A 53-Year Bibliometric and Scientometric Analysis of Research in Culinary and Medicinal Mushrooms.

The research field of culinary and medicinal mushrooms has been well developed since the first relevant publication in 1966. However, to date, there has been no bibliometric analysis published specifically for this field. This study aimed to assess the most influential publications as well as the research trends and important drivers in the field of culinary and medicinal mushrooms. Scopus was used to identify relevant publications and the 1000 most-cited publications were identified and analyzed. Bradford's law of scattering shows one-third of the papers were published in 14 core journals, with a total of 102 papers published in International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms. There is an insignificant negative correlation (Pearson's correlation coefficient, r = -0.355) between the journal impact factor and publication count. VOSviewer was used to generate a country network. China represents Asia's research center in this field, having contributed 20% of the 1000 most-cited publications. A term map was also created to visualize the co-occurrence of key terms in the domain. Different biological activities such as antioxidant and antitumor properties of mushrooms appeared to be a recurring topic in this field. Wasser (2003) showed the highest citation count (n = 1282), which is almost double the second most-cited publication (n = 611). There is a weak positive correlation (r = +0.237) between the years since publication and total citation count. In conclusion, this bibliometric study will assist researchers to comprehend the current status of the research on culinary and medicinal mushrooms, and to visualize the future impact of such an important field.

Bibliometric Studies and Worldwide Research Trends on Global Health.

Global health, conceived as a discipline, aims to train, research and respond to problems of a transboundary nature in order to improve health and health equity at the global level. The current worldwide situation is ruled by globalization, and therefore the concept of global health involves not only health-related issues but also those related to the environment and climate change. Therefore, in this Special Issue, the problems related to global health have been addressed from a bibliometric approach in four main areas: environmental issues, diseases, health, education and society.

Benchmarking biopharmaceutical process development and manufacturing cost contributions to R&D.

This study aims to benchmark and analyze the process development and manufacturing costs across the biopharmaceutical drug development cycle and their contribution to overall research and development (R&D) costs. This was achieved with a biopharmaceutical drug development lifecycle cost model that captured the costs, durations, risks and interdependencies of the clinical, process development and manufacturing activities. The budgets needed for process development and manufacturing at each phase of development to ensure a market success each year were estimated. The impact of different clinical success rate profiles on the process development and manufacturing costs at each stage was investigated, with a particular focus on monoclonal antibodies. To ensure a market success each year with an overall clinical success rate (Phase I to approval) of ~12%, the model predicted that a biopharmaceutical company needs to allocate process development and manufacturing budgets in the order of ~$60 M for pre-clinical to Phase II material preparation and ~$70 M for Phase III to regulatory review material preparation. For lower overall clinical success rates of ~4%, which are more indicative of diseases such as Alzheimer's, these values increase to ~$190 M for early-phase and ~$140 Mfor late-phase material preparation; hence, the costs increase 2.5 fold. The costs for process development and manufacturing per market success were predicted to represent 13-17% of the R&D budget from pre-clinical trials to approval. The results of this quantitative structured cost study can be used to aid decision-making during portfolio management and budget planning procedures in biopharmaceutical development.

An Overview of Oncology Researches in Iran: A Scientometric Approach (1974 - February 2019).

BACKGROUND: With the growing rate of tumors, cancer has become one of the most important health concerns in Iran. The urgency with which Iranian researchers and health professionals address this challenge leads to a load of scientific materials. METHODS: To reveal gaps in produced knowledge and suggest future research directions, applying well-validated scientometric tools, we assessed the trends of Iranian published scientific articles and citations in the field of oncology. The inclusion criteria consisted of all oncology-related articles that were data-based, and peer-reviewed; with at least an abstract published in English; and authored by at least one researcher affiliated with Iranian institutions. RESULTS: Amongst 5063525 oncology research records indexed in at least one of PubMed, Scopus, or Web of Science Core Collection (WoS) from the start to February 2019, Iranian researches accounted for about 24867 (0.49%). Published articles on all cancers by Iranian researchers had a sharp continuously ascending trend, with the same pattern for citations received. Some important topics such as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies have been missing and some such as diagnostic and pharmaceutical innovations have been less investigated. The most collaborative country was the United States, while no close collaboration was observed with China that was introduced as the most productive country in the field of oncology over the past decades. CONCLUSION: Despite the progressive trend in most oncology fields, some significant practical topics are still missing. Systematic reviews of produced theoretical innovations and translating them to functional knowledge can be of importance to fulfill the mentioned gaps.

