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Background: The chronic pain arising from knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a prevalent clinical manifestation. As a traditional Chinese approach, electroacupuncture (EA) has a positive influence in relieving chronic pain from KOA. The study aims to explore functional connectivity (FC) and effective connectivity (EC) alterations induced by EA in anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) rat model of KOA using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Methods: After the establishment of ACLT, rats were randomly divided into the EA group and the sham-EA group. The EA group received EA intervention while the sham-EA group received sham-intervention for 3 weeks. Mechanical pain threshold (MPT) assessment was performed before and after intervention, and fMRI was conducted after intervention. Results: EA intervention effectively relieved pain in post-ACLT rats. Results of rest-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) analysis revealed that compared with the sham-EA group, the EA group had higher FC between the right raphe and the left auditory cortex, the left caudate_ putamen and the left internal capsule (IC), as well as the right zona incerta (ZI) and the left piriform cortex, but lower FC between the right raphe and the left hippocampus ventral, as well as the right septum and the left septum. Furthermore, Granger causality analysis (GCA) found the altered EC between the right septum and the left septum, as well as the left IC and the right septum. Conclusion: The results confirmed the effect of EA on analgesia in post- ACLT rats. The alterations of FC and EC, mainly involving basal ganglia and limbic system neural connections, might be one of the neural mechanisms underlying the effect of EA, providing novel information about connectomics plasticity of EA following ACLT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates critical thinking (CT) studies in e-learning settings to provide a comprehensive analysis of CT studies. Research indexed in the Web of Science database which includes major peer-reviewed social sciences citation index journals in the e-learning field from January 2006 to November 2017 was searched for a systematic review and analysis. A total of 42 studies were selected and synthesized. The distribution of publishing years, geographical areas, education sectors, publications, disciplines, research methods, activities, CT measurement instruments, teaching instruction, the CT roles applied in the studies, and the experiment durations were reviewed. The results showed that most CT studies were conducted in nontraditional teaching environments using strategies such as online discussion or concept mapping; the most used quantitative method was the California critical thinking skills test (CCTST), whereas the most frequently adopted qualitative method was the practical inquiry model of cognitive presence (PIMCP). The common method to enhance students' CT was online synchronous or asynchronous discussion, and the role that CT played in these studies was as a dependent variable for evaluating whether the designed e-learning instruction(s) can cultivate CT. This study concludes that with active learning instruction and experienced tutor facilitation, students' CT could be enhanced in a variety of e-learning environments.

To examine the safety of food purchased online, a food safety project was conducted by the Office of Food and Drug Safety (OFDS) of Taichung City. Through collaboration with eight universities, the performance of food safety and hygiene in the physical stores engaged in online food businesses was assessed from October 2021 to January 2022. A total of 80 physical stores were involved in the present project. The results indicate that the most common nonconformities were as follows: (1) the food service standard form contract for distance transactions was not correctly displayed on websites (71%), (2) the food-related items were not sorted, were not stored on pallet boards or racks, and were not kept clean (46%), (3) the food preparation area and sales area did not have appropriate and adequate equipment for hand washing and drying (33%), and (4) the food safety and hygiene self-evaluation checklist was not prepared (33%). More efforts regarding food safety and hygiene are needed to improve and secure the knowledge of, attitude towards, and skills for good food safety and hygiene practices of online food businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]