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Background: The precise effect and the quality of different cases used in dermatology problem-based learning (PBL) curricula are yet unclear. Aim: To prospectively compare the impact of real patients, digital, paper PBL (PPBL) and traditional lecture-based learning (LBL) on academic results and student perceptions. Methods: A total of 120 students were randomly allocated into either real-patients PBL (RPBL) group studied via real-patient cases, digital PBL (DPBL) group studied via digital-form cases, PPBL group studied via paper-form cases, or conventional group who received didactic lectures. Academic results were assessed through review of written examination, objective structured clinical examination and student performance scores. A five-point Likert scale questionnaire was used to evaluate student perceptions. Results: Compared to those receiving lectures only, all PBL participants had better results for written examination, clinical examination and overall performance. Students in RPBL group exhibited better overall performance than those in the other two PBL groups. Real-patient cases were more effective in helping develop students' self-directed learning skills, improving their confidence in future patient encounters and encouraging them to learn more about the discussed condition, compared to digital and paper cases. Conclusion: Both real patient and digital triggers are helpful in improving students' clinical problem-handling skills. However, real patients provide greater benefits to students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Glioma patients are at high risk for postoperative delirium (POD), yet studies focusing on this population in general neurosurgical ward settings are limited. This paper investigates the incidence of POD and related risk factors in glioma patients hospitalized in general wards. Design: Prospective observational study. Methods: This prospective study included 133 adult glioma patients hospitalized in the general neurosurgery ward. In addition to collecting routine perioperative general clinical data, patients' psychological status was assessed preoperatively using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). POD was assessed within 3 days postoperatively using the Confusion of Consciousness Assessment method, twice daily. The incidence of POD was calculated, and risk factors were identified using logistic regression analysis. Results: The incidence of POD in glioma patients admitted to the general ward was 31.6% (40/133). Multivariate regression revealed advanced age (age > 50 years), frontal lobe tumour, presence of preoperative anxiety or depression, retention of a luminal drain, postoperative pain, indwelling catheter these six factors were independent risk factors for the development of delirium in patients after surgery. Conclusion: In general ward settings, supratentorial glioma patients exhibit a high risk of POD. Critical risk factors include preoperative psychological conditions, as well as postoperative pain, drainage and catheterization. Rigorous preoperative evaluations, effective pain management strategies and the integration of humanistic care principles are essential in mitigating the risk of POD for glioma patients. Relevance to Clinical Practice: In general ward settings, this study reveals the high occurrence of POD in glioma patients and identifies preoperative psychological states, age, tumour location and several postoperative factors as significant risk factors for POD, which provides a framework for targeted interventions. By integrating these insights into clinical practice, healthcare teams can better identify glioma patients at risk for POD and implement preventive measures, thereby enhancing recovery and overall care quality for glioma patients in general neurosurgical wards. Reporting Method: This study adheres to the STROBE guidelines, ensuring a transparent and comprehensive reporting of the observational research methodology and results. Patient or Public Contribution: Patients involvement was limited to the provision of data through their participation in the study's assessments and the collection of clinical information. The study did not involve a direct patient or public contribution in the design, conduct, analysis, or interpretation of the data, nor in the preparation of the manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing prominence of the problem of censored data in various fields has made studying how to perform parameter estimation and variable selection in censored mixed-effects models one of the hotspots of current research. In this paper, considering the situation that the response variable is restricted by the bilateral limit, a double-penalty Bayesian Tobit quantile regression model was constructed to carry out parameter estimation and variable selection in the interval-censored mixed-effects model, and at the same time, the fixed-effects and random effects coefficients are compressed in Tobit's mixed-effects model, so as to reduce the estimation error of the model at the same time as the variable selection of the model is carried out. The posterior distribution of each unknown parameter was derived using the conditional Laplace prior and the mixed truncated normal distribution of interval-censored data, and then the Gibbs sampling algorithm for unknown parameter estimation was constructed. Through Monte Carlo simulation, it was found that the new method is more advantageous than the classical method in terms of variable selection and parameter estimation accuracy in various situations, such as different model sparsity, different data censoring ratios and different random error distributions, and the model is able to realize automatic variable selection. Finally, the new method is used to analyze the correlation between the crime rate and various economic indicators in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This paper has two objectives. First, it assesses whether the existing informal care provided by adult children has an impact on older people's propensity to demand community care services. Second, it compares the different statuses of sons and daughters in the formal/informal support trade‐off. Methods: The paper is based on an analysis of data from the 2018 wave of the China Longitudinal Ageing Social Survey, within the framework of a revised version of Andersen's model, and applies multilevel models to analyse the effects of adult children's gender, numbers and the quality of their support, on older people's willingness to purchase community care services. Results: Older people who had sons as well as daughters demanded fewer services, while the number of sons increased service demand. Regarding sons, community care services compensated for economic support, daily life care and spiritual consolation, but did so only in respect of daily life care from daughters. Conclusions: Many families have only one son or one daughter as a result of the one‐child policy and therefore often require support from formal care services. Moreover, there is a distinct gender division and an influential filial culture governing the impact of services on the support provided by adult children. Because ageing in place depends on both informal family support and formal services, this key policy goal is at risk if the latter provides insufficient support to the former. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the deepening of population aging and the trial implementation of a progressive retirement delay policy in China, understanding the relationship between the labor force participation and health status of the elderly will not only enrich relevant research but also help the elderly better achieve their goals of active aging and aging. Using the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, this paper first established multiple linear regression models to analyze the impact of labor force participation on the health status of elderly people in China and then established simultaneous equation models using households living on minimum living allowances and the community average of labor participation as instrumental variables to deal with the endogeneity caused by two-way causality. The findings confirmed significant positive correlations between labor force participation and physical and mental health, while caring for grandchildren and participating in social activities were found to be negatively moderated the relationship between labor force participation and the physical and mental health of older adults. The impact of labor force participation on the physical health status of older men and the mental health status of older women may be greater. In addition, labor force participation may have a greater impact on the physical health of the rural elderly, and its impact on mental health was not found to be statistically significant between urban and rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Studies: Captioning and repetition are widely used multimedia instructional devices for non‐native students. Generally, studies in this area have tended to focus on second language literacy skills rather than on learning new content knowledge. Additionally, posttests were administered immediately after the treatments, while the delayed influences of captioning and repetition have never been investigated. Objectives: This paper addressed these research gaps in two separate studies. More specifically, this study attempted to examine the influences of captioning and repetition on non‐native students' immediate and relayed retention. Methods: In Study One, three captioning conditions; word‐by‐word captions, closed captions, and no‐captions; were compared to examine their efficacies in immediate and delayed content knowledge retention on 82 Chinese university students. To address the limitations in Study One as the multimedia lesson was short and played only once, Study Two incorporated captioning and two repetition types in its design. One hundred and eleven Chinese university students watch a video lesson in one of four captioning and repetition conditions. Results: The statistical analyses of Study One indicated that there were no significant differences in both immediate and delayed retention test scores across the three captioning condition. Similarly, in Study Two, there were no significant differences in retention tests scores across the four captioning and repetition conditions. Findings: Neither the availability of captions nor the repetition types had any impact on the Chinese students' immediate or delayed content knowledge retention, which lent support to existing studies. Based on the research results, the limitations and future study possibilities are discussed. Lay Description: What Is Already Known About This TopicEmpirical studies on captioning have focused on immediate learning right after the treatment, so have studies on repetition.Empirical studies on multimedia lessons for non‐native students have focused on English language learning. What This Paper AddsThree types of captioning were compared to examine their efficacies in both immediate and delayed content retention of Chinese students.Two types of repetition were compared to examine their efficacies in both immediate and delayed content retention of Chinese students. Implications for Practice and/or Policy:Neither the availability of captions nor the repetition types had any impact on the Chinese students' immediate or delayed content knowledge retention.The availability of textual keywords adjacent to their corresponding graphics might have compromised the efficacy of captioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study aimed to explore the utility of latent profile analysis of illness perception, in comparison to treating illness perception as several dimensions, to predict breast cancer‐related lymphedema risk management behaviours among Chinese breast cancer patients. Methods: This is a 3‐month longitudinal study. From August 2019 to January 2021, patients who recently underwent breast cancer surgery including axillary lymphadenectomy were recruited. Illness perception and risk management behaviours were measured by breast cancer‐related lymphedema specific questionnaires before discharge following surgery (n = 268) and at 3 months postsurgery (n = 213), respectively. Results: Treating illness perception as several dimensions, 'illness coherence' and 'timeline (cyclical)' dimensions were found to be significantly associated with breast cancer‐related lymphedema risk management behaviours. Using the latent profile analysis, two illness perception profiles were identified and significant differences were revealed in breast cancer‐related lymphedema risk management behaviours between them. Overall, illness perception profiles explained smaller amounts of variability in breast cancer‐related lymphedema risk management behaviours than illness perception dimensions. Conclusion: Future studies could combine these two different perspectives of illness perception regarding breast cancer‐related lymphedema into the design of interventions to improve breast cancer‐related lymphedema risk management behaviours. