Challenges and Suggestions of Ethical Review on Clinical Research Involving Brain-Computer Interfaces

Brain-computer interface(BCI)technology is rapidly advancing in medical research and application.As an emerging biomedical engineering technology,it has garnered significant attention in the clinical research of brain disease diagnosis and treatment,neurological rehabilitation,and mental health.However,BCI also raises several challenges and ethical concerns in clinical research.In this article,the authors investigate and discuss three aspects of BCI in medicine and healthcare:the state of international ethical governance,multidimensional ethical challenges pertaining to BCI in clinical research,and suggestive concerns for ethical review.Despite the great potential of frontier BCI research and development in the field of medical care,the ethical challenges induced by itself and the complexities of clinical research and brain function have put forward new special fields for ethics in BCI.To ensure"responsible innovation"in BCI research in healthcare and medicine,the creation of an ethical global governance framework and system,along with special guidelines for cutting-edge BCI research in medicine,is suggested.

Vaccine Research in COVID-19: A Living Scoping Review Protocol

Objective:This scoping review will summarize COVID-19 vaccine research activities and describe the extent,range,and nature of evidence in the research of COVID-19 vaccines.Methods:Following Arksey and O’Malley’s framework and the methodological guidance of Joanna Briggs Institute(JBI),we propose a scoping review to summarize the extent,range,and na-ture of evidence in research related to COVID-19 vaccines.Based on research questions developed by us,a comprehensive search will be performed using the PubMed,Cochrane Library,Embase,Web of Science,CNKI,CBM,VIP,and WanFang databases by two independent reviewers.According to our predefined inclusion criteria,pairs of reviewers will independently assess theeligibility of the identified studies from the databases.Following literature selection,pairs of reviewers will extract relevant information related to our research questions.Subsequently,methodological quality and reporting quality of key evidence types(i.e.,random-ized controlled trials,systematic reviews,and meta-analyses)will be evaluated using commonly used tools,if possible.Qualitative synthesis and descriptive statistics will be used to summarize and present the results.In addition,new or updated meta-analysis will be conducted to pool the available data in included primary studies where possible.To track the trends in COVID-19 vaccine research,we plan to update our results approximately every 2-3 months.For preparing this scoping review protocol,we referred to the PRISMA-P checklist,and for reporting the following full texts,we will be following PRISMA-ScR guidelines.Conclusion:We believe that the results of this scoping review on COVID-19 vaccine will contribute to providing foundational knowledge and will have significant value in the research and practice concerning COVID-19 vaccines.The findings will also allow us to identify research gaps on this topic and also help us guide future research on COVID-19 vaccines.

Research Review on Agricultural Heritage Systems and Its Tourism Development

Concept of agricultural heritage systems was introduced. As a new heritage type, agricultural heritage systems focus on agricultural systems and its related biodiversity, landscape, land use system, traditional agricultural knowledge and experience, practices, and also the relative cultural diversity which make it the best expression of "agricultural heritage systems are not about the past, it is about the future". Studies about agricultural systems are mainly concentrating on pilot systems, about biodiversity conservation, eco-mechanism and ecological values of the systems, traditional knowledge conservation, community involvement, policies and regulations about the dynamic conservation and adaptive management, and also ways of dynamic conservation and exploration. Being considered as a dynamic approach of protecting agricultural heritage systems, agricultural heritage tourism was compared with rural tourism, agricultural tourism and "farm-stay". Agricultural heritage tourism is actually a type of heritage tourism, and one of its important functions is to build cultural identity of the heritage site and enhance awareness of the local community to conserve their assets. And the studies show that agricultural heritage systems as a kind of tourist resources have great development potentials.

Nursing Research during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

Purpose: This review paper aimed to provide an overview of the published nursing research related to the COVID-19 pandemic over the last six months. Method: Online Google Scholar database was searched for COVID-19 related articles published between the 1st of Jan 2020 and 15th of June 2020. Findings: The initial search found 1930 results from combining the search between the words “nurse” and “nursing” with COVID-19. Only 48 articles met the eligibility criteria. Most of the studies focused on psychological factors (33.3%), followed by clinical practices (29.2%). The majority of the authors have an academic affiliation (70.8%), only (12.5%) have a clinical affiliation. About (21%) of the articles were funded, (90%) of this fund came from China. Most of the authors utilized the quantitative approach (27.1%);the qualitative approach has been used by (4.2%);only one article (2.1%) utilized the mixed methodology. No study used a theoretical or conceptual framework. Mainly, the nurses conducted their research independently (52.1%), while (35.4%) has been done in a multidisciplinary team;35.3% of them were done in collaboration with physicians. Conclusion: The results indicate that the nurses responded immediately to the COVID-19 pandemic by conducting researches mainly by utilizing a quantitative approach and writing a lot of editorials. To enrich the research results, nurses worked in research in collaboration with other disciplines, especially physicians. Still, the nursing research funding is under the limit. Stress and psychological factors are the primary concern for the nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Acknowledgments to reviewers of Zoological Research

