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Background: Tai Chi (TC), as one of mild to moderate exercise therapies specifically recommended by clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physician, is a viable option for chronic non-specific low back pain (CNLBP) treatment. Nevertheless, limited studies focused on the effect of different weekly frequencies of TC in elders with CNLBP. This superiority study aims to compare the differences of TC with different weekly frequencies in elders with CNLBP on the premise of proving its effectiveness, and identifying whether mindfulness mediates the effect of TC on treatment outcomes.Methods: In total, 284 senior citizens with CNLBP will be recruited in this single-centre, randomised, single-blinded (outcome assessors, data managers and the statistician), parallel controlled trial. Participants will be randomly divided into either one of three TC groups (1, 3, or 5 sessions/week, on the basis of weekly health educational lectures) or weekly health educational lectures, sustaining for 12 weeks, followed by 12 weeks of follow-up after the end of intervention. The primary outcome (the changes of LBP intensity at rest) will be measured at baseline before randomisation and immediately after the completion of weeks 4, 8 and 12 of the intervention, and the end of follow-up (week 24) using the visual analogue scale (VAS, 0-10 cm) to put a mark on the VAS scale to show how severities of their average low back pain have been over the past 24 h. Secondary outcomes, including Beck Depression Inventory-II, Pain Catastrophising Scale and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, Oswestry Disability Index and Short Form-36, will be measured at baseline and immediately after the completion of week 12 of the intervention and end of follow-up. The intention-to-treat and per-protocol principles will be used to analyse outcomes with a setting at α = 0.05 as statistical significance.Discussion: This comprehensive and detailed protocol will be the first trial to compare the effectiveness of different weekly frequencies of TC in elders with CNLBP. The outcomes may provide valuable data about the choice of the ideal number of sessions to further normalise the application of exercise for clinicians.Trial Registration: Chinese clinical trial registry ChiCTR2200058190 . Registered on 1 April 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Given the rapid growth of the global aging population, pain has become an unneglectable concern amongst the elderly. The quantity of scientific research outputs on pain in the elderly has increased over time, but only a small number of studies have used bibliometric methods to analyze scientific research in this field. This paper aimed to analyze scientific research on pain in the elderly published from 2000 to 2019 in a systematic manner using bibliometric methods. Methods: Articles on pain in the elderly published from 2000 to 2019 were retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS). Abstracts were coded on the basis of predetermined items (eg, type of article, topic, type of subjects, pain characteristics), and relevant information on the first author, citation scores, and article keywords were collected. Results: A total of 2105 articles were included in this study. Statistical analysis revealed that the publication of articles on pain in the elderly increased in frequency over time (P< 0.001). Most of the publications were original articles. Amongst the countries identified, the United States published the largest number of papers on this topic. Pain characteristics (50.21%), pain intervention (35.68%), and pain assessment (9.69%) were the main topics of research on geriatric pain. Back pain (12.30%) appeared to be the most popular pain type described in the included papers. Conclusion: This work provides researchers with an in-depth understanding of pain in the elderly by evaluating relevant publications in the past two decades. Researchers in this field are warranted to explore future directions on geriatric pain such as the transition from acute pain to chronic pain and the underlying mechanisms of pain in the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from interviews with 111 reading policy actors from California, Connecticut, Michigan, and Utah, this study explains how individuals acquire central positions in issue networks. Regression analyses showed that the greater a policy actor’s reputed influence was and the more similar their preferences were to other members in the network, the more central an actor was in a state reading policy network. The findings suggest that reading policy actors were forming relationships with other actors to gain access to influential organizations that have resources that political actors themselves may not possess—irrespective of policy preferences. In addition, the results indicate that central actors in an issue network may indeed hold the minority or majority opinion—marginalization due to divergence is not a given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore and analyze research trends and frontiers on functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in the past 20 years and identify collaboration networks. fNIRS-related publications from 2000 to 2019 were retrieved from the Web of Science database. A total of 1727 publications satisfied the search criteria. Bibliometric visualization analysis of active authors, journals, institutions, countries, references, and keywords were conducted. The number of annual related publications remarkably increased over the years. Fallgatter published the largest number of fNIRS-related papers (83). Neuroimage not only had the largest number of papers published in the first 10 journals (157 articles) but also had the highest impact factor (IF, 2018 ​= ​5.812). The University of Tubingen had the highest number of fNIRS-related publications in the past 20 years. The United States ranked first in terms of comprehensive influence in this field. In recent years, burst keywords (e.g., infant, social interaction, and older adult) and a series of references with citation burst provided clues on research frontiers. • This study analyzed research trends on functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in the past 20 years. • The most recent burst keywords were "infant", "social interaction" and "older adult" in fNIRS. • Neuroimage contributed the highest number of publications on fNIRS research. • FNIRS research had grown remarkably over the past 20 years and had a promising future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]