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? Risk management behaviours are essential to reduce the risk and severity of breast cancer‐related lymphedema (BCRL).Illness perception is a modifiable predictor of BCRL risk management behaviours.Traditional correlation or regression analysis treat illness perceptions as several isolated elements and make it difficult to synthesize our understanding of it. What this paper adds Treating illness perceptions as several isolated elements, illness coherence and timeline (cyclical) were main components predicting BCRL risk management behaviours.Treating illness perception as a whole, latent profile analysis assigned breast cancer patients into two distinct profiles with similar illness perception.Illness perception dimensions and illness perception profiles showed certain effects on predicting BCRL risk management behaviours. The implications of this paper This study adds our knowledge of illness perception regarding BCRL and its effect on predicting BCRL risk management behaviours.The two analysis approaches provided different perspectives on the design and implementation of future intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anemia is a global public health problem, especially common among children in developing countries, which affects their physical and mental health development. However, there is currently a lack of research on the relationship between anemia and academic performance. The objective of this study was to explore the association between anemia and academic performance, and the possible factors mediating this association among Chinese children. The data for this study came from the baseline survey of the Chinese Education Panel Survey Elementary School Cohort. The cohort was conducted from September 2018 to June 2019 in 160 elementary schools, covering 20 provinces and 40 counties/districts throughout China. Paper-based questionnaires were used, completed by 4th grade students, parents, head teachers, main teachers, and principals. The data used included questionnaire responses, physical measurements, and academic performance of 17,695 students. Based on students' hemoglobin levels and school altitude data, we grouped them into anemia and nonanemia categories using WHO criteria. The anemia group had 1,154 individuals, while the nonanemia group had 16,541 individuals. An ordinary least squares regression and mediation effect analysis were conducted. Our findings found the prevalence of anemia was 6.52% among Chinese Grade 4 students. Students without anemia had a higher average test score for three academic subjects than students with anemia (P < 0.001); their test scores for Chinese, Mathematics, and English were also higher (P < 0.05). Multivariate regression analysis showed a negative association between anemia and average test scores as well as individual test scores for the three subjects. Mediation analysis found that anemia affected academic performance directly (P < 0.05), and indirectly by decreasing the cognition score (P < 0.05). The indirect effect was 19.9% of the total effect. Findings highlighted anemia affected academic performance both directly and indirectly. Nutrition-related interventions should be implemented to prevent a decrease in academic performance among students with anemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research to-date has examined the impact of intergenerational support in terms of isolated types of support, or at one point in time, failing to provide strong evidence of the complex effect of support on older persons' wellbeing. Using the Harmonised China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011, 2013 and 2015), this paper investigates the impact of older people's living arrangements and intergenerational support provision/receipt on their physical and psychological wellbeing, focusing on rural–urban differences. The results show that receiving economic support from one's adult children was a stronger predictor for higher life satisfaction among rural residents compared to urban residents, while grandchild care provision was an important determinant for poor life satisfaction only for urban residents. Having weekly in-person and distant contact with one's adult children reduced the risk of depression in both rural and urban residents. Older women were more likely than men to receive support and to have contact with adult children, but also to report poor functional status and depression. The paper shows that it is important to improve the level of public economic transfers and public social care towards vulnerable older people in rural areas, and more emphasis should be placed on improving the psychological wellbeing of urban older residents, such as with the early diagnosis of depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. Accurate prediction and diagnosis of AD and its prodromal stage, i.e., mild cognitive impairment (MCI), is essential for the possible delay and early treatment for the disease. In this paper, we adopt the data from the China Longitudinal Aging Study (CLAS), which was launched in 2011, and includes a joint effort of 15 institutions all over the country. Four thousand four hundred and eleven people who are at least 60 years old participated in the project, where 3,514 people completed the baseline survey. The survey collected data including demographic information, daily lifestyle, medical history, and routine physical examination. In particular, we employ ensemble learning and feature selection methods to develop an explainable prediction model for AD and MCI. Five feature selection methods and nine machine learning classifiers are applied for comparison to find the most dominant features on AD/MCI prediction. The resulting model achieves accuracy of 89.2%, sensitivity of 87.7%, and specificity of 90.7% for MCI prediction, and accuracy of 99.2%, sensitivity of 99.7%, and specificity of 98.7% for AD prediction. We further utilize the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) algorithm to visualize the specific contribution of each feature to AD/MCI prediction at both global and individual levels. Consequently, our model not only provides the prediction outcome, but also helps to understand the relationship between lifestyle/physical disease history and cognitive function, and enables clinicians to make appropriate recommendations for the elderly. Therefore, our approach provides a new perspective for the design of a computer-aided diagnosis system for AD and MCI, and has potential high clinical application value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: As the number of social media users continues to rise globally, a heated debate emerges on whether social media use improves or harms mental health, as well as the bidirectional relation between social media use and mental health. Motivated by this, the authors' study adopts the stressor–strain–outcome model and social compensation hypothesis to disentangle the effect mechanism between social media use and psychological well-being. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach: To empirically validate the proposed research model, a large-scale two-year longitudinal questionnaire survey on social media use was administered to a valid sample of 6,093 respondents recruited from a university in China. Structural equation modeling was employed for data analysis. Findings: A longitudinal analysis reveals that social media use positively (negatively) impacts psychological well-being through the mediator of nomophobia (perceived social support) in a short period. However, social media use triggers more psychological unease, as well as more life satisfaction from a longitudinal perspective. Originality/value: This study addresses the bidirectional relation between social media use and psychological unease. The current study also draws both theoretical and practical implications by unmasking the bright–dark duality of social media use on psychological well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to conduct research to examine the impact of Internet adoption on the productivity of firms in non-urban China. Design/methodology/approach: The study investigates the impact of Internet adoption on firms' productivity in non-urban China. More specifically, the authors conduct a comprehensive and rigorous study while addressing concerns related to firm-level endogeneity by utilizing firm-level panel data. Information on firms in non-urban areas is collected from China's Annual Surveys of Industrial Firm data. For robustness, the authors implement the instrumental variables approach and propensity score matching estimations to strengthen the evidence for suggestive causal inference. Furthermore, the authors also examine the mechanisms and group heterogeneity. Findings: Evidence indicate that the adoption of Internet technology positively impacts the total factor productivity (TFP) of firms in non-urban areas. According to the heterogeneity analysis, the marginal effect of Internet adoption is more significant and pronounced for labor-intensive, private and small-scale manufacturing firms. Moreover, additional evidence suggest that Internet adoption is beneficial for non-urban firms in expanding their business and enlarging their market. It has also been found that the positive effect of Internet adoption on firms' TFP is amplified by expanding public infrastructure. Originality/value: The current study supports that the informatization strategy benefits non-urban firms and promotes rural revitalization. The findings suggest the possibility of firms borrowing market size from the closest cities and supporting the ongoing policies of investing in broadband infrastructure to narrow the urban-rural digital gap