[Management of Acute Gastroenteritis in Children: A Systematic Review of Anthroposophic Therapies].

BACKGROUND: Acute gastroenteritis in children accounts for about 10% of hospital admissions and is still one of the major causes of death worldwide. As many children are treated with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and anthroposophic medicine, respectively, especially in Europe, the aim of this review was to descriptively present published anthroposophic therapies applied for the treatment of acute gastroenteritis in childhood. METHODS: A complex search strategy recording a broad spectrum of CAM therapies was developed to identify anthroposophic therapy options for the treatment of gastroenteritis in children. The search was conducted in 4 general scientific as well as 3 CAM-specific databases. RESULTS: In total, 3,086 articles were identified and screened for anthroposophic related content. The majority of hits deal with nutritional/dietary therapies. Articles considering anthroposophic approaches constitute only 3.1% (7/227) of all CAM-related articles. Among these articles 2 observational studies, 3 experience reports and 2 reviews were identified. In the experience reports, a variety of anthroposophic remedies was recommended but mostly unsupported by scientific evidence. However, observational studies for the anthroposophic medications, Bolus alba comp. and Gentiana comp., were detected. Additionally, studies investigating the efficacy and safety of Chamomilla, Ipecacuanha, Podophyllum or Tormentilla preparations in homeopathy and phytomedicine, respectively, were presented. CONCLUSIONS: Most CAM-associated therapies for gastroenteritis in childhood comprise dietary recommendations. Studies concerning anthroposophic approaches and medications, respectively, are deficient. The results of this study underline that effort is needed to evaluate anthroposophic therapies in a clinical setting.

An Analysis of Infectious Disease Research Trends in Medical Journals From North Korea.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the current status of infectious disease research in North Korea by analyzing recent trends in medical journals from North Korea in comparison with research from South Korea. METHODS: Three medical journals (Preventive Medicine, Basic Medicine, and Chosun Medicine) were analyzed from 2012 to 2016. Articles on tuberculosis (TB), malaria, and parasitic diseases were selected and classified by their subtopics and study areas. Two medical journals published in the South Korea were selected for a comparative analysis of research trends. RESULTS: Of the 2792 articles that were reviewed, 93 were extracted from North Korea journals. TB research in North Korea was largely focused on multi-drug resistant TB and extrapulmonary TB, whereas research in South Korea more frequently investigated non-tuberculous mycobacteria. Research on parasitic diseases in North Korea was focused on protozoan and intestinal nematodes, while the corresponding South Korea research investigated various species of parasites. Additionally, the studies conducted in North Korea were more likely to investigate the application of traditional medicine to diagnosis and treatment than those conducted in South Korea. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents an analysis of research trends in preventive medicine in North Korea focusing on infectious diseases, in which clear differences were observed between South and North Korea. Trends in research topics suggest a high prevalence of certain parasitic diseases in North Korea that are no longer widespread in South Korea. The large proportion of studies examining traditional medicine implies a lack of affordable medicine in North Korea.

Cancer Center Clinic and Research Team Perceptions of Identity and Interactions.

PURPOSE: Conduct of cancer clinical trials requires coordination and cooperation among research and clinic teams. Diffusion of and confusion about responsibility may occur if team members' perceptions of roles and objectives do not align. These factors are critical to the success of cancer centers but are poorly studied. METHODS: We developed a survey adapting components of the Adapted Team Climate Inventory, Measure of Team Identification, and Measure of In-Group Bias. Surveys were administered to research and clinic staff at a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t tests, and analyses of variance. RESULTS: Responses were received from 105 staff (clinic, n = 55; research, n = 50; 61% response rate). Compared with clinic staff, research staff identified more strongly with their own group ( P < .01) but less strongly with the overall cancer center ( P = .02). Both clinic staff and research staff viewed their own group's goals as clearer than those of the other group ( P < .01) and felt that members of their groups interacted and shared information within ( P < .01) and across ( P < .01) groups more than the other group did. Research staff perceived daily outcomes as more important than did clinic staff ( P = .05), specifically research-related outcomes ( P = .07). CONCLUSION: Although there are many similarities between clinic and research teams, we also identified key differences, including perceptions of goal clarity and sharing, understanding and alignment with cancer center goals, and importance of outcomes. Future studies should examine how variation in perceptions and group dynamics between clinic and research teams may impact function and processes of cancer care.

