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Highlights
• Currently, China has the most publications, ahead of the USA and European countries.
• Research focuses are strictly separated into ecological and material science topics.
• Russia and Ukraine are among the frontrunners with a clear focus on materials science.
• The focus in PFAS research is shifting toward ecological issues.
• A national imbalance can be observed that leaves the low economies behind.
Abstract
The European Commission's current efforts to launch the largest proposal to restrict per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in history reflect the dire global plight of PFAS accumulation in the environment and their health impacts. While there are existing studies on PFAS research, there is a lack of comprehensive analysis that both covers the entire research period and provides deep insights into global research patterns, incentives, and barriers based on various parameters. We have been able to demonstrate the increasing interest in PFAS research, although citation numbers are declining prematurely. Policy regulations based on proving and establishing the toxicity of PFASs have stimulated research in developed countries and vice versa, with increasing emphasis on ecological aspects. China, in particular, is investing increasingly in PFAS research, but without defining or implementing regulations - with devastating effects. The separation of industrial and environmental research interests is clear, with little involvement of developing countries, even though their exposure to PFAS is devastating. It, therefore, requires increased globally networked and multidisciplinary approaches to address PFAS contamination challenges.
The question of whether nuclear energy—as a source with relatively low carbon dioxide emissions—can be classified as a sustainable energy source has come into focus in connection with climate change. There is a controversy over securing independence from fossil fuels and gas supplies from other countries through a revival of nuclear energy. On the other hand, some viewpoints are critical: the handling of nuclear waste and the still unclear risks to human health and the environment, especially in light of recent perils from Russian military attacks on Ukrainian nuclear plants. To evaluate the worldwide publications on nuclear energy under health and environmental aspects, socio-economic parameters were included to provide an informed background for all stakeholders, from scientists to decision-makers. The correlation between the number of nuclear power plants and the publication output of the countries is proven to be highly significant. Thus, the operating countries publish the most. It has been shown that the development and economic use of nuclear energy are major stimuli for scientific endeavors. Reactor accidents have also spurred research. Mathematical risk modeling has been the area with the highest citation rate to date, but environmental and health aspects have become more important, especially after major accidents. The results show the importance of economic interests in research on nuclear energy from health and environmental aspects. Against the background of transnational hazards, global research participation should be encouraged. Moreover, the international debate should not ignore the reality of threats and their possible impacts.
Cervical cancer has caused substantial morbidity and mortality for millions of women over the past decades. While enormous progress has been made in diagnosis, prevention and therapy, the disease is still fatal for many women—especially in low-income countries. Since no detailed studies are available on the worldwide research landscape, we here investigated the global scientific output related to this cancer type by an established protocol. The “New Quality and Quantity Indices in Science” platform assessed all relevant cervical cancer research published in the Web of Science since 1900. A detailed analysis was conducted including country-specific research productivity, indicators for scientific quality, and relation of research activity to socioeconomic and epidemiologic figures. Visualization of data was generated by the use of density equalizing map projections. Our approach identified 22,185 articles specifically related to cervical cancer. From a global viewpoint, the United States of America was the dominating country in absolute numbers, being followed by China and Japan. By contrast, the European countries Sweden, Austria, and Norway were positioned first when the research activity was related to the population number. When the scientific productivity was related to annual cervical cancer cases, Scandinavian countries (Finland #1, Sweden #4, Norway #5, Denmark #7), the Alpine countries Austria (#2) and Switzerland (#6), and the Netherlands (#3) were leading the field. Density equalizing mapping visualized that large parts of Africa and South America were almost invisible regarding the global participation in cervical cancer research. Our data documented that worldwide cervical cancer research activity is continuously increasing but is imbalanced from a global viewpoint. Also, the study indicated that global and public health aspects should be strengthened in cervical carcinoma research in order to empower more countries to take part in international research activities.