in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: At the beginning of the 21st century, international adoptions of children with cleft lip and/or palate increased dramatically in Sweden. Many children arrived partially or totally unoperated, despite being at an age when palatoplasty has usually been performed. To date, the speech development of internationally adopted (IA) children has been described up to age 7–8 years, but later development remains unstudied. Aims: To investigate speech development between ages 5 and 10 years in children born with cleft lip and palate (CLP) adopted from China and to compare them with non‐adopted (NA) children with CLP. A secondary aim was to compare the frequencies of secondary palatal surgery and number of visits to a speech and language pathologist (SLP) between the groups. Methods & Procedures: In a longitudinal study, 23 IA children from China were included and matched with 23 NA children born in Sweden. Experienced SLPs blindly reassessed audio recordings from routine follow‐ups at ages 5 and 10 years. Velopharyngeal function (VPF) was assessed with the composite score for velopharyngeal competence (VPC‐Sum) for single words and rated on a three‐point scale (VPC‐Rate) in sentence repetition. Target sounds in words and sentences were phonetically transcribed. Per cent correct consonants (PCC) were calculated at word and sentence levels. For in‐depth analyses, articulation errors were divided into cleft speech characteristics (CSCs), developmental speech characteristics (DSCs) and s‐errors. Information on secondary palatal surgery and number of visits to an SLP was collected. Outcomes & Results: VPF differed significantly between the groups at both ages when assessed with VPC‐Sum, but not with VPC‐Rate. Regardless of the method for assessing VPF, a similar proportion in both groups had incompetent VPF but fewer IA than NA children had competent VPF at both ages. IA children had lower PCC at both ages at both word and sentence levels. More IA children had CSCs, DSCs and s‐errors at age 5 years, and CSCs and s‐errors at age 10. The development of PCC was significant in both groups between ages 5 and 10 years. The proportion of children receiving secondary palatal surgery did not differ significantly between the groups, nor did number of SLP visits. Conclusions & Implications: CSCs were more persistent in IA children than in NA children at age 10 years. Interventions should target both cleft and DSCs, be comprehensive and continue past the pre‐school years. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on this subject: At the beginning of the 21st century, IA children with cleft lip and/or palate arrived in Sweden partially or totally unoperated, despite being at an age when palatoplasty has usually been performed. Studies up to age 7–8 years show that adopted children, compared with NA peers, have poorer articulation skills, demonstrate both cleft‐related and developmental articulation errors, and are more likely to have velopharyngeal incompetence. Several studies also report that adopted children more often require secondary palatal surgery due to fistulas, dehiscence or velopharyngeal incompetence compared with NA peers. What this paper adds to existing knowledge: This longitudinal study provides additional knowledge based on longer follow‐ups than previous studies. It shows that the proportion of children assessed to have incompetent VPF was similar among IA and NA children. It was no significant difference between the groups regarding the proportion that received secondary palatal surgery. However, fewer IA children were assessed to have a competent VPF. Developmental articulation errors have ceased in most IA and all NA children at age 10 years, but significantly more adopted children than NA children still have cleft‐related articulation errors. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: Speech and language therapy should target both cleft‐related and developmental articulation errors. When needed, treatment must be initiated early, comprehensive, and continued past the pre‐school years, not least for adopted children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate the current condition and degree of fear of disease progression and associated factors in patients with mild or common type COVID‐19. Background: At the end of 2019, COVID‐19 spread from Wuhan in Hubei Province throughout China. Confirmed cases and deaths have since been reported in many countries around the world. However, fear of progression in these patients has been poorly explored. Methods: During February 2020, we recruited 114 patients with mild or common type COVID‐19 admitted to a Fangcang shelter hospital. We assessed patients' degree of fear using the simplified Fear of Progression Questionnaire (Chinese version). Multiple regression analysis was applied to explore potential factors. Results: The fear of disease progression scores of patients with mild or common COVID‐19 was at the low‐to‐moderate level. Current unemployment, disease duration of 28 days or more and not having a spouse diagnosed with COVID‐19 were factors potentially associated with fear of progression. Conclusion: With a high prevalence of fear of disease progression in patients with COVID‐19, the risk of psychological effects from the pandemic is significant and fear of progression is one of the manifestations. The need for psychological support services for patients should be included in all pandemic and disaster planning. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? Fear of progression is a common bio‐socio‐psychological consequence that widespread in cancer patients as well as chronic diseases.Very few studies focus on fear of progression in patients with major infectious disease, not to mention coronavirus disease (COVID‐19). What this paper adds? The present study surveys fear of progression in patients with mild or common type COVID‐19 and revealed a low‐to‐moderate level overall.Being unemployed, having no spouse diagnosed with COVID‐19, and a disease duration of 28 days or more are potential factors associated to patients' fear of the disease progression. The implications of this paper: The COVID‐19 outbreak has been declared as a public health emergency of international concern. Mental health problems such as fear of disease progression might need more attention beyond medical treatment.Future mental health nursing practice and research need to focus on those potential factors or patients with specific characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: This study aimed to report nine Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease (CMT) families with six novel IGHMBP2 mutations in our CMT2 cohort and to summarize the genetic and clinical features of all AR‐CMT2S patients reported worldwide. Methods: General information, clinical and neurophysiological data of 275 axonal CMT families were collected. Genetic screening was performed by inherited peripheral neuropathy related genes panel or whole exome sequencing. The published papers reporting AR‐CMT2S from 2014 to 2023 were searched in Pubmed and Wanfang databases. Results: In our CMT2 cohort, we detected 17 AR‐CMT2S families carrying IGHMBP2 mutations and eight were published previously. Among these, c.743 T > A (p.Val248Glu), c.884A > G (p.Asp295Gly), c.1256C > A (p.Ser419*), c.2598_2599delGA (p.Lys868Sfs*16), c.1694_1696delATG (p.Asp565del) and c.2509A > T (p.Arg837*) were firstly reported. These patients prominently presented with early‐onset typical axonal neuropathy and without respiratory dysfunction. So far, 56 AR‐CMT2S patients and 57 different mutations coming from 43 families have been reported in the world. Twenty‐nine of 32 missense mutations were clustered in helicase domain and ATPase region. The age at onset ranged from 0.11to 20 years (Mean ± SD: 3.43 ± 3.88 years) and the majority was infantile‐onset (<2 years). The initial symptoms included weakness of limbs (19, 29.7%), delayed milestones (12, 18.8%), gait disturbance (11, 17.2%), feet deformity (8, 12.5%), feet drop (8, 12.5%), etc. Interpretation: AR‐CMT2S accounted for 6.2% in our CMT2 cohort. We firstly reported six novel IGHMBP2 mutations which expanded the genotypic spectrum of AR‐CMT2S. Furthermore, 17 AR‐CMT2S families could provide more resources for natural history study, drug research and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: According to the World Population Outlook (2019), people over 65, usually accompanied by various chronic diseases, will make up 16% of the population in 2050. Therefore, the health problems of middle-aged and elderly people are becoming the focus of current global attention. Some scholars have found that the health of middle-aged and elderly people is related to the childhood socio-economic environment. Methods: Using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) data, this paper innovatively constructed four measurement dimensions of health (namely, self-rated health, physical health, emotional health, and mental health). Moreover, logistic regression was used to explore the impact of childhood socio-economic environment (such as parent's education level, work experience, etc.) on the health status of middle-aged and elderly people. Results: Compared with a poor childhood social-economic environment, a good childhood socio-economic environment is more advantageous to the self-rated health of middle-aged and elderly people, especially a childhood socio-economic environment close to the medium level; the psychological health of middle-aged and elderly people who have experienced an adverse childhood socio-economic environment was better than those who did not; the childhood socio-economic environment has no apparent impact on the cognitive situation of middle-aged and elderly people. Conclusions: Some policy implications can be drawn. For example, the government should vigorously introduce policies to help migrant workers' children receive education in cities and provide special education guarantees for migrant workers' children. Societies and families should also pay more attention to the childhood socio-economic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION Smoking is an independent and modifiable risk factor for the onset and development of psoriasis; however, evidence on the association between tobacco smoking and psoriasis treatment efficacy is limited. This study aimed to explore the influence of smoking on treatment efficacy in a cohort of patients with psoriasis in Shanghai, China. METHODS Patients with psoriasis were recruited from the Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital between 2021 and 2022. The treatment for patients with psoriasis includes acitretin, methotrexate, narrow-band ultraviolet/benvitimod, and biologics. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, physical examination, and disease severity estimation at baseline, week four, and week eight. The achievement of a ≥75% reduction in psoriasis area and severity index (PASI75) score from baseline to week 8 was set as the primary outcome for treatment efficacy estimation. Data were analyzed using SAS 9.4. RESULTS A total of 560 patients with psoriasis were enrolled in this study, who were predominantly males (72.9%). The average age of patients was 48.4 years, and 38.8% of them were current smokers, 5.0% of them were former smokers. The median score of PASI among patients changed from 11.1 (interquartile range, IQR: 7.9-16.6) at baseline to 6.2 at week 4 and 3.1 at week 8, and 13.8% and 47.3% of patients with psoriasis achieved PASI75 at weeks 4 and 8, respectively. Logistic regression indicated that patients without tobacco smoking had a higher proportion of PASI75 achievement at week 8. