Studies of Novel Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Global Analysis of Literature

An exponential growth of literature about novel coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has been observed in the last few months. This textual analysis of 5,780 publications extracted from the Web of Science, Medline, and Scopus databases was performed to explore the current research focuses and propose further research agenda. The Latent Dirichlet allocation was used for topic modeling. Regression analysis was conducted to examine country variations in the research focuses. Results indicated that publications were mainly contributed by the United States, China, and European countries. Guidelines for emergency care and surgical, viral pathogenesis, and global responses in the COVID-19 pandemic were the most common topics. There was variation in the research approaches to mitigate COVID-19 problems in countries with different income and transmission levels. Findings highlighted the need for global research collaboration among high- and low/middle-income countries in the different stages of prevention and control the pandemic.

Attitudes about and practices for skin cancer prevention among patients with dermatological issues in Hanoi, Vietnam: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND@#Raising awareness and educating people regarding practices for skin cancer or melanoma prevention are critical in the context of the adversely increasing effects of global climate change. This study aimed to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding skin cancer prevention and to determine the associated factors to knowledge, attitudes, and practices among dermatological patients in Vietnam.@*METHODS@#This cross-sectional study included 590 dermatological patients between 18 and 82 years of age, who received an examination or treatment from the National Hospital of Dermatology in Hanoi, Vietnam, from September to December 2018. The respondents' attitudes on skin cancer and cancer prevention were assessed via face-to-face interviews with a structured questionnaire conducted by trained interviewers.@*RESULTS@#Of the 590 respondents, the majority of people had correct responses to the question regarding skin cancer knowledge. Among the total participants, 39.8% thought that they were at risk of skin cancer, and 13.8% believed their occupation increased their skin cancer risk. The majority of respondents used hats (94.9%) and sunscreen skin coats (89.5%) and went into the shade (86.3%) when exposed to the sun. Women were less likely to be aware of their skin cancer risk but were more likely to practice prevention behaviors.@*CONCLUSION@#Our results show that dermatological patients have acceptable knowledge towards skin cancer prevention, but still need to change their behavior to prevent the risk of skin cancer. This study highlights the importance of education to raise awareness regarding skin cancer in order to promote practice prevention strategies for skin cancer in Vietnam.

Research on psychoneuroimmunology: does stress influence immunity and cause coronary artery disease?

This review addresses the importance of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) studies in understanding the role of acute and chronic psychological stressors on the immune system and development of coronary artery disease (CAD). Firstly, it illustrates how psychological stressors change endothelial function and lead to chemotaxis. Secondly, acute psychological stressors lead to leukocytosis, increased natural killer cell cytotoxicity and reduced proliferative response to mitogens while chronic psychological stressors may lead to adverse health effects. This will result in changes in cardiovascular function and development of CAD. Thirdly, acute and chronic psychological stressors will increase haemostatic factors and acute phase proteins, possibly leading to thrombus formation and myocardial infarction. The evidence for the effects of acute and chronic psychological stress on the onset and progression of CAD is consistent and convincing. This paper also highlights potential research areas and implications of early detection of immunological changes and cardiovascular risk in people under high psychological stress.