (95%CI=0.65 to 1.59) to 5.87 (95%CI=5.34 to 6.39), P=0.001. Fifty-three students (88.3%) proactively participated in re- search work after training compared with 21 students (35.0%) before training, P=0.000. More students had confidence in publishing academic papers on Chinese core journals or Science Citation Index journals after training (P=0.000, P=0.003 respectively). 57 students (95%) said they were very satisfied or satisfied with the training of scientific research and practice. Conclusion Improved tutorial system + TBL research combat training model can stimulate students' interest in scientific research and make them have more pos-itive cognition and behavior on scientific research work. Key words: Medical undergraduate education; Research capacity; Tutorial system; Question-naire; Team-based learning

Balloon Launches Introduce Students to Space Science

High school students launch their own high-altitude payloads and learn from their successes and failures through a science research training program led by the University of New Hampshire.

Nonadiabatic Effect on the Rescattering Trajectories of Electrons in Strong Laser Field Ionization Process**Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 11425414 and 11504215, and the Scientific Research Training Program of Shanxi University.

The important features of the rescattering trajectories in strong field ionization process such as the cutoff of the return energy at 3.17UP and that of the final energy at 10UP are obtained, based on the adiabatic approximation in which the initial momentum of the electron is assumed to be zero. We theoretically study the nonadiabatic effect by assuming a nonzero initial momentum on the rescattering trajectories based on the semiclassical simpleman model. We show that the nonzero initial momentum will modify both the maximal return energy at collision and the final energy after backward scattering, but in different ways for odd and even number of return trajectories. The energies are increased for even number of returns but are decreased for odd number of returns when the nonzero (positive or negative) initial momentum is applied.

Research projects in the Surgeon-Scientist and Clinician-Investigator programs at the University of Toronto (1987-2016): a cohort study.

Physicians have traditionally been at the forefront of medical research, bringing clinical questions to the laboratory and returning with ideas for treatment. However, we have anecdotally observed a decline in the popularity of basic science research among trainees. We hypothesized that fewer resident physicians have been pursuing basic science research training over time. We examined records from residents in the Surgeon-Scientist and Clinician-Investigator programs at the University of Toronto (1987-2016). Research by residents was categorized independently by 2 raters as basic science, clinical epidemiology or education-related based on the title of the project, the name of the supervisor and Pubmed searches. The study population was divided into quintiles of time, and the proportion pursuing basic science training in each quintile was calculated. Agreement between the raters was 100%; the categorization of the research topic remained unclear in 9 cases. The proportion of trainees pursuing basic science training dropped by 60% from 1987 to 2016 (p = 0.005). Significantly fewer residents in the Surgeon-Scientist and Clinician-Investigator Programs at the University of Toronto are pursuing training in the basic sciences as compared with previous years.

Current status and problem analysis on cultivating master of nursing specialist in 28 universities

Objective To analyze the problem on cultivating master of nursing specialist (MNS) in China and to explore the measures on education reform for them. Methods We selected 28 nursing schools which participated in special evaluation for MNS in 2014. And then, we collected and descriptively analyzed relevant data on MNS during 2011-2015 on culturing conditions, enrollment scale, training objective, course offered, clinical practice and so on. Results The average professional practice base of MNS was 7.1 among investigated schools. Besides, the enrollment proportion of master with professional degree rose steadily which reached 48.2% in 2015. Cultivating schools established training objective for practical talents of MNS. A three-stage cultivating mode of course learning, clinical practice and scientific research training was universally applied. However, there were also many problems involving that subject conditions and foundation among different schools were largely different; the construction of teaching staff still needed to be strengthened, the number of enrollment was small, training objective was not clear, course offered was lack of characteristics. Conclusions Education reform for MNS can be promoted in improving the discipline construction, strengthening the construction of teaching staff, identifying cultivation orientation, extending cultivation direction by combining industry needs, strengthening standardization construction of curriculum system, enhancing clinical practice ability guided by competence of nursing position and so on. Key words: Master of nursing; Professional degree; Graduate student cultivation

The State of Scientific Research and Research Training in Moroccan Universities: Doctoral Students’ Perceptions

The present paper intends to focus on research training in Moroccan universities through investigating doctoral students’ perceptions of this training and drawing conclusions and suggestions for the improvement of higher education research practices. This study used a mixed research method with an explanatory survey design. First, a survey was conducted with 144 Moroccan doctoral students to answer research questions on the integration of research courses in undergraduate curriculum, the quality of this research training and the difficulties facing students while conducting research. Then, interviews were carried out with 40 subjects to seek further explanations and triangulate data obtained through the questionnaire. The findings of this study indicate that doctoral students receive little practical training in research prior to starting doctoral studies. Thus, they undergo a myriad of challenges while writing their doctoral theses as they lack autonomy when it comes to carrying out their investigations. Most often these challenges are linked to narrowing the scope of their research, using appropriate methodology, and publishing their research findings. Besides, the students reported difficulties linked with the quality of supervision they get and the lack of financial support to conduct their research in optimal conditions. Based on these findings, some practical implications and recommendations have been drawn.