The editors of Zoological Research gratefully acknowledge the generous assistance of the following reviewers. We are thankful for the honest and invaluable work of all the referees during the past year, which has greatly contributed to ensuring the quality of Zoological Research.

Acknowledgments to reviewers of Neural Regeneration Research in 2014

On behalf of the Editors-in-Chief and Editorial Board, we wish to express our gratitude to the following ＂anonymous＂ reviewers who gave their time and energy for reviewing the articles （either published or rejected） from January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2014, ensuring the quality of Neural Regeneration Research.

Nursing Research Published in Italian Journals between 2002 and 2021: A Comparative Review

In the development of nursing as a discipline, research plays a key role. Sharing and disseminating scientific knowledge is essential, but for non-English-speaking communities, research published in their language is more accessible to the national nursing community. Various comparative reviews of the national literature of Italian nursing research since the late 80s revealed significant methodological deficiencies. This review aims to assess nursing research published by nurses in Italian, between 2002 and 2021 from a quantitative and qualitative point of view. Most reviewed papers report results of non-interventional studies with simple methodology and statistics. Research is mostly focused on clinical nursing and management. The weaknesses found in this review underline a lack of progress in Italian nursing research published in Italian, as already pointed out in previous reviews. Nursing research published in Italian journals still does not meet international standards. This study provides information about research in Italian, never assessed so analytically and systematically.

Advanced Research Projects in the Humanities： New Trends on Literature, Languages, and Linguistics Studies

Following the author＇s own experiencing in supervising Ph.D. theses in literature, languages, linguistics, and teacher education, the author will focus on new trends of advanced research projects that have been contributing to reinforce the importance of research in these areas in a time of crisis in the humanities. The organization and funding of science and scholarship in Europe has been promoting anything else but social sciences research, including educational areas. The author will follow the recent call from the Board of Trustees da Academia Europaea to redirect policies toward the organization of multidisciplinary research projects. Among these so-called ＂small subjects＂, we will find original, inspired, and valuable research projects in the humanities, It is worth mentioning that the crisis that has been diminishing this type of scholarship strangely cohabits with several policies promoted by the European Commission and the Council of Europe to develop programs for plurilingual education and linguistic diversity, new framework strategies for multilingualism, and the use of new technologies for language teaching and learning. A strong emphasis on research projects leading to interdisciplinary studies involving literature and pure sciences, plus the development of outreach research projects will be proposed.

A Reviewing on English Writing Researching in China

English writing is also a crucial means of evaluating the language proficiency of a learner of English as second language.As a result, it is essential to review English writing researching in terms of contents, number, methods, process, feedback and assessment which can guide our English writing teaching effectively.

A Critical Review of “Genre Analysis:Structural and Linguistic Evolution of the English-medium Medical Research Article(1985–2004)”

This paper critically analyzes the article"Genre analysis: Structural and linguistic evolution of the English-medium medical research article(1985–2004)". It presents critique from three aspects: the data, the analysis method, and the conclusion part.

A Review and Prospect of the Research on English Teacher Feedback in China from 2011 to 2021

This study uses the literature research method to search the domestic literature on English teacher feedback from 2011 to 2021,and reviews the research on the three main functions of English teacher feedback,namely language function,cognitive function,and emotional function,so as to explore the current situation of domestic research on teacher feedback.The results show that:First,in terms of research methods,the study of teacher feedback mainly adopts the combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods,and reveals the characteristics of the use of teacher feedback in Chinese English classrooms.Secondly,in terms of research objects,the research on teacher feedback in China is biased towards the research in universities and high school classrooms.Finally,in terms of research perspectives,the study of teacher feedback is mainly conducted from the perspective of classification,characteristics and functions of feedback.This paper also finds existing problems in the current research and prospects for future trends in development for future research.

