Effect of Xingnao-Jianshen granules in treating AIS patients:study protocol for a non-randomized controlled intervention trial

Objective:Acute ischemic stroke(AIS)is characterized by high morbidity and high mortality.In recent years,complementary and alternative medicine has gradually been widely accepted and applied.At present,traditional Chinese medicine therapy and standard treatments are used for the treatment of AIS.Xingnao-Jianshen prescriptions(XNJS)is an effective prescription for the clinical treatment of AIS,but there is a lack of large-scale clinical evidence to confirm its clinical efficacy.Therefore,our team designed this protocol to evaluate the initial therapeutic effect of XNJS.Methods:The protocol for a non-randomized controlled trial is designed in which 72 eligible patients will be allocated to one of two groups.The control group(n=36)will receive standard treatment for AIS,the test group(n=36)will receive XNJS and standard treatment.Patients will be recruited after stroke onset and will receive the intervention continuously over 10±1 days,with a follow-up period of 90 days.The primary outcome will be the change in the NIHSS,BI,mRS scores.All outcome measures will be assessed at inception,after the intervention(10±1 days),and at the follow-up(90 days).The results will be disseminated to the public through peerreviewed journals and academic conferences.Discussion:The study will provide evidence of the preliminary effects.

Effects of positive psychological control intervention on sleep and psychology of officers and soldiers working at sea

BACKGROUND The working environment of submarine crews is also very special.They are in a closed,high-temperature,high-noise,high-vibration and narrow working and living space for a long time,and they suffer from physical discomfort caused by seasickness,which will affect the mental health of officers and soldiers.American psychologists have achieved positive results in psychological resilience training for officers and soldiers from the perspective of positive psychology.At present,there are few reports on the correlation between psychological resilience in the field of domestic research on submarine crew psychology,and it is necessary to conduct further research.METHODS A total of 121 soldiers working in a confined space of a large ship were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group.The 50 soldiers in the experimental group were given a training course intervention,while the 71 soldiers in the control group did not receive any intervention measures.The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index,Psychological Resilience Scale,military Psycho-logical Stress Self-Assessment Questionnaire,and General Self-Efficacy Scale scores were compared before and 6 months after the intervention.RESULTS Under the positive psychological control intervention,except for sleep efficiency(P=0.05),the difference between the remaining dimensions of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores and the total scores of the experimental group compared with the control group was statistically significant(P<0.05);the assessment of the psychological condition showed that,in addition to the Psychological Stress Self-assessment Questionnaire for Military Personnel scores(P=0.05),the scores of the Mental Toughness Scale(Dispositional Resilience Scale Resilience II)in the experimental group,General Self-Efficacy Scale scores were statistically significant(P<0.05)compared to pre-intervention.CONCLUSION Positive psychological intervention and control can improve the sleep state and psychological state of officers and soldiers working in confined space at sea.

Tobacco Control Intervention:A Comparative Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Video Advertisements in China and Australia

Significant differences in tobacco-control initiatives and achievements between Australia and China have been witnessed in the world,despite the fact that thecountries share the Asia-pacific region and have intimate relationships.The smoking rate in Australia has been on a downward trend since the 1980s and therefore Australia has been portrayed as a“dark market”by global tobacco industry companies.However in China,cigarette smoking is the chief killer that causes deadly health risks to both direct users of tobacco and people exposed to second-hand smoke.Non-communicable diseases due to this have caused great burden to the national medical resources.As a vital intervention tool of mass media campaign,public health advertisements on tobacco-control have played an important role in influencing the cognition and behavior of recipients.This study aims to compare the strategies adopted by the advertisements in Australia and China through corpus-driven multimodal discourse analysis to conduct quantitative analysis and qualitative case study.The results of comparative analysis indicate different pathways of tobacco-control advertisements constructions in the two countries that Australian tobacco-control advertisements achieved better in terms of health communication intervention to encourage cessation among smokers and reduce smoking initiation among potential smokers at the population level.To be compared,Chinese tobacco-control advertisements placed a heavier emphasis on the health hazards caused by second-hand smoking to protect people from the attributable morbidity and mortality.From the perspective of content theme,this study argues that Chinese tobacco-control advertisements should shift the focus to the health damage of smoking to smokers which is more targeted and fundamental.From the perspective of multimodal presentations of the video advertisements,a more prominent demonstration of the health damage is recommended.Moreover,this study argues that cultural-oriented strategies should be developed in the tobacco-control advertisements if considering the cigarette sharing and gifting social phenomenon in the Chinese society.

Impact Evaluation of CONSORT and STRICTA Guidelines on Reporting Quality for Randomized Controlled Trials of Acupuncture Conducted in China

Objective： To evaluate and compare the reports＇ qualities of acupuncture randomized controlled trials （RCTs） conducted in China before and after the implementation of two guidelines, i.e., the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials （CONSORT） statement and the Standards for Reporting Interventions in Controlled Trials of Acupuncture （STRICTA）. Methods： Proportions of studies that reported CONSORT and STRICTA items were compared for the years before and after implementation of these two guidelines. In addition, the total score of each item＇s reporting were calculated and reported differences during different date ranges were compared. Results： For CONSORT items （maximum score 8）, there was evidence of a slight improvement in reporting between 1994-1995 and 1999-2000 combined （2.5 ± 0.6） and 2004-2006 and 2009-2010 combined （3.0 ± 0.9; difference 0.4, 95% confidence interval, 0.3 to 0.6, P〈0.01）. For STRICTA items （maximum score 17）, there was evidence that a slight improvement in reporting between 1994-1995 and 1999-2000 combined （8.6±2.1） and 2004-2005 and 2009-2010 combined （10.1 ±1.8; difference 1.5, 95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 1.9, P〈0.01）. Conclusion： Quality of reporting for RCTs of acupuncture treatment conducted in China have generally improved since the introduction of the STRICTA and CONSORT guidelines.

Ergodic switching control for diffusion-type processes

We consider the control of the diserete component n_(t)of a owitching Markov proceaa x_(t)=(z_(t),n_(t))when there ia a running cost and an immediate coat c(i,j)for owitching n_(t)from i to j.We satudy the minimization of the ergodic(or long-term average)total coat.Eooentially,this paper trento the cnce where,for n_(t)=n fixed,z_(t)ia a reflected diffusion or a reflected diffusion with jumps,nt being,for fixed z,a continuous-time Markov chain.Using the vanishing discount appronch,we exctend existing reoulta dealing with the situation where nt evolvea only by the switching control action and the diffusion is non-degenerate.Moreover,we solve the ergodic problem for a claso of diffusiono which can be degenerate and for an example with aboorbing atate.