The Chinese version of the Health Professional Communication Skills Scale: Psychometric evaluation

ObjectiveThis study aims to translate the Health Professional Communication Skills Scale (HP-CSS) into Chinese and assess its psychometric properties.MethodsA total of 836 healthcare professionals were recruited. The demographic characteristics form and HP-CSS were used for data collection. The psychometric properties of HP-CSS were evaluated by examining item analysis, construct validity, known-group discriminant validity, internal consistency, and split-half reliability.ResultsIn terms of item analysis, the critical ratio (CR) of 18 items was both >3 (CR ranging from 9.937 to 28.816), and the score of each item was positively correlated with the total score (r ranging from 0.357 to 0.778, P < 0.001). The fit indices showed that the original correlated four-factor model of HP-CSS was adequate: χ2 =722.801; df = 126; χ2/df = 5.737; RMSEA = 0.075; CFI = 0.923; NNFI = 0.908; TLI = 0.906; IFI = 0.923. In terms of known-group discriminant validity, the HP-CSS total score was related to gender, occupation, work years, and communication skill training. Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.922, and the split-half reliability was 0.865 for the total scale.ConclusionThe Chinese version of the HP-CSS is a reliable and valid instrument to evaluate communication skills among healthcare professionals in China

Gum Arabic and Fe²⁺ Synergistically Improve the Heat and Acid Stability of Norbixin at pH 3.0–5.0

Thermal and acid stabilities of norbixin are challenges for its application as a food colorant. In this work, gum arabic and Fe²⁺ were studied for the possibility to improve the thermal and acid stabilities of norbixin. Norbixin was dissolved at 0.004% w/v in deionized water with and without 0.2% w/v gum arabic and/or 0.15 mM ferrous chloride, adjusted to pH 3.0–5.0, and heated at 90 or 126 °C for 30 min. Before heating, norbixin precipitated at pH 3.0–4.0, which was prevented by gum arabic. The thermal stability of norbixin was improved by the combination of gum arabic and Fe²⁺. Fluorescence analyses indicated the complex formation between norbixin and gum arabic with and without Fe²⁺. Particle size and atomic force microscopy results suggested Fe²⁺ and gum arabic synergistically prevented the aggregation of norbixin at acidic pH and during heating. It was hypothesized that the core of gum arabic–norbixin complexes was strengthened by Fe²⁺ to enable the synergy

Effect of free and bound polyphenols from Rosa roxburghii Tratt distiller's grains on moderating fecal microbiota

Rosa roxburghii Tratt distiller's grains (R. roxburghii DGs), the main by-product of wine processing, showed functional value and potential for high-value usage which benefited from their rich polyphenols. In this study, the free and bound polyphenols from R. roxburghii DGs were extracted and their potential effect on modulating fecal microbiota was investigated using in vitro fecal fermentation. The free polyphenols (26.32–26.45 mg GAE/g) showed higher antioxidant activity compared to the bound polyphenols (8.76–9.01 mg GAE/g). The free and bound polyphenols significantly improved the fecal microbiota community structure and enhanced short chain fatty acids concentrations after the stimulated colonic fermentation for 24 h. Furthermore, the effect of R. roxburghii DGs polyphenols on modulating fecal microbiota was primarily attributed to quercetin, catechin, kaempferol, cyanidin and baicalin. This research suggests that R. roxburghii DGs are a promising source of natural antioxidants and prebiotic foods

CiteSpace-Based Bibliometric Review of Pickup and Delivery Problem from 1995 to 2021

In this paper, we adopt the bibliometric analysis software CiteSpace to analyze the research status quo and evolution trend of pickup and delivery problem (PDP), an important real-world issue occurring in logistics and transportation. We obtain 819 documents with the topic of PDP that were published in the Web of Science core collection during the period 1995–2021, and acquire their basic situation of posting trend and category distribution. Next, we employ CiteSpace to draw scientific knowledge maps and perform the corresponding visualization analysis, which mainly include the following aspects: (a) collaboration analysis of author, country, and institution; (b) co-citation analysis of author, journal, and reference; (c) citation burst detection of keyword; (d) co-citation clustering analysis of reference. The results show that PDP research has gradually become interdisciplinary and highly comprehensive, and the evolution trend of hot topics also reflects that the research directions involve multiple academic disciplines and professional areas ranging from algorithm design to logistics management. The changing knowledge components reveal the fact that the development of PDP research is highly related to the diversity and uncertainty of realistic logistics industry contexts. Study in this paper provides comprehensive understandings of PDP research for scholars and logistics practitioners, inspiring its further investigation

Equilibrium Model of Discrete Dynamic Supply Chain Network with Random Demand and Advertisement Strategy

The advertisement can increase the consumers demand; therefore it is one of the most important marketing strategies in the operations management of enterprises. This paper aims to analyze the impact of advertising investment on a discrete dynamic supply chain network which consists of suppliers, manufactures, retailers, and demand markets associated at different tiers under random demand. The impact of advertising investment will last several planning periods besides the current period due to delay effect. Based on noncooperative game theory, variational inequality, and Lagrange dual theory, the optimal economic behaviors of the suppliers, the manufactures, the retailers, and the consumers in the demand markets are modeled. In turn, the supply chain network equilibrium model is proposed and computed by modified project contraction algorithm with fixed step. The effectiveness of the model is illustrated by numerical examples, and managerial insights are obtained through the analysis of advertising investment in multiple periods and advertising delay effect among different periods

Target-Oriented User Equilibrium Considering Travel Time, Late Arrival Penalty, and Travel Cost on the Stochastic Tolled Traffic Network

In this paper, we employ a target-oriented approach to analyze the multi-attribute route choice decision of travelers in the stochastic tolled traffic network, considering the influence of three attributes, which are (stochastic) travel time, (stochastic) late arrival penalty, and (deterministic) travel cost. We introduce a target-oriented multi-attribute travel utility model for this analysis, where each attribute is assigned a target by travelers, and travelers’ objective is to maximize their travel utility that is determined by the achieved targets. Moreover, the interaction between targets is interpreted as complementarity relationship between them, which can further affect their travel utility. In addition, based on this travel utility model, a target-oriented multi-attribute user equilibrium model is proposed, which is formulated as a variational inequality problem and solved with the method of successive average. Target for travel time is determined via travelers’ on-time arrival probability, while targets for late arrival penalty and travel cost are given exogenously. Lastly, we apply the proposed model on the Braess and Nguyen–Dupuis traffic networks, and conduct sensitivity analysis of the parameters, including these three targets and the target interaction between them. The study in this paper can provide a new perspective for travelers’ multi-attribute route choice decision, which can further show some implications for the policy design

α-Cyclodextrins Polyrotaxane Loading Silver Sulfadiazine

As a drug carrier, polyrotaxane (PR) has been used for targeted delivery and sustained release of drugs, whereas silver sulfadiazine (SD-Ag) is an emerging antibiotic agent. PR was synthesized by the use of α-cyclodextrin (CD) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), and a specific antibacterial material (PR-(SD-Ag)) was then prepared by loading SD-Ag onto PR with different mass ratios. The loading capacity and the encapsulation efficiency were 90% at a mass ratio of 1:1 of PR and SD-Ag. SD-Ag was released stably and slowly within 6 d in vitro, and its cumulative release reached more than 85%. The mechanism of PR loading SD-Ag might be that SD-Ag attached to the edge of α-CD through hydrogen bonding. PR-(SD-Ag) showed a higher light stability than SD-Ag and held excellent antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)