ObjectivePrevious studies have demonstrated altered brain activity in strabismic amblyopia. In this study, low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied in children with strabismic amblyopia after they had undergone strabismus surgery. The effect of rTMS was investigated by measuring the changes of brain features using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation.Materials and MethodsIn this study, 21 SA patients were recruited based on their age, weight, and sex. They all had SA in their left eyes and they received rTMS treatment one month (...) after strabismus surgery. Their vision before and after surgery were categorized as pre-rTMS and post-rTMS. All participants received rTMS treatment, underwent magnetic resonance imaging, and their data were analyzed using the repeated measures t-test. The team used correlation analysis to explore the relationship between logMAR visual acuity and ALFF.ResultsPre- versus post-rTMS values of ALFF were significantly different within individuals. In the POT group, ALFF values were significantly decreased in the Angular_R, Parietal_Inf_L, and Cingulum_Mid_R while ALFF values were significantly increased in the Fusiform_R and Frontal_Inf_Orb_L compared to the PRT stage.ConclusionOur data showed that ALFF recorded from some brain regions was changed significantly after rTMS in strabismic amblyopes. The results may infer the pathological basis of SA and demonstrate that visual function may be improved using rTMS in strabismic amblyopic patients. (shrink)

PurposeTo investigate spontaneous brain activity in patients with dry eye and healthy control using the fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation technique with the aim of elucidating the relationship between the clinical symptoms of DE and changes in brain function.Material and MethodsA total of 28 patients with DE and 28 matched healthy volunteers were enrolled. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed in both groups. Then all subjects were required to complete a comprehensive Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Receiver (...) operating characteristic curve analysis was used to evaluate the differences in fALFF values between the two groups and their diagnostic value. Linear correlations between HADS and fALFF values in different brain regions of DE patients were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient.ResultsPatients with DE had significantly higher fALFF values in the left calcarine sulcus than the HC group, while fALFF values in the bilateral middle frontal gyrus and right MFG/right inferior frontal gyrus were significantly lower in DE patients than in HC group. fALFF values had a high diagnostic value for differentiating patients with DE from the HC group. Right MFG and right MFG/IFG were significantly correlated with HADS values.ConclusionOur study found that DE mainly involved functional disorders in the brain areas of the left CS, bilateral MFG and right MFG/right IFG, which helped us to find possible clinical features of DE disease and reflected the potential pathological mechanism of DE. (shrink)

This research explores the dynamic capabilities required for firms to implement environmental, social, and governance strategies, and investigates sustainable management performance that can be created based on them. By using dynamic capabilities theory, we integrate sustainable management and the ESG literature to suggest a research model and identify the factors that act as the catalysts achieving sustainability. The data used for the analysis were collected from 78 firms listed on the Korea Exchange with assets totaling more than 2 trillion Korean (...) won. In this study, the partial least squares structural equation model is applied. We found that absorptive capability and adaptive capability significantly affect sustainable management performance through implementation of the ESG strategy as a mediating variable. In particular, a firm’s implementation of an ESG strategy is a significant determinant that impacts sustainable management performance. We also believe our model contributes to the current knowledge by filling several research gaps, and our findings offer valuable and practical implications not only for achieving sustainable growth but also for creation of competitive advantage. (shrink)

More and more studies showed that strabismus is not simply an ocular disease, but a neuro-ophthalmology disease. To analyze potential changes in brain activity and their relationship to behavioral performance in comitant strabismus patients and healthy controls. Our study recruited 28 patients with comitant strabismus and 28 people with matched weight, age range, and sex ratio as healthy controls. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, we evaluated fALFF to compare spontaneous brain activity between comitant strabismus and healthy controls. We did (...) hospital anxiety and depression scale questionnaires for these patients. We found significantly lower fALFF value in comitant strabismus patients compared with controls in the left frontal superior medial gyrus and the right middle cingulum. In the latter region, fALFF was significantly negatively correlated with the hospital anxiety and depression scale, as well as the duration of disease. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that the fALFF method has clear potential for the diagnosis of comitant strabismus patients. These results revealed abnormal spontaneous activity in two brain regions of comitant strabismus patients, which may indicate underlying pathologic mechanisms and may help to advance clinical treatment. (shrink)