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) was 11.43 (95% CI: 6.91-18.89), 14.14 (95% CI: 8.27-24.20), and 3.05 (95% CI: 1.20-7.76) for non-smokers compared with smokers, current smokers, and former smokers, respectively. Moreover, former smokers had higher PASI75 achievement than current smokers (AOR=3.37), and patients with younger smoking initiation age, longer smoking duration, and higher smoking intensity had lower PASI75 achievement. CONCLUSIONS Tobacco smoking was negatively associated with PASI75 achievement both in current and former smokers, and former smokers had higher PASI75 achievement than current smokers. The implementation of tobacco control measures is beneficial for improving treatment responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study aimed to explore the protective factors and underlying mechanisms associated with loneliness and psychological distress among older Chinese adults within the framework of a longitudinal design. This investigation specifically focused on the mediating role of attitudes toward own aging (ATOA) in the relationship between social support and the experience of loneliness and psychological distress (comprising depression, anxiety, and stress) amidst the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. A cohort of 345 elderly individuals (mean age = 83.84 years, standard deviation = 8.49 years; 55.1% females) participated in this research endeavor. The participants were required to complete self-report instruments measuring their perceived levels of social support at Time 1 (T1), attitudes towards own aging, ATOA at Time 2 (T2), and their experiences of loneliness, and psychological distress (including depression, anxiety, and stress) at T1 and Time 3 (T3). The data collection timeline encompassed baseline data collection at T1 in September 2020, a subsequent six-month follow-up at T2 in March 2021, and a one-year follow up at T3 in September 2021. The findings of this investigation unveiled a negative predictive relationship between social support at T1 and psychological distress (encompassing depression, anxiety, and stress) at T3. Furthermore, it was discerned that ATOA at T2 acted as a mediating mechanism, elucidating the longitudinal association between social support at T1 and the manifestation of loneliness and psychological distress (including depression, anxiety, and stress) at T3. The discussion section of this paper delves into an exploration of the limitations and implications inherent in these conclusions, particularly concerning their relevance to potential intervention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To investigate the change and associated factors of care needs within 6 months post‐discharge in older people with hospital‐associated disability, and the relationship between time‐varying care needs and physical function. Background: Older people with hospital‐associated disability will have various care needs post‐discharge. Understanding their care needs will help to improve their health. However, studies on this population are still limited. Design: A longitudinal study. Methods: The older people who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected in 2 tertiary hospitals in Zhejiang Province, China. The questionnaire survey method was used to collect data about socio‐demographic characteristics, physical function and care needs. The data of 375 older people who completed follow‐up were analysed using logistic regression analysis, generalised estimating equations and generalised additive mixed model. We followed STROBE checklist for reporting the study. Results: The care needs of the older people with hospital‐associated disability declined unevenly, it decreased rapidly in the first three months, and then flattening out. The percentage of people with care needs in each dimension decreased over time, but daily care and rehabilitation needs were consistently more important. Socio‐demographic factors and physical function had different effects on need at different time points, the physical function was the main factor among them. There were non‐linear relationships between the physical function and different care needs with different inflection points. Conclusion: This research revealed change patterns of the care needs of older people with hospital‐associated disability post‐discharge and the non‐linear relationship between physical function and care needs. These findings may help healthcare professionals and caregivers to provide accurate care. Relevance to clinical practice: The findings can be used to identify effective approaches to address the care needs of older people with hospital‐associated disability based on the time of discharge, in conjunction with age, education, and especially physical function, which will promote the justify allocation of nursing resources. What does this paper contribute to the wider global clinical community? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While automatic speech recognition (ASR) is increasingly used for commercial purposes, its influence on the learners' linguistic performance in terms of oral complexity, accuracy and fluency was under‐explored. To date, few studies have been conducted to investigate how the dictation ASR technology could be incorporated into language classrooms to facilitate the learners' language acquisition. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the effects of ASR‐based technology on English learners' oral accuracy and fluency and depict the corresponding development trajectories. Methods: A total of 160 first‐year university students were enrolled in a 14‐week quasi‐experiment based on a longitudinal research design. Both treatment and control groups were taught with the flipped classroom approach, but the students in the treatment group were particularly required to undertake a pre‐class task with ASR technology. Students' Unit Task performance was audio‐recorded, and the metrics of oral accuracy and fluency were coded and computed based on the recording transcripts. A two‐way repeated measures ANCOVA was conducted to investigate the between‐ and within‐subjects effects as well as the corresponding interaction effects. Results: In terms of the between‐subjects effect, the treatment group outperformed the control group on phonological accuracy, speed fluency and repair fluency. In terms of the within‐subjects effect, significant gains in lexical and morphosyntactic accuracy were witnessed over time in both groups, but the performance of the treatment group tended to be more stable. On all the fluency metrics and phonological accuracy, no significant within‐subjects improvement was seen over time. Implications: The development of oral accuracy may generate a negative impact on that of fluency. Therefore, course developers and teachers need to design special tasks and provide conditions conducive to the development of the students' oral fluency. Moreover, the mobile‐based dictation ASR application could incorporate adaptive artificial intelligence, which may escalate the students' fossilization of learner interlanguage. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?The ASR‐based technology is becoming popular in foreign language learning.The effect of ASR‐based technology on oral accuracy and fluency is still in a nascent phase. What this paper adds?This study explores how the mobile‐based dictation ASR technology facilitates English learners' oral accuracy and fluency.The dictation ASR‐based application integrated into pre‐class learning enhances English learners' phonological accuracy, speed fluency and repair fluency.The dictation ASR‐based application also contributed to a stable development of English learners' lexical and morphosyntactic accuracy over time. Implications for practiceEnglish teachers could integrate mobile‐based dictation ASR technology into pre‐class practice to improve the students' oral English accuracy and fluency in a flipped learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This paper analyzes the adaptive changes that take place in mature and elderly women with different track records in social sports in order to develop health and rehabilitation techniques based on personalized and groupwise approaches. Methods: This longitudinal study was conducted between 2009 and 2019 in Zhengzhou, China. The sample consisted of 24 mature and elderly women (45–65 years old) in the experimental group (regular social sports) and 40 women of the same age who did not exercise (control group). The experimental group received physiotherapy twice a week. The sessions were scheduled for 10 a.m. and lasted for 3 h. The functional status of cardiovascular system parameters (blood pressure, heart rate) was measured. In addition, the physical working capacity (PWC 150), as well as the coefficient of body adaptation to stress and the Robinson index (the amount of oxygen required by the human body to function) were estimated. Results: Women from the experimental group maintained stable coefficients of adaptation during all 10 years over which the study was conducted. Women with a long track record (up to 10 years) revealed a slight increase in the body's functional capacity (P ≤ 0.05 with control). More than 50% of the women in the experimental group had cardiovascular measurements within or above the normal range, whereas the opposite was true in the control group. Conclusions: The longitudinal study revealed upward trends of physical working capacity indicators, which can slow down involutional changes in the body. In some cases, the body's functional capacity may be improved. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2023; 23: 98–102. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance management is critical to the performance of individuals and organizations. We conduct a longitudinal study on a listed enterprise (i.e. Neusoft) in China as basis in first identifying the four stages of its growth process: initial start-up, growth, mature, and sustainable development stages. The evolution path of performance management system (PMS) in Neusoft can be described as 'point', 'line', 'surface', and strategic 'surface' evaluation systems in the initial start-up, growth, mature, and sustainable development stages, respectively. We find that the critical influencing factors of PMS include the good professional background and personal traits of line managers, clear communication on performance management goals between leaders and their subordinates, professional knowledge of performance management specialists, and broad participation of senior leaders in performance management processes. The four factors emerge gradually with the evolution of PMS. This paper contributes to building a comprehensive and dynamic construct for PMS and generates a systematic understanding of the critical influencing factors of this system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health for older people has become a major social concern. Literature has shown that older people, especially when they become empty nesters—when a parent lives alone or lives with his/her spouse after the youngest child leaves home—may start to develop various mental health problems due to reduced contacts with their children. Using fixed-effects, multivariate regression with a difference-in-differences approach and propensity score matching, this paper examines the relationship between being an empty nester and mental health among older people in China, and the moderating effects of social contact and contact with one's children in terms of mental health. Our data come from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study of 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2018. We found that, in the short term, the mental health of older people may not be affected after they became empty nesters. But in the longer term, if they did not have regular contact with their children, their mental health would deteriorate with time. Social contact, especially cognitive activities, was beneficial to the mental health of the older empty nesters. We also found that for older empty nesters with disabilities, frequent social contact and contact with their children were more important. We urge the government to promote community-based social activities for older people, especially for those with functional limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION Managing chronic diseases and tobacco use is a formidable challenge in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with limited health literacy and access to quality healthcare. This study examines the empirical evidence from China, utilizing quasi-experimental approaches to assess the causal effect of chronic disease diagnoses on smoking behavior. METHODS Employing the diagnosis of chronic disease in the older cohorts of the population as a natural experiment, this study utilizes recent advancements in difference-in-difference estimation methods (CS-DID) to investigate the effect of a diagnosis on smoking behavior. Self-reported new diagnoses of conditions ascertained chronic disease diagnoses. CS-DID was run using the study sample from the 2011 to 2018 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, comparing results with traditional two-way fixed effects and event-study models. RESULTS The average treatment effect (ATT) of CS-DID is slightly greater than the effects reported using conventional difference-in-difference methods. We found that diagnoses of cancer, heart disease, and stroke reduced smoking rates by 16% (95% CI: -24 -- -8), smoking intensity by 0.31 (95% CI: -0.46 -- -0.15), and had lasting impacts on smoking cessation behavior (one wave after diagnosis ATT= -0.17; 95% CI: -0.34 -- -0.00, two waves after diagnosis ATT= -0.17; 95% CI: -0.37--0.03). A diagnosis of a mild chronic disease, such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, chronic lung disease, liver disease, or gastric disease, had more negligible and transient effects on smoking behavior. CONCLUSIONS Efforts to enhance smoking cessation in middle-aged and elderly patients with chronic diseases are crucial to improving health outcomes. The 'teachable moment' of chronic disease diagnosis should be seized to provide smoking cessation assistance to achieve the goal of healthy ageing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI), as one of the most common hospital-acquired infection, is usually associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and health care burden. SSI is a significant perioperative complication after colon cancer surgery, particularly for left-sided colon cancer. This paper describes the background and design of the "Surgical Site Infection after intracorporeal anastomosis for Left-sided Colon Cancer: study protocol for a non-inferiority multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial (STARS)." The STARS trial aims to compare the incidence of SSI after intracorporeal anastomosis and extracorporeal anastomosis after radical resection of colon cancer and to explore the risk factors of SSI.Methods: A total of 354 left colon cancer patients from 8 hospitals in China will be enrolled in this multi-center randomized controlled study. The primary outcome of this study is the incidence of SSI 30 days after left-sided colon cancer surgery. Secondary outcome measures include operation time, blood loss, conversion rate, incidence of perioperative complications, completeness of resection, number of lymph nodes collected and postoperative recovery characteristics, 3-year disease-free survival, and 5-year overall survival. The first patient was enrolled in January 2021.Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first prospective multicenter study to investigate whether there is a difference in the SSI incidence after intracorporeal and extracorporeal anastomosis for left-sided colon cancer in China. The results may provide more evidence that supports performing total laparoscopic left-sided colon cancer surgery.Trial Registration: The trial has been registered on ClinicalTrials.gov website (ID: NCT04201717). Registered on September 22, 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Air pollution has been identified as related to the diseases of susceptible population, but the spatial heterogeneity of its economic burden and its determinants are rarely investigated. The issue is of great policy significance, especially after the epidemic of COVID-19, when human are facing the joint crisis of health and environment, and some areas is prone to falling into poverty. Methods: The geographical detector was adopted to study the spatial distribution characteristics of the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure (ICHE) for older adults in 100 rural areas in China at the prefecture-city level. The health factors, sociological factors, policy factors and environmental factors and their interactions are identified. Results: First, most health service factors had strong explanatory power for ICHE whether it interacts with air pollution. Second, 50 single-factor high-risk areas of ICHE were found in the study, but at the same time, there were 21 areas dominated by multiple factors. Conclusion: The different contributions and synergy among the factors constitute the complex mechanism of factors and catastrophic health expenditure. Moreover, during this process, air pollution aggravates the contribution of health service factors toward ICHE. In addition, the leading factors of ICHE are different among regions. At the end, this paper also puts forward some policy suggestions from the perspective of health and environment crisis in the post-COVID-19 world: environmental protection policies should be combined with the prevention of infectious diseases; advanced health investment is the most cost-effective policy for the inverse health sequences of air pollution and infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); integrating environmental protection policy into healthy development policy, different regions take targeted measures to cope with the intertwined crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of formal volunteering in mental health promotion among older adults in China has been widely discussed during recent decades. However, the relationship connecting mental health with cross‐level interaction (i.e., average levels of participation in the community vs. individual participation) is still unclear. This paper examined the effects of cross‐level formal volunteering on depressive symptoms among older adults living in China. Using two waves of the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey, a sample of 3128 Chinese older adults was surveyed in 2014 and 2016. Depressive symptoms were measured using the abbreviated CES‐D‐9. Individual fixed‐effects ordinary least squares regression models assessed the associations between individual‐ and community‐level formal volunteering and depressive symptoms in urban and rural areas separately. We found that in the urban sample, formal volunteering activities were negatively associated with depressive symptoms at the individual level (β = −0.49, SE = 0.22, p < 0.05). Higher community‐level formal volunteering was positively associated with depressive symptoms (β = 2.82, SE = 1.42, p < 0.05). When adding interactions between individual and community levels, engagement in individual‐level formal volunteering was associated with lower rates of depressive symptoms as community volunteering participation levels increased (β = −3.07, SE = 1.07, p < 0.01). High community‐level volunteering participation was detrimental for non‐volunteers. In rural areas, neither community‐ nor individual‐level formal volunteering was associated with changes in depressive symptoms. The current findings demonstrate formal volunteering may not always benefit mental health for all. The effects may depend on the community context and individual choices. Social policies aimed to promote mental health through formal volunteering need to be tailored according to the specific community social environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals' gender development is influenced by the characteristics of personal and contextual environments. However, the role of sibling contexts in shaping gender norms has rarely been studied among Chinese youth at early adolescence as most of them were the only child. The aim of this paper is to compare perceived gender norms among adolescents aged 10–14 with different sibling configurations, to help inform and tailor guidance for sexual and reproductive health education in the future. We used the Global Early Adolescent Study baseline data collected from Shanghai, China. The sample for analysis was 1615 students. We used univariate analysis and multivariate ordinal logistic regression to compare perceived gender-stereotyped traits and gender role attitudes, stratified by age and sex. The results showed that sibling context was more influential for boys than girls at early adolescence in their gender socialization process. Among boys those who were with mixed-sex siblings scored higher on gender-stereotyped traits (ORonly-childvs. mixed-sex siblings = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.48–0.94, p = 0.019; ORsame-sex siblingsvs. mixed-sex siblings = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.37–0.96, p = 0.033). Younger early adolescents aged 10–12 who were the only child or who had mixed-sex siblings perceived more traditional gender role attitudes than those living with same-sex siblings (ORonly-childvs. same-sex siblings = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.06–2.75, p = 0.028; ORmixed-sex siblingsvs. same-sex siblings = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.03–2.94, p = 0.037). Comprehensive sexuality education with gender and power components being well addressed, both in and out of the family, is needed to provide extra gender-inclusive and gender-egalitarian environments for youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Observational studies from China suggest that Kangbingdu oral liquid (KBD) may be effective in treating the common cold. Objective. Reevaluation of efficacy and safety of Kangbingdu oral liquid after marketing and expanding population. Design. Prospective, Pragmatic randomized controlled trial (Chictr.org.cn registration number: chiCTR-TRC-12002399). Setting. Eleven hospitals from 3 provinces in China. Patients were recruited through 11 centers, including 7 teaching hospitals, 2 University health services, one military clinic, and one community hospital. Patients. 