Effect of progressive muscular relaxation exercises versus transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation on tension headache: A comparative study

Tension-type headache (TTH) is most frequent among all types of headaches. According to the International Headache Classification Subcommittee of the International Headache Society (2004), TTH occurs in 30–78% of the population. Progressive muscular relaxation exercises have been shown to reduce TTH, and home-based relaxation programmes can result in significant improvement in headaches. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a method of electrical stimulation that primarily aims to provide a degree of symptomatic pain relief by exciting sensory nerves and stimulating either the pain gate mechanisms or the opioid systems. The objective of this study was to compare between the effects of progressive muscular relaxation exercises and TENS on pain intensity and stress in people with TTH. Thirty patients with TTH were allocated to either Group A or Group B. Group A practised progressive muscular relaxation exercise, whereas Group B received TENS. In the latter group, TENS electrodes were placed bilaterally either on the head at the site of pain or on the occiput. The treatment was carried out for 15 minutes a day, for 7 days. Patients were assessed for pain intensity (Visual Analogue Scale) and level of stress (Lakaev Academic Stress Response Scale) before and after the intervention period. The results showed that progressive muscular relaxation exercises were effective in reducing pain as well as stress (p < 0.001). TENS, by contrast, reduced stress significantly (p < 0.001), but not pain (p = 0.233). Between-group analysis revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in reduction of pain between the two groups (p = 0.595), but the amount of stress reduction in Group A (p = 0.002) was significantly more than that in Group B. In conclusion, progressive muscular relaxation exercises were more effective in reducing stress level than TENS in patients with TTH. The effect on pain reduction was similar between the two treatment methods.     

Policing Epistemic Deviance: Albert von Schrenck-Notzing and Albert Moll1

Shortly after the death of Albert von Schrenck-Notzing (1862–1929), the doyen of early twentieth century German para psychology, his former colleague in hypnotism and sexology Albert Moll (1862–1939) published a treatise on the psychology and pathology of parapsychologists, with Schrenck-Notzing serving as a prototype of a scientist suffering from an ‘occult complex’. Moll’s analysis concluded that parapsychologists vouching for the reality of supernormal phenomena, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, telekinesis and materialisations, suffered from a morbid will to believe, which paralysed their critical faculties and made them cover obvious mediumistic fraud. Using Moll’s treatment of Schrenck-Notzing as an historical case study of boundary disputes in science and medicine, this essay traces the career of Schrenck-Notzing as a researcher in hypnotism, sexology and parapsychology; discusses the relationship between Moll and Schrenck-Notzing; and problematises the pathologisation and defamation strategies of deviant epistemologies by authors such as Moll.     

The difficult balance between thrombosis and bleeding after transcatheter aortic valve replacement: A translational review

The difficult balance between thrombosis and bleeding after transcatheter aortic valve replacement. TAVR: transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

     

基于SF-36的学术期刊编辑生存质量初步调查及影响因素探析

【目的】 初步了解学术期刊编辑生存质量状况,并探析其可能的影响因素,为改善学术期刊编辑身心健康、促进期刊可持续发展提供参考。【方法】 基于SF-36健康调查量表,在问卷星网站创建《学术期刊编辑生存质量调查问卷》,并发送至多个期刊编辑QQ群和微信群,在线下载答卷后进行分析。【结果】 在SF-36量表的8个维度中,生理角色维度的得分最高,总体健康维度的得分最低,与常模一致;生理职能维度的得分高于常模,躯体疼痛和精神健康维度的得分低于常模。多因素分析结果表明,每周加班频次≥3次、男性、工作年限在0~<10年、无职务、未与家人同住,以及所在期刊未被《中文核心期刊要目总览(2017年版)》、中国科学引文数据库、《中国科技论文统计源期刊》中的任一种收录可能是编辑生存质量的关键影响因素。【结论】 学术期刊编辑生存质量状况总体与国内常模接近,男性、独居、编龄短、加班频次高、期刊未被任一国内核心数据库收录可能与学术期刊编辑生存质量相关。     

PubPeer有关中国学术论文的评论分析及思考

【目的】 分析PubPeer网站有关中国作者发表学术论文的评论,为探索出版后开放同行评议提供参考。【方法】 按信息分类法归类网站评论,统计并比较针对中国、美国及英国作者论文的各类评论构成及作者对评论的反应。【结果】 网站评论均主要由质疑类、通告类和感想类构成,其中质疑类评论在3个国家中均占主导。中国被质疑论文的占比为93.9%,显著高于英美(68.0%、42.5%)(P<0.05),其中被质疑存在图片问题和涉及论文工厂的论文构成比分别为69.9%、12.6%,也高于英美。我国有20.9%的作者就质疑类评论进行回复,其中64.8%认可评论质疑内容,与英美类似;我国有7.3%的回复者就质疑类和感想类评论与读者进行交流,该比例低于英美。【结论】 PubPeer网站评论分析提示,我国被质疑的论文占比高,图片及论文工厂质疑突出;针对质疑评论,超六成的回复者认可质疑内容。鉴于实施出版后监督、反馈和促进交流的需求,我国应探索出版后开放同行评议网站的实践。