ObjectiveLeveraging an integrative multimodal MRI paradigm to elaborate on the hippocampus-derived structural and functional changes in children and adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis and to explore potential correlations within the “joint-inflammation-brain” axis during the period of central neural system development.MethodsTwenty-one patients with JIA all completed the multimodal MRI scanning, laboratory tests, and neuropsychological assessments; meanwhile, 23 matched controls were recruited. We then harnessed the spherical harmonics with a point distribution model and the ROI-to-voxel functional connectivity to measure the hippocampal shape (...) and hippocampo-cortical FC patterns. Correlation analysis was performed to explore the potential links in neuroimaging features with disease-related indices.ResultsCompared to controls, JIA patients only presented an atrophic tendency in the posterior part of the bilateral hippocampus. The hippocampo-cortical FC revealed the between-group divergences mainly located at the pain matrix, striatum, and temporal lobe. Remarkably, the enhanced FC between the right hippocampus and postcentral cortex is positively correlated with the disability index, while the weakened FC of right anterior hippocampus with right insula and that of left posterior hippocampus with left superior temporal gyrus was inversely related to the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and anxiety status, separately.ConclusionAs with macroscopic damages, the altered functional-connectome patterns of the hippocampus in JIA patients might be more sensitive to detect the early neuropathological changes. Moreover, the functional disturbances were demonstrated associated with the physical disability, inflammation, and emotional status. These findings may enlighten us on the underlying neuropathological mechanism of CNS comorbidities in JIA. (shrink)

BackgroundPatient-centred care and patient autonomy is one of the key factors to better quality of service provision, hence patient outcomes. It enables the development of patients’ trusts which is an important element to a better doctor-patient relationship. Given the increasing number of patient disputes and conflicts between patients and doctors in Chinese public hospital, it is timely to ensure patient-centred care is fully and successfully implemented. However, limited studies have examined the views and practice in different aspects of patient-centred care (...) among doctors in the Chinese public hospitals.MethodsA quantitative approach was adopted by distributing paper-based questionnaires to doctors and patients in two hospitals (Level III and Level II) in Jinan, Shandong province, China.ResultsIn total, 614 doctors from the surgical and internal medicine units of the two hospitals participated in the survey yielding 90% response rates. The study confirmed the inconsistent views among doctors in terms of their perception and practice in various aspects patient-centred care and patient autonomy regardless of the hospital where they work (category II or category III), their unit speciality (surgical or non-surgical), their gender or seniority. The high proportion of doctors (more than 20%) who did not perceive the importance of patient consultation prior to determining diagnostic and treatment procedure is alarming. This in in part due to the belief held by more than half of the doctors that patients were unable to make rational decisions and their involvement in treatment planning process did not necessarily lead to better treatment outcomes.ConclusionThe study calls for the development of system level policy and organisation wide strategies in encouraging and enabling the practice of patient-centred care and patient autonomy with the purposes of improving the quality of the service provided to patients by Chinese hospitals. (shrink)

With the prevalence of the Internet and new media channels, consumer reviews have become one of the main determinants of Consumers’ purchasing decisions. This paper uses the Latent Dirichlet Allocation model to identify the key factors that are of major concern to consumers, including design factors, laptop setup factors, logistics factors, after-sales factors, and user experience factors. And, we classify these factors into product quality factors and supporting service factors for new products. We then explore the relationship between online reviews (...) and purchase decisions under these different factors, and also further explore the impact of interactions between online review metrics on purchase decisions. Our findings suggest that the impact of online reviews on consumer purchase decisions also varies considerably across different consumer focus factors. In addition, we find that the impact of the interaction between online review features is complex. In particular, consumers do not follow the positive guidance and make purchase decisions as we would expect when confronted with a large number of positive emotional polarity online reviews. Meanwhile, the interaction between negative emotional polarity and variance of online reviews had no significant effect on consumer purchase decisions. The variance of online reviews has a limited role in reducing consumer risk perceptions triggered by negative emotional polarity. Our study provides new evidence for the study of the impact of online reviews through text mining. (shrink)

Our paper draws attention to a neglected channel of corruption—the bribe payments by state-owned enterprises. This is an important phenomenon as bribe payments by SOEs fruitlessly waste national resources, compromising public welfare and national prosperity. Using a large dataset of 30,249 firms from 50 countries, we show that, in general, SOEs are less likely to pay bribes for achieving organizational objectives owing to their political connectivity. However, in deteriorated institutional environments, SOEs may be subjected to potential managerial rent-seeking behaviors, which (...) disproportionately increase SOE bribe propensity relative to privately owned enterprises. Specifically, our findings highlight the importance of fostering democracy and rule of law, reducing prevalence of corruption and shortening power distance in reducing the incidence of SOE bribery. (shrink)