Pearls of meta-analyses and systematic review in scientific evidence

Scientific evidence develops bit by bit from case reports,case series;to larger casecontrol,case-cohort;and further escalate to randomized controlled trials.This echoed the importance of continue publishing World journal of Clinical Cases,where novel and advancing discoveries start from a single case.In contrast,at the other end of the realm of evidence synthesis,systematic review and meta-analysis represent distinct yet interconnected processes.Butorphanol in epidural labor analgesia has long been studied since 1989,and with 70 publications from MEDLINE searches.However,there was no meta-analysis,nor any systematic review published so far.The latest in-press article published by Tang et al.on the protocol for the systematic review and meta-analysis on the safety and effectiveness of butorphanol in epidural labor analgesia is encouraging.We believe the findings of this study will be valuable for clinical practice as well as for future research.

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE RESEARCH PROJECTS WINNING FIRST-GRADE PRIZES OF THE 1993 CAS AWARDS FOR NATURAL SCIENCES

In the wake of examination, appraisal and recommendation by the jury of the CAS Awards for Natural Sciences.a total of 17 research projects was finally approved by the CAS President’s Working Conference as laureates of the first-grade prizes of the 1993 CAS Awards for Natural Sciences.A brief introduction of them is as follows: 1. A Study on the Steiner

A Review of Recent Advances in Research on Asian Monsoon in China

This paper reviews briefly advances in recent research on monsoon by Chinese scholars, including primarily： （1） the establishment of various monsoon indices. In particular, the standardized dynamic seasonal variability index of the monsoon can delimit the geographical distribution of global monsoon systems and determine quantitatively the date of abrupt change in circulation. （2） The provision of three driving forces for the generation of monsoon. （3） The revelation of the heating-pump action of the Tibetan Plateau, which strengthens southerlies in the southern and southeastern periphery of the Plateau and results in a strong rainfall center from the northern Bay of Bengal （BOB） to the Plateau itself. （4） Clarification of the initial onset of the Asian Summer Monsoon （ASM） in the BOB east of 90°E, Indochina Peninsula （ICP） and the South China Sea, of which the rapid northward progression of tropical convection in the Sumatra and the rapid westward movement of the South Asia High to the Indochina Peninsula are the earliest signs. （5） The provision of an integrated mechanism for the onset of the East Asian Summer Monsoon （EASM）, which emphasizes the integrated impact of sensible heat over Indian Peninsula, the warm advection of the Tibetan Plateau and the sensible heat and latent heat over the Indochina Peninsula on the one hand, and the seasonal phase-lock effect of the northward propagation of low frequency oscillation on the other. （6） The revelation of the ＂planetary-scale moisture transport large-value band＂ from the Southern Hemisphere through to the Asian monsoon region and into the North Pacific, which is converged by several large-scale moisture transport belts in the Asian-Australian monsoon regions and whose variation influences directly the temporal and spatial distribution of summer rainfall in China. （7） Presenting the features of the seasonal advance of the EASM, the propagation of intraseasonal oscillation, and their relationship with rainfall in China; indicating that the intraseasonal oscillation of the EASM propagates in the form of a wave-train along the coast and behaves as monsoon surge propagating northward. （8） Describing the interannual and interdecadal variation of Asian monsoon, revealing the factors affecting it, and possible mechanisms of the variation of Asian monsoon. An elementary outlook on the existing problems and future direction of monsoon research is also provided.

A research progress review on regional extreme events

An extreme （weather and climate） event does not only mean that an extreme occurs at a location, but more generally it can impact a certainarea and last a certain period of time, which is defined as a regional extreme event （REE） with a certain impacted area and duration. The conceptof REE has been defined to allow mainly objective assessment of the events without a pre-determined boundary and duration. This paper reviewsthe studies on REEs published during the past 20 years, especially recent years. Mainly in view of methodology, these studies can be divided intothree types studies focusing on spatial simultaneity, studies focusing on temporal persistence, and studies identifying REEs. The methodsidentifying REEs include two kinds, e.g., type-I methods stressing REE＇s temporal persistence within a relatively certain area and type-IImethods focusing on catching a complete REE. Identification methods proposed in this paper could provide valuable information for variouspurposes, such as real-time monitoring, estimating long-term changes, mechanism diagnosis, forecasting study and even attribution analysis.Research on REEs is important for objectively defining extreme weather and climate events, which depends on the spatial and temporal scales ofinterest. Such an objective definition will support ongoing climate monitoring and improve the assessment of how regional extreme events havechanged over time.