2647 persons aged 18 to 75 years with Common cold. Intervention. Patients were randomly allocated to 2 groups: the treatment group Kangbingdu oral liquid (composed of 9 Chinese herbal medicines and honey) and the placebo group were divided into a standard-dose group of 10 ml every time, a middle dose group of 20 ml every time, high dose group of 30 ml every time, 3 times daily. Interventions and control were given for 5 days. Measurements. The primary outcome is the mean amount of total scores measured by the 11-primary symptoms: to observe the change of main symptoms from severe to disappear and to calculate and compare the mean amount of total scores after the periods of observation. Secondary outcomes are the disappearance rate of each symptom and the median time of body temperature returned to normal. Results. On day 5, the Kangbingdu liquid group had significant reductions in the mean amount of total scores measured by the 11-primary symptoms (7.39 [95% CI 7.26 to 7.51] compared to the placebo group (6.43 [95%: CI 6.24 to 6.62]). The Kangbingdu liquid can improve the remission rate of accompanying symptoms on day 5 including aversion to wind, aversion to cold, fever, cough, stuffy, runny nose, sore throat, muscular aches, headache, fatigue, and sweat (P < 0.0001). Significant reductions in time of body temperature to return to normal in the Kangbingdu liquid group (P50, 48.33 [95% CI 46.00 to 52.50] compared with the control group (P50, 64.59 [95% CI 51.08 to 70.50] (P = 0.0022). 13 (0.7%) participants in the Kangbingdu liquid group and 1(0.2%) participants in the placebo group (P > 0.05) had treatment-related AEs, which mainly include diarrhea and dyspepsia in the Kangbingdu liquid group and constipation in the placebo group. Conclusion. The study's conclusion in this paper was based on the placebo, Kangbingdu oral liquid two groups which clinically diagnosed the common cold and flu. (1) Kangbingdu oral liquid can effectively improve the comprehensive clinical symptoms of common adult cold, also improved main symptoms, including sore throat, muscle aches, headache, and so on. (2) Kangbingdu oral liquid effectively shortens the time of body temperature to return to normal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hedonia and eudaimonia have been proposed as pathways to well-being. However, the direction of the causal relationship between them remains unclear. This study examined if happiness motivations may be resources leading to a happy life, or vice versa. Cross-lagged associations between happiness motivations (i.e. hedonic motivation and eudaimonic motivation) and subjective well-being (i.e. positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction) were tested. Four hundred and ninety-four Chinese adolescents (233 males; mean age 13.26 ± 0.70 years) participated in a two-wave paper and pencil study. The cross-lagged analysis showed that eudaimonic motivation was a significant predictor of positive affect and life satisfaction over time. No cross-lagged effects between eudaimonic motivation and negative affect, or between hedonic motivation and subjective well-being components were established. The results highlight the predictive power of eudaimonic motivation on adolescents' subjective well-being later on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the factors affecting the receipt of informal care among older people in China. It uses the second wave data of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey, which collected ageing and health-related information on a nationally representative sample of 8,906 older people aged 60 and over in 2013. Apart from the factors that have been examined in the contexts of developed countries, the paper further investigates two factors specific to Chinese society: rural–urban residence and regular financial assistance from children. Based on binary and multinomial logit regression analyses, the research findings are threefold: the determinants of receiving informal care differ remarkably according to the sources of care; disability and living arrangements are the most important determinants; rural–urban residence plays a vital role in the Chinese context, but regular financial assistance from children makes little difference. It is estimated that 53 million older people are receiving informal care each year, a figure equivalent to the entire population of England. With continuous population ageing, Chinese society will face huge pressure to meet the demand for social care among older people in the future. The Chinese government needs to build a well-rounded welfare system that tackles this challenge from multiple dimensions. The formal care services should aim to complement informal care in the short run and reduce inequality in social care in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate incidences of inappropriate initial urinary catheter placements within an older inpatient cohort. Methods: A total of 200 inpatients that received urinary catheterizations within 24 hours of admission were recruited for this observational study. The key demographic and clinical factors were recorded. Adverse outcomes were assessed by examining incidences of catheter‐associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) during hospitalization, after transfer to skilled nursing facilities, second, duration of hospital stay and by scoring changes on the Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living. Correlative relationships between demographic data and clinical factors with adverse outcomes were analyzed. Results: Inappropriate initial urinary catheterization in our cohort was approximately 39%. This was associated with elevated Charlson comorbidity index scores and increased dependency, with correlations to medical diagnosis. We also observed that the primary rationale for the procedure (inappropriate catheterization) was for neurogenic bladder (where intermittent catheterization was indicated) and in 'convenience‐of‐care' catheterizations. Inappropriate catheter placement was ultimately associated with an elevated CAUTI at point of discharge, with transfers to skilled nursing facilities and also with an increased duration of hospital stay. Conclusions: Inappropriate catheter placement was prevalence in southwestern China and associated with adverse outcomes. SUMMARY STATEMENT: What is already known about this topic? Urinary catheterization is a common procedure for geriatric in‐patients, yet up to half of such placements are inappropriately performed.Reducing inappropriate urinary catheter use is key to minimizing adverse outcomes such as urinary tract infection and genitourinary trauma.Although guidelines for in‐patient catheterization have been developed, there are no uniform standardized national guidelines in China that could advise physicians on the placement of inpatient urinary catheters.What this paper adds? High incidences of inappropriate initial urinary catheterizations in mainland China have been reported (as represented by a hospital in southwestern China).This study finds that inappropriate catheter placements are associated with catheter‐associated UTIs at the point of discharge, with transfers to skilled nursing facilities, and an increased duration of stay.We also find that inappropriate catheter placements occur when catheterization is indicated for neurogenic bladder (with intermittent catheterization), and for 'convenience‐of‐care' purposes.The implications of this paper: The study identifies situations where older in‐patients have an elevated risk of receiving inappropriate initial urinary catheterization which should receive special attention.The findings of this study highlight the need to develop effective uniform strategies to reduce inappropriate catheterization for older Chinese patients.The factors associated with inappropriate catheterization based on our findings could be useful in establishing the proactive strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to propose practical recommendations in accordance with the strategic roles played by research and development (R&D) in multinational companies (MNCs). Design/methodology/approach: This study applies a qualitative method to investigate the talent management (TM) practices implemented in MNCs' R&D units. Findings: The findings identify four R&D strategies and four sectors of TM practices. Furthermore, there exists an alignment between R&D strategies and TM practices. Research limitations/implications: This paper has several limitations. This qualitative research is exploratory, and larger samples or quantitative methods are needed to ensure the wider applicability of the findings. When possible, longitudinal studies yield superior results in revealing the evolving strategic roles of R&D subsidiaries and their TM practices. The authors used China as the research context, and similar studies in other emerging countries with active R&D activities are required to further validate or complement the findings in this study. Practical implications: This study has some practical implications for companies with regard to aligning their TM practices with R&D strategies. Originality/value: R&D units play an increasingly significant role in MNCs and TM is a key issue. However, there is a lack of TM research focusing on R&D employees by taking strategies into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With a rapidly aging population in mainland China, dysphagia has become one of the common geriatric disorders which creates a huge demand on speech and language therapists (SLTs). The major challenge is the shortage of SLTs in China. In addition, frontline practitioners in mainland China may not be well equipped with the knowledge and practical skills in dysphagia management due to lack of systematic training and the work nature. Aims: This study evaluates the self‐perceived effectiveness and feasibility of an online training program that aims to enhance the self‐assessed knowledge and skills of SLTs providing dysphagia care in residential aged care homes. Methods and Procedures: Sixteen SLTs working in a residential aged care homes in mainland China attended a three‐hour pilot online training program which consists of didactic lecture and practical skills activity components. A total of 10 participants completed an online questionnaire one month after the training to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of this online training program. Outcomes and Results: The preliminary results demonstrated participants' self‐perception of high training effectiveness in theoretical knowledge and practical skills. A majority of the participants perceived that the training enhanced their theoretical knowledge and all of them perceived that they acquired practical skills. All respondents were satisfied with the online training approach. They also highlighted the advantage and challenges of the online training approach. Conclusions and Implications: Online training is an effective and feasible approach for theoretical knowledge and practical skills transfer in SLT training and could ultimately benefit the delivery of services for individuals with dysphagia in mainland China. What this paper adds: What is already known on the subject: Previous studies have shown that online training approach is as effective as face‐to‐face training in increasing professional knowledge. Online training programs may be more cost efficient and time efficient when compared with face‐to‐face training. What this study adds: The present study provided preliminary evidence to support the feasibility and effectiveness of using online training on dysphagia for speech and