Previous studies on the follow-up effect of serendipity mostly focused on the positive effects and less on the negative effects. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to investigate the negative effect of serendipity on the purchase intention of unexpected products. To verify all hypotheses in this article, we used online and offline survey data in China. Three experimental results showed that serendipity contains a certain degree of uncertainty, which will cause consumers’ perceived risk and decrease the purchase intention of (...) unexpected products. Perceived risk plays a mediating role in the effect of serendipity on the purchase intention of unexpected products. Moreover, regulatory focus moderates the effect of serendipity on purchase intention of unexpected products. Specifically, for prevention-focused individuals, the negative effect of serendipity on the purchase intention of unexpected products is strengthened. For promotion-focused individuals, the negative effect of serendipity on the purchase intention of unexpected products is weakened. This article augments the understanding of the negative effects of serendipity and provides theoretical guidance and support for the management practice of marketers. (shrink)

In this article, we explicate evidence-based nursing (EBN), critically appraise its framework and respond to nurses’ concern that EBN sidelines the caring elements of nursing practice. We use resources from care ethics, especially Vrinda Dalmiya’s work that considers care as crucial for both epistemology and ethics, to show how EBN is compatible with, and indeed can be enhanced by, the caring aspects of nursing practice. We demonstrate that caring can act as a bridge between ‘external’ evidence and the other pillars (...) of the EBN framework: clinical expertise; patient preferences and values. Drawing on an influential EBN handbook, section 1 presents the aims and features of EBN, including the normative principle that EBN should take place within a ‘context of caring’. We aim to understand this context and whether it can be neatly detached from the EBN framework, as the handbook seems to suggest. In section 2, we highlight the grounds for resistance to EBN from the nursing community, before mounting the argument that nursing practices can be understood fruitfully through feminist care ethics and/or virtue ethics lenses. In section 3, we deepen that analysis using Dalmiya’s concepts of care-knowing and care as a hybrid ethico-epistemic virtue, which are ideally suited to the complex practices of nursing. In section 4, we bring this rich understanding of care into conversation with EBN, showing that its framework cannot be adequately theorised without paying proper attention to care. Caring can be neither an innocuous background assumption of nor an afterthought to the EBN framework. (shrink)

Objective: Patients with hypochondriasis hold unexplainable beliefs and a fear of having a lethal disease, with poor compliances and treatment response to psychotropic drugs. Although several studies have demonstrated that patients with hypochondriasis demonstrate abnormalities in brain structure and function, gray matter volume and functional connectivity in hypochondriasis still remain unclear.Methods: The present study collected T1-weighted and resting-state functional magnetic resonance images from 21 hypochondriasis patients and 22 well-matched healthy controls. We first analyzed the difference in the GMV between the (...) two groups. We then used the regions showing a difference in GMV between two groups as seeds to perform functional connectivity analysis. Finally, a support vector machine was applied to the imaging data to distinguish hypochondriasis patients from HCs.Results: Compared with the HCs, the hypochondriasis group showed decreased GMV in the left precuneus, and increased GMV in the left medial frontal gyrus. FC analyses revealed decreased FC between the left medial frontal gyrus and cuneus, and between the left precuneus and cuneus. A combination of both GMV and FC in the left precuneus, medial frontal gyrus, and cuneus was able to discriminate the hypochondriasis patients from HCs with a sensitivity of 0.98, specificity of 0.93, and accuracy of 0.95.Conclusion: Our study suggests that smaller left precuneus volumes and decreased FC between the left precuneus and cuneus seem to play an important role of hypochondriasis. Future studies are needed to confirm whether this finding is generalizable to patients with hypochondriasis. (shrink)

ObjectiveThe impact of the mindfulness-based stress reduction program on psychological outcomes and quality of life in lung cancer patients remains unclear. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the MBSR program on psychological states and QoL in lung cancer patients.MethodsEligible studies published before November 2021 were systematically searched from PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang databases. The risk of bias in eligible studies was assessed using the Cochrane tool. Psychological variables and QoL were evaluated (...) as outcomes. We used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system to grade the levels of evidence. Statistical analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.4 and STATA 14.0.ResultsA total of 17 studies involving 1,680 patients were included for meta-analysis eventually. MBSR program significantly relieved cancer-related fatigue and negative psychological states, enhanced positive psychological states, and improved quality of sleep. Evidence on MBSR programs' overall treatment effect for QoL revealed a trend toward statistical significance.ConclusionBased on our findings, the MBSR program shows positive effects on psychological states in lung cancer patients. This approach should be recommended as a part of the rehabilitation program for lung cancer patients.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://archive.org/details/osf-registrations-mwvbq-v1, identifier: 10.17605/OSF.IO/MWVBQ. (shrink)

