Adaptation and Psychometric Evaluation of the Chinese Counseling Competencies Scale-Revised

Objectives: This study conducted a linguistic and psychometric evaluation of the Chinese Counseling Competencies Scale-Revised (CCS-R).Methods: The Chinese CCS-R was created from the original English version using a standard forward-backward translation process. The psychometric properties of the Chinese CCS-R were examined in a cohort of 208 counselors-in-training by two independent raters. Fifty-three counselors-in-training were asked to undergo another counseling performance evaluation for the test-retest. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted for the Chinese CCS-R, followed by internal consistency, test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, convergent validity, and concurrent validity.Results: The results of the CFA supported the factorial validity of the Chinese CCS-R, with adequate construct replicability. The scale had a McDonald's omega of 0.876, and intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.63 and 0.90 for test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability, respectively. Significantly positive correlations were observed between the Chinese CCS-R score and scores of performance checklist (Pearson's γ = 0.781), indicating a large convergent validity, and knowledge on drug abuse (Pearson's γ = 0.833), indicating a moderate concurrent validity.Conclusion: The results support that the Chinese CCS-R is a valid and reliable measure of the counseling competencies.Practice implication: The CCS-R provides trainers with a reliable tool to evaluate counseling students' competencies and to facilitate discussions with trainees about their areas for growth

Perceptions, behaviours and attitudes towards smoking held by the male partners of Chinese pregnant women:a qualitative study

Abstract Background Direct associations of tobacco exposure during pregnancy with pregnancy complications and adverse birth outcomes have been proven. Previous studies suggest that expecting a child provides a valuable opportunity to promote behavioural changes, such as smoking cessation, among the male partners of pregnant women. Thorough understandings of Chinese expectant fathers’ smoking behaviour during the transition to fatherhood is a prerequisite to the development of appropriate interventions to facilitate smoking cessation. This study aimed to explore the perceptions, behaviours and attitudes related to smoking among male partners of pregnant women in China. Methods A descriptive phenomenological approach was adopted. A purposive sample of expectant fathers aged 18 years or older who had a tobacco use history within the past year were recruited at obstetrics and gynaecology clinics and invited to participate in one-to-one, 20–30-min semi-structured interviews. The data analysis followed Colaizzi’s descriptive phenomenological method. Results Twenty-five expectant fathers were interviewed. Four themes were generated: 1) the benefits of smoking and respondents’ misperceptions of the impact of smoking and SHS and neglectful attitude of the impact of smoking, which were given as the major reasons for continuing to smoke; 2) factors contributing to smoking cessation, including concern for the potential health impact of continued smoking on the pregnant partner and baby, the role of being father, and the encouragement to quit from family members; and 3) perceived barriers to smoking cessation, including withdrawal symptoms or cigarette cravings, absence of smoking cessation support, and increasing stress. Conclusion This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the perception, behaviours, and attitudes related to smoking among Chinese expectant fathers. The findings of this study can guide healthcare professionals and policymakers in combining the distribution of educational information about the hazards of SHS for maternal and neonatal health with smoking cessation assistance for expectant fathers through policy initiatives and other types of incentives and programmes targeted to enhance smoking cessation among this population. Trial registration Prospectively registered at clinicaltrial.org ( NCT03401021 ) on 8 Jan 2018

PEGylated exenatide injection (PB-119) improves beta-cell function and insulin resistance in treatment-naïve type 2 diabetes mellitus patients

Objective: PB-119, a PEGylated exenatide injection, is a once-weekly glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of PB-119 on insulin resistance and beta-cell function in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) to uncover its antidiabetic characteristics.Methods: A total of 36 Chinese T2DM patients were randomized to receive 25 μg and 50 μg PB-119 once weekly and exenatide (5–10 μg injected under the skin 2 times a day adjusted by the doctor) for 12 weeks. Oral mixed meal tolerance tests were conducted before the study and on Day 79. The data were fitted to estimate beta-cell function and insulin sensitivity parameters using the SAAM II package integrating the oral minimal model (OMM), which was compared with Homeostatic Model Assessment (HOMA) analysis results.Results: Exenatide or PB-119 treatment, compared with their baseline, was associated with higher beta-cell function parameters (φb, φs and φtot), disposition index, insulin secretion rates, and a lower glucose area under the curve. High-dose PB-119 also has a higher insulin resistance parameter (SI) than the baseline, but HOMA-IR did not. For the homeostatic model assessment parameters, HOMA-IR showed no statistically significant changes within or between treatments. Only high-dose PB-119 improved HOMA-β after 12 weeks of treatment.Conclusion: After 12 weeks of treatment, PB-119 decreased glycemic levels by improving beta-cell function and insulin resistance