Practice and Challenge of International Peer Review: A Case Study of Research Evaluation of CAS Centers for Excellence

Purpose: The main goal of this paper is to show that international peer review can work in China’s context with satisfactory outcomes. Moreover, this paper also provides a reference for the practice of science and technology management.Design/methodology/approach: This paper starts with a discussion of two critical questions about the significance and design of international peer review. A case study of international peer review of CAS Centers for Excellence is further analyzed. Findings: International peer review may provide a solution to address the problem of quantitative oriented research evaluation in China. The case study of research evaluation of CAS Centers for Excellence shows that it is possible and feasible to conduct an international peer review in China’s context. When applying this approach to other scenarios, there are still many issues to consider including individualized design of international peer review combined with practical demands, and further improvement of theories and methods of international peer review. Research limitation: 1) Only the case of international peer review of CAS Centers for Excellence is analyzed;2) A relatively small number of respondents were surveyed in the questionnaire. Practical implications: The work presented in this study can be used as a reference for future studies.Originality/value: Currently, there are no similarly detailed studies exploring the significance and methodology of international peer review in China.

Meru University of Science and Technology Research Ethics Review System: A SWOT Analysis

The objectives of this article are as follows: 1) to propose a university research ethics system framework, 2) to provide a brief anatomy of the Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST) Institutional Research Ethics Review Committee (MIRERC), 3) to perform a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of MIRERC, and 4) to make recommendations for improving its performance. The 13-member multi-disciplinary MIRERC was established in April 2017 to provide effective ethical oversight of research undertaken by the University’s scholarly community. Strengths of the MUST research ethics review system include a functional MIRERC, a pertinent national law and ethical guidelines, an Innovation and Enterprise Centre that could house a dedicated MIRERC Secretariat, and a supportive University Management Board. The weaknesses include lack of graduate schools to assure scientific rigor of proposals before submission to the MIRERC, lack of research ethics training in most school’s curricula, absence of a dedicated MIRERC Secretariat, undergraduate research proposals being not ethically reviewed, dearth of faculty trained in research ethics, and lack of an operating budget for MIRERC work. The opportunities include existence of about 22 accredited Institutional Research Ethics Review Committees (IRERC) in Kenya, existence of international standards and operational guidance for ethics review, availability of guidelines and codes of best ethical practices in research, existence of a free automated platform called Research for Health Innovation Organizer (RHInnO) Ethics for managing the ethics review process, and availability of external resources for strengthening IRERCs. In order to improve the performance and sustainability of the MUST research ethics system, there is need to include research ethics training in all undergraduate and post-graduate curricula, create a dynamic database of potential research ethics reviewers, allocate a percentage of the annual MUST research budget for MIRERC operations, charge a graduated fee for proposal ethics review, require all students’ and faculties’ internal and external research proposals be cleared by the MIRERC, and use the RHInnO Ethics platform to manage the ethics review process.

Research review on the main chemical constituents and pharmacological effects of Elephantopus scaber L.

Elephantopus scaber L.belongs to Elephantopus plant of Compositae,is widely used as the common Chinese herbal medicine in folk.Phytochemical investigations of the E.scaber have resulted in the isolation of triterpennoids,sesquiterpene lactones,sesquiterpene phenols,steroids,flavones,anthraquinones,peptides,lipid compounds and aryl compounds.It possesses the effects of antibacterial,clearing away heat and detoxification,detumescence and diuresis,and is used for treating lung cancer,cervical cancer,liver cancer,nasopharyngeal cancer,breast cancer,anemia and diarrhea.The research progress in the chemical constituents ofE scaber and pharmacological effects are reviewed for better explore and utilize theE scaber resource.

Preliminary Study on Management of Agricultural Scientific Research Projects in the New Situation

Project management of agricultural scientific research institutions is an important section of agricultural scientific research plan management. It is of great significance for sustainable development of scientific research work of scientific research institutions. According to a series of opinions and notices about scientific and technological system reform issued by the state,and combining current situations of management of scientific research projects in scientific research institutions,this paper made a preliminary study on management of agricultural scientific research projects in the new trend. Finally,on the basis of the current situations of management of agricultural scientific research projects,it came up with pertinent recommendations,including strengthening communication and cooperation and actively declaring projects,strengthening preliminary planning of projects and establishing project information database,reinforcing project process management,ensuring on-time and high quality completion of projects,and strengthening learning and improving quality of management personnel.