language therapists working in residential aged care homes in mainland China. What are the clinical implications of this work?: From the participants' perception, online training approach is effective and feasible in delivering theoretical knowledge and practical skills. It may be a better training approach for mainland China considering the lack of expertise and accessibility to training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION In China's aging population, hypertension, aggravated by smoking, constitutes a substantial health concern. However, the effectiveness of the national public health interventions for smoking cessation under the Essential Public Health Services remains unverified. Our aim was to examine smoking prevalence, the proportion of individuals receiving smoking cessation advice, its impact on successful cessation among Chinese hypertensive patients aged >45 years, and to discern disparities in the coverage and efficacy of smoking cessation interventions between primary care facilities and hospitals. METHODS Employing a longitudinal cohort approach, we examined four waves (2011-2018) of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). We surveyed a nationally representative cohort of hypertensive individuals, accounting for smoking status, cessation advice, healthcare preferences, and 11 pertinent covariates. RESULTS Among the 4269 hypertensive patients, smokers were predominantly male, aged <65 years, with lower education and lower wealth. Smoking prevalence decreased from 25.2% in 2011 to 21.1% in 2018. The incidence of physician-provided smoking cessation advice reached a peak of 60.3% in 2015, decreasing to 54.8% in 2018. Visitors to primary care facilities reported the highest rate of advice reception. While patients receiving advice exhibited a higher smoking prevalence, instrumental variable regression and subgroup analyses found no significant correlation between advice receipt and successful cessation. CONCLUSIONS We observed a substantial smoking prevalence among older hypertensive Chinese individuals and limited effectiveness of existing cessation programs. This underscores the necessity for augmenting primary care and devising a comprehensive health policy for more successful smoking cessation interventions, particularly considering China's rapidly aging population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While TCP has been extensively studied in static and low speed mobility situations, it has not yet been well explored in high speed mobility scenarios. Given the increasing deployment of high speed transport systems (such as high speed rails), there is an urgent need to understand the performance and behavior of TCP in such high speed mobility environments. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive study to investigate the performance and behavior of TCP in a high speed environment with a peak speed of 310 km/h. Over a 16-month period spanning four years, we collect 500 GB of performance data on 3/4G networks in high speed trains in China, covering a distance of 108,490 km. We start by analyzing performance metrics, such as RTT, packet loss rate, and throughput. We then evaluate the challenges posed on the main TCP operations (establishment, transmission, congestion control, flow control, and termination) by such high speed mobility. This paper shows that RTT and packet loss rate increase significantly and throughput drops considerably in high speed situations. Moreover, TCP fails to adapt well to such extremely high speed leading to abnormal behavior, such as high spurious retransmission time out rate, aggressive congestion window reduction, long delays during connection establishment and closure, and transmission interruption. As we prepare to move into the era of 5G, and as the need for high speed travel continues to increase, our findings indicate a critical need for efforts to develop more adaptive transport protocols for such high speed environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The 1-year mortality rate after femoral intertrochanteric fracture is higher than that of femoral neck fracture, which also belongs to hip fracture (Cui et al. in Arch Osteoporos 14(1):55, 2019). With the application of the concept of co-management model of orthopedics and geriatrics, the short-term and long-term mortality of all types of hip fractures has decreased (Van Heghe et al. in Calcif Tissue Int, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-021-00913-5). However, the mortality of Chinese femoral intertrochanteric fracture patients under this model has not been reported in the literatures. Aim: This paper aims to study the risk factors of postoperative all-cause mortality in aged patients with femoral intertrochanteric fracture under the co-management model of orthopedics and geriatrics. Materials and methods: This is a single-center prospective cohort study based on the real world, under the co-management of orthopedics and geriatrics, 363 patients aged ≥ 65 years with femoral intertrochanteric fracture were enrolled and followed up for 2–3 years; 52 patients were lost to follow up. Age, gender, body mass index (BMI), history of comorbidities, hip Bone Mineral Density (BMD), fracture history, 25(OH)D level, hemoglobin level, anti-osteoporosis treatment were risk factors to be tested. Kaplan–Meier survival curves and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were constructed to analyze the impact of factors on all-cause mortality. Results: (1) Most of the dead patients were older (the mean age was 83.4 years, compared with 79.8 years for surviving patients), with more complications and without anti-osteoporosis medication; gender, pre-fracture history, BMI, total hip BMD, hemoglobin, 25(OH)D had no difference between the dead and the living patients. (2) Elderly patients with Intertrochanteric fracture can benefit from the early treatment of Zoledronic Acid (within 3 days after the operation). Conclusion: Under the co-management of orthopedics and geriatrics, to Chinese patients with Femoral Intertrochanteric fracture, Doctors should pay more attention to their age and chronic disease, and give anti-osteoporosis treatment if allowed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 2000s, Chinese government has sought to encourage the growth of private health insurance (PHI) while simultaneously expanding the breadth of coverage in its social health insurance (SHI) system. This paper examines how the prevalence of PHI has changed during this period and the extent to which PHI contributed to the growth of horizontal and geographical inequities with a focus on healthcare utilization. National data from China Health and Nutrition Survey between 2000 and 2015 were analysed using a multilevel modelling approach. The analysis investigated the impact of SHI membership as related to PHI uptake, PHI enrolees' utilization of health services and out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses. This study found being covered by an SHI scheme reduced the uptake of PHI between 2004 and 2015. Having PHI caused an increase in utilizing outpatient care but did not affect OOP expenses. Coverage prevalence of PHI in a residential community was positively associated with the average level of healthcare utilization. Coverage prevalence of PHI and its effects on healthcare utilization varied geographically. The findings suggest that expanding the role of PHI was not effective without clear support from government policy. Furthermore, the expansion of PHI may cause an increase in horizontal and geographical inequities in healthcare utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To predict the trend of AIDS in specific age groups and to determine the objective population for AIDS screening, this study explored the three transmission routes and characterized each patient group using the APC model based on the whole, local, and immigrant populations in Zhejiang, China.Methods: The data recruited in this paper was obtained from the national Comprehensive AIDS Prevention and Control Information System - Antiviral Therapy Management database and the Chinese Disease Prevention and Control Information System and the Statistical Yearbook of Zhejiang, China. An APC model was used to estimate the impact of age, period, and cohort on the incidence of AIDS, as well as to predict the AIDS incidence in specific age groups based on different sexes with different transmission routes.Results: The AIDS incidence peaked in males aged 20-35 years; the incidence of males was higher than that of females due to the impact of period; obvious cohort effect was observed among the immigrants. In the whole and local populations, the incidences of males in all age groups and females in both the 35-year-old group and the whole age group were predicted to increase sharply in 5 years. In the immigrant population, the AIDS incidences in both sexes in all age groups were expected to increase significantly in 5 years. Under the influence of period, the incidence of AIDS via homosexual transmission in the whole population and the local population increased and remained stable after 2015. At the same time, the incidence of AIDS transmitted by homosexual and heterosexual routes in the immigrants also showed an increasing trend.Conclusions: The results elucidate that there are sex differences in AIDS incidence, and the incidence of AIDS through various transmission routes in all groups is predicted to exhibit an upward trend in the 5 years to come. Effective intervention strategies should be developed and implemented by the public health departments in Zhejiang to control the epidemic of AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00406-0 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of COVID-19 has changed the world in many aspects, and global scientific research has also been challenged. Early-career researchers (ECRs) who just start academic careers are prominently affected by the pandemic. To explore how Chinese ECRs have been affected, longitudinal qualitative interviews were conducted with twenty-four Chinese ECRs from different disciplines and universities in 2020 and 2021. As the results show, Chinese ECRs worry that their future prospects are limited by increased workloads and reduced productivity. However, the new wave of change did not occur for them, and their work resumed its routine and was relatively stable. Over two years, Chinese ECRs got used to working from home and giving online courses, but they were increasingly confused about when the pandemic will end. What bothers ECRs most is the inefficiency of communication and collaboration due to the travel bans, although they became familiar with the online way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION Smoking has been proven to increase the risk of cervical cancer, but it is still controversial whether smoking reduces women's ability to clear human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. This study investigated the association between smoking behaviors during follow-up and clearance of HPV infection in women with HPV-positive and pathologically normal uterine cervix in China, using a propensity score matching (PSM) analysis. METHODS The present prospective study included data from women examined in the Gynecology Department of Shanghai General Hospital from January 2018 to June 2020. Twenty patients who smoked throughout follow-up were selected and matched with 60 patients using the 1:3 PSM method