Technological products such as computer, communication, and consumer electronic products, apps, smart wearables, and streaming services have become inseparable from people’s lives. In technological fields of practice, imagination, creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship may influence one another. A vivid imagination can generate creativity and trigger the entrepreneurial intention to “bring new things to the market.” This study aims to understand the formation of internet entrepreneurial intention to use technology products. Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study explores and empirically tests how (...) technology product imagination disposition and social support impact internet entrepreneurial intention to use technology products. Drawing from self-determination theory, this study proposes and examines the mediating role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the relationship between technology product imagination disposition and internet entrepreneurial intention, as well as the relationship between social support and internet entrepreneurial intention. We conducted a survey of 568 adults in Taiwan and used partial least squares to test our hypotheses. The results show the following: Technology product imagination disposition is positively associated with challenge, enjoyment, compensation, and outward motivation. Social support is positively associated with challenge, enjoyment, compensation, and outward motivation. Challenge, enjoyment, and outward motivation are positively associated with internet entrepreneurial intention to use technology products. Technology product imagination disposition intensifies internet entrepreneurial intention to use technology products by strengthening challenge, enjoyment, and outward motivation. Social support intensifies internet entrepreneurial intention by increasing challenge, enjoyment, and outward motivation. The partial mediation model represents a significant improvement in the total effect over the direct effect. We discuss the implications of these results for research and internet entrepreneurship practices. (shrink)

AimsA negative association between the lower level of psychological resilience and increased risk of compassion fatigue and higher Coronavirus disease 2019 stress has been revealed. However, bibliometric studies have not been performed to comprehensively investigate this topic. This study aimed to identify the status and trends in the CF and PR field from 2008 to 2021 and during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe identified relevant literature from the Web of Science Core Collection® database using “resilience” and “compassion fatigue” on September 30, 2021. (...) All search results were exported in plain text format for collaboration network analysis, reference-based co-citation analysis, analysis of journals, and keywords-based co-occurrence analysis, which were performed using Citespace® 5.8.R1.ResultsA total of 388 publications were identified finally, and there has been an increasing trend in the annual number of publications with light fluctuations. The analysis of journals and keywords indicated that nurses and social workers are the main research targets, and their mental problems are the main research topics. The turnover intention of health care providers has been a research focus, particularly during the COVID-19.ConclusionThe results of the present study help us understand the status of the CF and PR field and its recent developments. (shrink)

This study examines the degree of state ownership on corporate bribery. Integrating the theories of state ownership and corporate corruption, we propose that state ownership influences bribery propensity and bribery intensity in different ways; it lowers a firm’s tendency to pay bribes but increases the relative amount of bribery payment. Building on the control rights/bargaining hypotheses, we demonstrate that state ownership shields firms from bribery demands by reducing administrative hurdles that include bureaucratic requirements of obtaining licenses or settling taxes in (...) business operations. However, state ownership elevates the level of bribes by weakening their capital mobility. Using a sample of 23,018 firms from 54 countries covering 2006 to 2013, we find evidence to support our hypotheses. This article contributes to corruption research by drawing attention to an important channel of corruption and by highlighting the importance of considering not only the propensity but also the intensity of bribe payments. (shrink)

BackgroundThe therapeutic effect of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) for Parkinson's disease (PD) is related to the modulation of pathological neural activities, particularly the synchronization in the β band (13–35 Hz). However, whether the local β activity in the STN region can directly predict the stimulation outcome remains unclear.ObjectiveWe tested the hypothesis that low-β (13–20 Hz) and/or high-β (20–35 Hz) band activities recorded from the STN region can predict DBS efficacy.MethodsLocal field potentials (LFPs) were recorded in (...) 26 patients undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery in the subthalamic nucleus area. Recordings were made after the implantation of the DBS electrode prior to its connection to a stimulator. The maximum normalized powers in the theta (4–7 Hz), alpha (7–13 Hz), low-β (13–20 Hz), high-β (20–35 Hz), and low-γ (40–55 Hz) subbands in the postoperatively recorded LFP were correlated with the stimulation-induced improvement in contralateral tremor or bradykinesia–rigidity. The distance between the contact selected for stimulation and the contact with the maximum subband power was correlated with the stimulation efficacy. Following the identification of the potential predictors by the significant correlations, a multiple regression analysis was performed to evaluate their effect on the outcome.ResultsThe maximum high-β power was positively correlated with bradykinesia–rigidity improvement (rs = 0.549, p < 0.0001). The distance to the contact with maximum high-β power was negatively correlated with bradykinesia–rigidity improvement (rs = −0.452, p < 0.001). No significant correlation was observed with low-β power. The maximum high-β power and the distance to the contact with maximum high-β power were both significant predictors for bradykinesia–rigidity improvement in the multiple regression analysis, explaining 37.4% of the variance altogether. Tremor improvement was not significantly correlated with any frequency.ConclusionHigh-β oscillations, but not low-β oscillations, recorded from the STN region with the DBS lead can inform stimulation-induced improvement in contralateral bradykinesia–rigidity in patients with PD. High-β oscillations can help refine electrode targeting and inform contact selection for DBS therapy. (shrink)