Background: In general, the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) in dentistry is high, and dental assistants (DA) are even more affected than dentists (D). Furthermore, differentiations between the fields of dental specialization (e.g., general dentistry, endodontology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, or orthodontics) are rare. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the ergonomic risk of the aforementioned four fields of dental specialization for D and DA on the one hand, and to compare the ergonomic risk of D and DA within each individual field of dental specialization. Methods: In total, 60 dentists (33 male/27 female) and 60 dental assistants (11 male/49 female) volunteered in this study. The sample was composed of 15 dentists and 15 dental assistants from each of the dental field, in order to represent the fields of dental specialization. In a laboratory setting, all tasks were recorded using an inertial motion capture system. The kinematic data were applied to an automated version of the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA). Results: The results revealed significantly reduced ergonomic risks in endodontology and orthodontics compared to oral and maxillofacial surgery and general dentistry in DAs, while orthodontics showed a significantly reduced ergonomic risk compared to general dentistry in Ds. Further differences between the fields of dental specialization were found in the right wrist, right lower arm, and left lower arm in DAs and in the neck, right wrist, right lower arm, and left wrist in Ds. The differences between Ds and DAs within a specialist discipline were rather small. Discussion: Independent of whether one works as a D or DA, the percentage of time spent working in higher risk scores is reduced in endodontologists, and especially in orthodontics, compared to general dentists or oral and maxillofacial surgeons. In order to counteract the development of WMSD, early intervention should be made. Consequently, ergonomic training or strength training is recommended.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate characteristics associated with ectopic pregnancy (EP) that could be utilized for predicting morbidity or mortality.
Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of pregnancy-related records from a tertiary center over a period of ten years. Data on age, gravidity, parity, EP risk, amenorrhea duration, abdominal pain presence and location, β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG) level, ultrasound findings, therapeutic intervention, exact EP implantation site and length of hospital stay (LOS) were obtained from the database. The LOS was used as a proxy for morbidity and was tested for an association with all variables. All statistical analyses were conducted with Stata® (ver. 16.1, Texas, USA).
Results: The incidence of EP in a cohort of 30,247 pregnancies over a ten-year period was 1.05%. Patients presented with lower abdominal pain in 87.9% of cases, and the likelihood of experiencing pain was tenfold higher if fluid was detectable in the pouch of Douglas. Only 5.1% of patients had a detectable embryonic heartbeat, and 18.15% had one or more risk factors for EP. While most EPs were tubal, 2% were ovarian. The LOS was 1.9 days, and laparoscopic intervention was the main management procedure. The cohort included one genetically proven dizygotic heterotopic pregnancy (incidence, 3.3 × 10− 5) that was diagnosed in the 7th gestational week. The only association found was between the β-HCG level and LOS, with a linear regression β coefficient of 0.01 and a P-value of 0.04.
Conclusion: EP is a relatively common condition affecting approximately 1% of all pregnancies. β-HCG correlates with EP-related morbidity, but the overall morbidity rate of EP is low regardless of the implantation site. Laparoscopic surgery is an effective therapeutic procedure that is safe for managing EP, even in cases of heterotopic pregnancy.
Radon ist ein ubiquitär im Erdmantel sowie in der Luft und im Wasser vorkommendes radioaktives Edelgas. Obwohl die mit der Exposition assoziierten Erkrankungen seit dem Mittelalter bekannt waren, ist eine kausale Zuordnung von Agens und Krankheit erst in der Mitte des letzten Jahrhunderts gelungen. Durch die physikalischen Eigenschaften des Gases ist die Prävention darauf ausgerichtet, die Exposition zu minimieren. Eine koordinierte Bemühung der EU, durch einheitliche Regeln die Bevölkerung zu schützen, stellt die Richtlinie 2013/59/EURATOM vom 5. Dezember 2013 dar. Umgesetzt in nationales Recht, sah die deutsche Strahlenschutzgesetzgebung vor, dass am 01.01.2021 die verantwortlichen Bundesländer basierend auf einer Expositionskarte die Gebiete festlegen, in denen der Grenzwert der Aktivitätskonzentration von Radon in der Luft im Jahresmittel 300 Bq/m3 überschreitet. In dieser Arbeit sollen die Fortschritte auf dem Weg zu einem umfassenderen Schutz vor den Gefahren durch Radon für die Bevölkerung in Deutschland dargestellt werden.
Background: From a global viewpoint, endometrial cancer belongs to the most common female cancers. Despite the heavy burden of diseases and numerous unanswered questions, no detailed pictures of the global structure of endometrial cancer research are available so far. Therefore, this malignancy was reviewed using the New Quality and Quantity Indices in Science (NewQIS) protocol.
Methods: Using NewQIS, we identified endometrial carcinoma related research published in the Web of Science from 1900–2015 (P1) and from 2016–2020 (P2). Item analysis was performed with regard to research activity. Also, semi-qualitative aspects and socio-economic benchmarks were visualized using density equalizing mapping.
Results: In total, 9,141 from 1900–2015 and 4,593 from 2016–2020 endometrial cancer related studies were identified with the USA having the largest numbers of publications, citations, institutions, as well as the highest country-specific h-Index concerning endometrial cancer research in both periods. In contrast to other fields of cancer research, the two East Asian countries Japan and China followed concerning total research activities until 2015. From 2016 until 2020, China was found in short distance to the USA and was ranked second. In the socio-economic analysis, European countries were in prominent positions. Greece published 579.83 endometrial carcinoma-related articles per billion US-$ GDP, Finland (527.29), Sweden (494.65), Israel (493.75), and Norway (367.85) followed in the ranking. Density equalizing mapping visualized that large parts of Africa, Asia and South America with a high burden of disease played almost no visible role in the endometrial cancer research activities.