on age, marital status, and whether infected with high-risk HPV (HR-HPV). At each visit, smoking and sexual behaviors were collected. The Kaplan--Meier method and a Cox proportional hazard regression model were used to evaluate the probability of clearing HPV infection within a 2-year follow-up. RESULTS A total of 80 patients were included in the study, all of whom were infected with at least one HR-HPV type at baseline. Current smokers had a lower likelihood of clearing the HPV infection than current non-smokers, after adjusting for a history of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), HPV infection status, and sexual behaviors during follow-up (AHR=0.478; 95% CI: 0.239--0.958, p=0.037). Additionally, longer duration, higher frequency and larger doses of smoking correlated with the lower clearance possibility of HPV infection (p for trend=0.029, 0.022 and 0.026, respectively). CONCLUSIONS This study showed that the use of tobacco throughout follow-up could increase the risk of a persistent HPV infection, this risk being higher for smokers with heavier tobacco consumption. Our results should alert HPV-positive women to reiterate the advice to cut-back on or stop smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study pilot survey, this paper analyses the relationship between work and health in middle-aged and elderly people in China. Using an instrumental variable estimation and simultaneous equation model, this study confirms that health and pension system do matter to employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Gestão e Desenvolvimento (18075436) is the property of Universidade Feevale and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Recent research documents increasing unhappiness (even depression) among Chinese adults despite the rapid economic growth in China. This paper explains this discrepancy by exploring the relationship between relative economic status and mental health (measured by Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale score) among the middle‐aged and elderly in China. In measuring relative economic status, we use five reference groups for comparison (i.e., relatives, colleagues, schoolmates, neighbors or villagers, and people in the same city or county). Using data from 2013 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we find that individuals with relatively lower economic status are more likely to be mentally depressed. The relationship differs across reference groups for comparisons, with the larger impacts seen from the comparison against acquaintances, while the impact of comparison to regional average is the smallest despite its frequent use in the literature. The relative economic status–mental health gradient is asymmetric; that is, the negative impact of worse relative economic status is comparatively larger and more significant than the positive impact of better relative economic status. Our results imply that reducing wealth gaps within groups of similar backgrounds can be more effective in improving people's mental health than a general reduction of wealth inequality within the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: To evaluate the mental health status, stressors and self‐adjustment of nurses in isolation wards at different periods in Wuhan, China. Background: Mental health issues easily occurred among the frontline medical workers of a major epidemic. However, the stressors and psychological adjustments experienced by nurses have not been well described. This is crucial to improving clinical quality and nursing safety and ensuring nurses' physical and psychological health. Methods: We performed a cross‐sectional prospective study using the Self Reporting Questionnaire‐20, stressor and self‐adjustment questionnaire administered to frontline nurses in Wuhan at two time points: after they had worked in isolation wards for 7–10 days (T1) and 2 months (T2). This paper complies with the STROBE reporting guideline for cross‐sectional studies. Results: T1 has 92 respondents, and T2 has 86. The positive rates of mental health problems were 26.09% and 9.30%, respectively, showing significantly different in the two periods. The main factors influenced mental health were self‐perceived stress and only child status. The most common stressors were as follows: a large infected population, high infectivity; concerned about family's health status; high mortality if not treated in time (T1); and long duration of the epidemic, separate from family for a long time (T2). In terms of self‐adjustment, 97.83%(T1)/88.04%(T2) of nurses thought it was necessary, but 9(T1) /5(T2) chose to avoid addressing it, and 8(T1) /5(T2) utilised a professional psychological counselling hotline. Conclusions: Mental health problems among frontline nurses fighting COVID‐19 need special attention, so administrators should offer timely counselling and strengthen effective psychosocial support to improve their mental resilience. Relevance to clinical practice: This study surveyed the mental problems and self‐adjustment status among nurses working Wuhan during the outbreak of COVID‐19, to provide administrators with a scientific basis to effectively intervene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a disease caused by many factors including occupational and environmental factors. Secondhand smoke (SHS) can affect cognitive function. However, there is limited recent epidemiological research on how SHS and occupational factors affect AD in Zhejiang province. METHODS We established a cohort of an AD high-risk population. In 2018, a cohort of 1742 elderly aged ≥60 years was established. In 2020, the cohort was followed up, and a total of 1545 people participated in the two surveys. Data collection included demographic and economic information such as age, gender, occupation, education level etc., and relative health behavior information such as smoking, drinking and tea drinking, etc. Basic physical examination data included height, weight, blood pressure, etc. At the same time, related cognitive status was assessed. Cox proportional hazards regression models, both unadjusted and adjusted models, were used to determine associations between cohort characteristics and AD. RESULTS The results showed that SHS exposure and occupational characteristics were associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairments in seniors. Subgroups who used to work as blue-collar workers, who never worked, who kept standing for most of the time at work, and who were engaged in hard physical labor prior to retirement, had high incidence rates of AD. CONCLUSIONS It was revealed that SHS, standing for most of the time and hard physical labor were associated risk factors of AD among seniors, compared with white-collar work. We recommend that the government establish a community supervisory mechanism to persuade smokers to quit or control smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background While maternal adherence to a healthy lifestyle was shown to be associated with a lower risk of obesity in offspring, the potential role of overall parental lifestyles has not yet been explored. We aimed to address this gap by exploring whether parental adherence to an overall healthy lifestyle was associated with a lower risk of obesity in offspring. Methods We included 5881 children and adolescents aged 6-15 years at enrolment in the 2010, 2012, and 2014 waves of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) who were free of obesity and followed them until 2020. Parental healthy lifestyle score at study baseline was composed of five modifiable lifestyle factors (0-5; 1 for each): never smoking, non-habitual drinking, weekly exercise, modified dietary diversity score ≥5 points, and body mass index (BMI) of 18.5-23.9 kg/m2. We defined obesity according to the age- and gender-specific cutoffs by the BMI percentile curves for Chinese children aged 6-18 years. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazard models to examine the association between parental healthy lifestyle score (both as continuous and categorical variables) and risk of offspring obesity. Results Overall, 597 (10.2%) offspring developed obesity during a median follow-up of 6 years. Compared to the lowest tertile of parental healthy lifestyle score, participants in the highest tertile had a 42% (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.58; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.45-0.74) lower risk of obesity. Both maternal (HR = 0.75; 95% CI = 0.61-0.92) and paternal (HR = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.60-0.89) healthy lifestyle scores were associated with lower risks of obesity in offspring. For specific lifestyle factors, we observed beneficial associations for paternal diverse diet (HR = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.60-0.88) and healthy BMI (HR = 0.65; 95% CI = 0.55-0.78). Conclusions Adherence to an overall parental healthier lifestyle was associated with a lower risk of obesity in childhood and adolescence. This finding highlights the potential benefits of promoting a healthy lifestyle among parents for the primary prevention of offspring obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Although an association between sarcopenia and cognitive function has been demonstrated, the directional association remains unclear. The present study aimed to evaluate the longitudinal reciprocal relationship and identify the possible temporal sequence between sarcopenia and cognitive function in older Chinese adults. Methods Data were collected from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) baseline survey in 2011 and the follow-up survey in 2015. Cognitive function was measured by episodic memory and executive function. Sarcopenia status (non-sarcopenia, possible sarcopenia and sarcopenia) was defined based on the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 criteria. Linear regression analysis and ordinal logistic regression analysis were employed to investigate the relationship between baseline sarcopenia status and follow-up cognition, as well as the association of baseline cognition with follow-up sarcopenia status, respectively. A cross-lagged panel analysis was performed to simultaneously evaluate the bidirectional association and the strength of the temporal relationship. Results Of 2689 participants, the median age was 65.0 years and 1249 (46.5%) were female. After adjusting for potential confounders and baseline measurements, baseline sarcopenia status was dose-dependently associated with subsequent cognitive scores (≥ =-0.45; P for trend=0.001), and baseline cognitive scores (in tertiles) were also dose-dependently associated with subsequent sarcopenia status (odds ratio (OR)=0.86; P for trend=0.017). The cross-lagged panel analysis indicated that the standardised effect size of sarcopenia status on cognitive function (≥ =-0.09; P<0.001) is larger relative to the effect of cognitive function on sarcopenia status (≥ =-0.05; P=0.019). Conclusions There is a longitudinal, bidirectional relationship between sarcopenia status and cognitive function in older Chinese adults. Sarcopenia is likely the driving force in these dynamic associations. These findings imply that interventions in either sarcopenia or cognitive decline may have the ability to generate reciprocal benefits over time. More research is warranted to confirm these findings and to further elucidate underlying causal pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]