Prediction is one of the major challenges in complex systems. The prediction methods have shown to be effective predictors of the evolution of networks. These methods can help policy makers to solve practical problems successfully and make better strategy for the future. In this work, we focus on exporting countries’ data of the International Trade Network. A recommendation system is then used to identify the products that correspond to the production capacity of each individual country but are somehow overlooked by (...) the country. Then, we simulate the evolution of the country’s fitness if it would have followed the recommendations. The result of this work is the combination of these two methods to provide insights to countries on how to enhance the diversification of their exported products in a scientific way and improve national competitiveness significantly, especially for developing countries. (shrink)

Most neuroimaging research in stroke rehabilitation mainly focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying the natural history of post-stroke recovery. However, connectivity mapping from resting-state fMRI is well suited for different neurological conditions and provides a promising method to explore plastic changes for treatment-induced recovery from stroke. We examined the changes in resting-state functional connectivity (RS-FC) of the ipsilesional primary motor cortex (M1) in 10 post-acute stroke patients before and immediately after 4 weeks of robot-assisted bilateral arm therapy (RBAT). Motor performance, (...) functional use of the affected arm, and daily function improved in all participants. Reduced interhemispheric RS-FC between the ipsilesional and contralesional M1 (M1-M1) and the contralesional-lateralized connections were noted before treatment. In contrast, greater M1-M1 functional connectivity and disturbed resting-state networks were observed after RBAT relative to pre-treatment. Increased changes in M1-M1 RS-FC after RBAT were coupled with better motor and functional improvements. Mediation analysis showed the pre-to-post difference in M1-M1 RS-FC was a significant mediator for the relationship between motor and functional recovery. These results show neuroplastic changes and functional recoveries induced by RBAT in post-acute stroke survivors and suggest that interhemispheric functional connectivity in the motor cortex may be a neurobiological marker for recovery after stroke rehabilitation. (shrink)

A critical issue in executive control is how the nervous system exerts flexibility to inhibit a prepotent response and adapt to sudden changes in the environment. In this study, force measurement was used to capture “partial” unsuccessful trials that are highly relevant in extending the current understanding of motor inhibition processing. Moreover, a modified version of the stop-signal task was used to control and eliminate potential attentional capture effects from the motor inhibition index. The results illustrate that the non-canceled force (...) and force rate increased as a function of stop-signal delay, offering new objective indices for gauging the dynamic inhibitory process. Motor response was a function of delay in the presentation of novel/infrequent stimuli. A larger lateralized readiness potential amplitude in go and novel stimuli indicated an influence of the novel stimuli on central motor processing. Moreover, an early N1 component reflects an index of motor inhibition in addition to the N2 component reported in previous studies. Source analysis revealed that the activation of N2 originated from inhibitory control associated areas: the right inferior frontal gyrus, pre-motor cortex, and primary motor cortex. Regarding partial responses, LRP and error-related negativity were associated with error correction processes, whereas the N2 component may indicate the functional overlap between inhibition and error correction. In sum, the present study has developed reliable and objective indices of motor inhibition by introducing force, force-rate and electrophysiological measures, further elucidating our understandings of dynamic motor inhibition and error correction. (shrink)

Planning ability is important in everyday functioning, and a key measure to assess the preparation and execution of plans is the Tower of London task. Previous studies indicate that older adults are often less accurate than the young on the ToL and that there may be cultural differences in performance on the task. However, potential interactions between age and culture have not previously been explored. In the current study we examined the effects of age on ToL performance in an Asian (...) culture and a Western culture. We also explored whether working memory, age, education, and socioeconomic status explained variance in ToL performance across these two cultures. Results indicated that age effects on ToL performance were greater in the Malaysian sample. Subsequent moderated mediation analysis revealed differences between the two cultures, in that the age-related variance in ToL accuracy was accounted for by WM capacity at low and medium education levels only in the Malaysian sample. Demographic variables could not explain additional variance in ToL speed or accuracy. These results may reflect cultural differences in the familiarity and cognitive load of carrying out complex planning tasks. (shrink)