Thematic Analysis of Persian Documents in the Field of Quran Study and Medicine in National Scientific-Research Journals from 1992 to 2013 "An Opportunity for Evidence Based Decision Making".

Several documents have investigated the area of Quran study and medicine from different points of view; the present study has been assessing all the documents about Quran study and medicine, published in Iranian scientific-research journals, to create an opportunity of revising the interventions executed in this areas and targeting the decisions in order to draw a clear and more realistic vision. In this simple review study, scientific-research and general informative websites in the period of 1992-2013 were explored by taking advantage of critical keywords such as Islamic medicine and Islamic lifestyle. After the initial retrieval, 348 articles were finally ready for the evaluation process. Chi-square test was used to assess the significance of patterns differences between years of study. Minimum and maximum numbers of articles were published in 1992 (0.28 %) and 2011 (12.35 %), respectively. The level of execution of studies by using different methods was as follows: about 3.44 % qualitative, 29.59 % cross-sectional descriptive-analytical, 30.45 % review, 1.14 % case-control, 17.52 % experimental, 3.73 % cohort methods and 12.93 % were performed by other methods. The most common subject study was "The effects of fasting and Ramadan on health" (21.83 %). The most important journals hosting this field articles were the journals of medicine and refinement (27.01 %), as well as the Quran and medicine (12.64 %), respectively. Chi-square test showed significant thematic differences during the 21 years of study. Based on the available evidences, the number of descriptive papers was yet more than the analytical, interventional and scientific-comparative articles. Also, the most studies had been reviewing the medical-Islamic documents. This reflects the need for revising the search strategies of Quran study and medicine.

[China's contribution to research and development of antiparasitic products - Inspiration from Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015].

Chinese scientist Tu You-you won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015, due to her outstanding contribution to the discovery of antimalarial drug artemisinin. The discovery of artemisinin is a great breakthrough using modern pharmaceutical technology to excavate ancient Chinese traditional medicine resources, based on government's coordination mechanisms. This article analyzes the research and development status of the current global antiparasitic products, as well as China's needs and strengths in related areas. The authors propose that China should take the advantage of government financing and research capacity to strengthen the research and development of antiparasitic products, so as to contribute more to improving global health equity.

Reducing attrition in drug development: smart loading preclinical safety assessment.

Entry into the crucial preclinical good laboratory practice (GLP) stage of toxicology testing triggers significant R&D investment yet >20% of AstraZeneca's potential new medicines have been stopped for safety reasons in this GLP phase alone. How could we avoid at least some of these costly failures? An analysis of historical toxicities that caused stopping ('stopping toxicities') showed that >50% were attributable to target organ toxicities emerging within 2 weeks of repeat dosing or to acute cardiovascular risks. By frontloading 2-week repeat-dose toxicity studies and a comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular safety, we anticipate a potential 50% reduction in attrition in the GLP phase. This will reduce animal use overall, save significant R&D costs and improve drug pipeline quality.

Multilevel modeling in psychosomatic medicine research.

The primary purpose of this study is to provide an overview of multilevel modeling for Psychosomatic Medicine readers and contributors. The article begins with a general introduction to multilevel modeling. Multilevel regression modeling at two levels is emphasized because of its prevalence in psychosomatic medicine research. Simulated data sets based on some core ideas from the Familias Unidas effectiveness study are used to illustrate key concepts including communication of model specification, parameter interpretation, sample size and power, and missing data. Input and key output files from Mplus and SAS are provided. A cluster randomized trial with repeated measures (i.e., three-level regression model) is then briefly presented with simulated data based on some core ideas from a cognitive-behavioral stress management intervention in prostate cancer.

Top-cited articles on hyperbaric oxygen therapy published from 2000 to 2010.