Using Social Networks to Analyze the Spatiotemporal Patterns of the Rolling Stock Manufacturing Industry for Countries in the Belt and Road Initiative

The new wave of modern rail transit and the proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have complicated the business patterns of the rolling stock manufacturing industry (RSMI) and the export of rolling stock products, especially in the case of countries participating in the BRI. Based on the analysis of trade patterns—which focuses on the evolution of trade links, community structures, and intraregional export competitiveness—this study aims to explore the changes in the RSMI within the BRI region from 2003 to 2017. Sequential clustering was applied to the creation of a three-phase timeline. The network models of the cumulative trade of the rolling stock products and trades of two typical categories of products were constructed in each phase for the evolution analysis. Social network analysis methods, such as the analysis of network indices and community detection, were also applied. The results show that from 2003 to 2017, the connectivity of the rolling stock trade in this region significantly increased. China was the largest exporter, with increasing trade influence and technological strength. Ukraine and Russia were less competitive and highly mutually dependent. Czechia and Austria’s competitiveness remained prominent, but compared with China they lacked expansive vitality. South Korea was also an active and competitive country with strong technological prowess. These countries accounted for the majority of the exports, and were always at the center of their own separate communities, over which they maintained a sphere of influence. The grouping of countries far from any such spheres of influence changed frequently

Paroxetine induced larva zebrafish cardiotoxicity through inflammation response

Paroxetine (PRX) is a common antidepressant drug which widely existence in natural environment. Numerous studies in the past few decades have focused on the beneficial effects of PRX on depression, however, the toxic properties and the potential mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, zebrafish embryos were exposed to 1.0, 5.0, 10 and 20 mg/L of PRX from 4 to 120-hour-post-fertilization (hpf), and it showed that PRX exposure caused adverse effects in zebrafish embryos, including decreased body length, blood flow velocity, cardiac frequency, cardiac output and increased burst activity and atria area. Meanwhile, the Tg (myl7: EGFP) and Tg (lyz: DsRed) transgenic zebrafish were used to detect the cardiotoxicity and inflammation response of PRX. Moreover, the heart development associated genes (vmhc, amhc, hand2, nkx2.5, ta, tbx6, tbx16 and tbx20) and inflammatory genes (IL-10, IL-1β, IL-8 and TNF-α) were up-regulated after PRX challenge. In addition, Aspirin was used to alleviate the PRX-induced heart development disorder. In conclusion, our study verified the PRX induced inflammatory related cardiotoxicity in larva zebrafish. Meanwhile, the current study shown the toxic effects of PRX in aquatic organism, and provide for the environmental safety of PRX

A Pareto front-based approach for constructing composite index of sustainability without weights: A comparative study of implementations

A composite index based on selected indicators is a widely used tool for guiding, monitoring, and evaluating a society’s level of sustainability. However, determining the weight of each indicator is typically a methodologically problematic and highly controversial process. This paper proposes a weightless strategy for constructing composite sustainability indices based on the mathematical optimization concept of Pareto fronts. The core idea is to model each indicator as an individual objective and explore Pareto fronts within the resulting multi-objective solution space. In practice, a total of 24 typical implementations of the strategy were realized to represent four categories with varying parameter settings, i.e., straightforward/hierarchical implementations with/without avoiding basic indicator accuracy issues. Comparative experiments demonstrated that a hierarchical approach utilizing the goodness of variance fit-based (GVF = 0.80) natural breaks to nullify accuracy problems is the most effective implementation. To demonstrate its usefulness, the strategy implemented using this approach was applied to analyze the world’s sustainability by revising the well-known sustainable society index. This study provides a novel paradigm of composite sustainability indices and represents the first assessment of world sustainability using multiple criteria (indicators) without weights