OBJECTIVE: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO2T) is a specialty with wide clinical applications and study fields. An evaluation of the major research direction of HBO2T studies would be helpful for researchers in this field. In this study, we identified the most frequently cited HBO2T articles to analyze the study focus of HBO2T research in the past 10 years. METHODS: "Hyperbaric oxygen" was used as the keyword to search articles in PubMed between January 2000 and November 2010. The cited times of an article were tracked in Google Scholar. The top 100 most-cited articles were identified and their publication year, author nationalities, journal, study field and style were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: In total, 2,362 HBO2T-related articles were retrieved. The number of HBO2T articles published per year has been increasing during the past 10 years. More than half of the top-cited articles (52/100) were from studies in the United States. Studies focusing on stroke (20), radiation injury (11), carbon monoxide (10), and wounds (9) accounted for 50% of the top-cited articles. CONCLUSION: HBO2T has been a field of increasing scientific publications in the past 10 years. The focus of research fields were stroke, radiation injury, carbon monoxide and wounds. The United States maintains an important influence on HBO2T studies.

Mediation analysis in psychosomatic medicine research.

This article presents an overview of statistical mediation analysis and its application to psychosomatic medicine research. The article begins with a description of the major approaches to mediation analysis and an evaluation of the strengths and limits of each. Emphasis is placed on longitudinal mediation models, and an application using latent growth modeling is presented. The article concludes with a description of recent developments in mediation analysis and suggestions for the use of mediation for future work in psychosomatic medicine research.

Bibliographic analysis of scientific research on selected topics in public health nutrition in West Africa: Review of articles published from 1998 to 2008.

Few countries in West Africa have the capacity for carrying out advanced training in nutrition and public health. To provide additional information on current regional applied nutrition research capacity and productivity, we analysed peer-reviewed articles on key public health nutrition topics that were published from 1998 to 2008. Using MEDLINE/PubMed, the following terms were searched: 'breast feeding', 'infant nutrition physiology' (comprising complementary feeding and weaning), 'protein energy malnutrition', 'nutrition and infection', 'vitamin A', 'iodine', 'zinc' and 'overweight', each linked with the term 'Western Africa'. In total, 412 unique articles (37±6 articles per year) were identified. Most research focused on infant and young child feeding practices, selected micronutrient deficiencies, and the emerging problem of overweight and obesity. The primary author of nearly half (46%) the publications was located in an institution outside of West Africa. Most articles were published in English (90%), and nearly half of all articles (41%) were cross-sectional studies. Our findings indicate that few peer-reviewed research studies are being published on key public health topics in the West African region, considering the magnitude of nutrition problems in this region. New approaches are needed to encourage and support research capacity and output in West Africa.

[Psychotherapy research in the German-speaking community--a bibliometric analysis of three journals]. / Zum Status der Psychotherapieforschung im deutschen Sprachraum--Eine bibliometrische Analyse dreier deutschsprachiger Zeitschriften.

OBJECTIVES: Psychotherapy research has often been considered a neglected topic in clinical psychology, psychosomatic medicine, and psychiatry because of its massive organizational and financial demands. However, it is unclear whether this assumption actually reflects the research activities in the field. METHODS: We conducted a bibliometric analysis of the annual volumes for 2008 and 2009 of three clinical journals published in German. All publications referring to facets of psychotherapy research were analysed. RESULTS: About 30% of the publications dealt with issues of psychotherapy research. Outcome and process studies were about equally distributed. Process research frequently focused on patient variables as outcome predictors. Outcome studies most often presented effectiveness studies with rather small sample sizes. CONCLUSION: Psychotherapy research is a well-represented and multifaceted field in the German speaking research community. However, the traditional distinction between efficacy and process research among the various schools of psychotherapy research may be hampering further developments in this branch. The government-funded research networks may turn out to be promising approaches to overcoming some of the obstacles of classic psychotherapy research.

Confirmatory factor analysis: an introduction for psychosomatic medicine researchers.

We present an introduction to the basic concepts essential to understanding confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). We initially discuss the underlying mathematical model and its graphical representation. We then show how parameters are estimated for the CFA model based on the maximum likelihood function. Finally, we discuss several ways in which model fit is evaluated as well as introduce the concept of model identification. In our presentation, we use an example to illustrate the application of CFA to psychosomatic research and touch on the more general role of structural equation modeling in psychosomatic research.