Conclusions: Endometrial cancer research activity is continuously increasing from a global viewpoint. However, the majority of original articles is published by authors based in high-income countries. Together with the finding that the research field of public health does only play a minimal role, our study points to the necessity that global health aspects should be introduced to endometrial cancer research.
Background: Climate change is safe to be one of the biggest challenges of mankind. Human activities, especially the combustion of fossil fuels, contribute to the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and thus to the pace of climate change. The effects of climate change are already being felt, and the resulting damage will most likely be enormous worldwide. Because global impacts vary widely and will lead to very different national vulnerability to climate impacts, each country, depending on its economic background, has different options to ward off negative impacts. Decisions have to be made to mitigate climate consequences according to the preparedness and the vulnerability of countries against the presumed impacts. This requires a profound scientific basis. To provide sound background information, a bibliometric study was conducted to present global research on climate change using established and specific parameters. Bibliometric standard parameters, established socioeconomic values, and climate change specific indices were used for the analyses. This allowed us to provide an overall picture of the global research pattern not only in terms of general aspects, but also in terms of climate change impacts, its effects and regional differences. For this purpose, we choose representative indices, such as the CO2 emissions for the responsibility of countries, the global climate risk index as a combination value for the different types of damage that countries can expect, the increase in sea level as a specific parameter as a measure of the huge global environmental impacts, and the readiness and vulnerability index for the different circumstances of individual countries under which climate change will take place. We hope to have thus made a comprehensive and representative selection of specific parameters that is sufficient to map the global research landscape. We have supplemented the methodology accordingly.
Results: In terms of absolute publication numbers, the USA was the leading country, followed by the UK, and China in 3rd place. The steep rise in Chinese publication numbers over time came into view, while their citation numbers are relatively low. Scandinavian countries were leading regarding their publication numbers related to CO2 emission and socioeconomic indices. Only three developing countries stand out in all analyses: Costa Rica, the Fiji Atoll, and Zimbabwe, although it is here that the climate impact will be greatest. A positive correlation between countries’ preparedness for the impacts of climate change and their publication numbers could be shown, while the correlation between countries’ vulnerability and their publication numbers was negative.
Conclusions: We could show that there exists an inequity between national research efforts according to the publication output and the demands and necessities of countries related to their socioeconomic status. This inequity calls for a rethink, a different approach, and a different policy to improve countries' preparedness and mitigation capacity, which requires the inclusion of the most affected regions of the world in a strengthened international cooperation network.
Needlestick injuries: a density-equalizing mapping and socioeconomic analysis of the global research
(2020)
Background: Needlestick injuries have caused a deleterious effect on the physical and mental health of millions of health-care workers over the past decades, being responsible for occupational infections with viruses such as HIV or hepatis C. Despite this heavy burden of disease, no concise studies have been published on the global research landscape so far.
Methods: We used the New Quality and Quantity Indices in Science platform to analyze global NSI research (n = 2987 articles) over the past 115 years using the Web of Science and parameters such as global versus country-specific research activities, semi-qualitative issues, and socioeconomic figures.
Results: Density-equalizing mapping showed that although a total of n = 106 countries participated in NSI research, large parts of Africa and South America were almost invisible regarding global participation in NSI research. Average citation rate (cr) analysis indicated a high rate for Switzerland (cr = 25.1), Italy (cr = 23.5), and Japan (cr = 19.2). Socioeconomic analysis revealed that the UK had the highest quotient QGDP of 0.13 NSI-specific publications per bill. US-$ gross domestic product (GDP), followed by South Africa (QGDP = 0.12). Temporal analysis of HIV versus hepatitis research indicated that NSI-HIV research culminated in the early 1990s, whereas NSI-hepatitis research increased over the observed period from the 1980s until the last decade.
Conclusion: Albeit NSI research activity is generally increasing, the growth is asymmetrical from a global viewpoint. International strategies should be followed that put a focus on NSI in non-industrialized areas of the world.
Background: After nearly a quarter-century of declining poverty, the numbers are rising again significantly. This is due not only to effects of climate change but also to the COVID-19 pandemics and armed conflict. Combined with the enormous health impacts, that will cause misery and health care costs worldwide. Therefore, this study provides background information on the global research landscape on poverty and health to help researchers, stakeholders, and policymakers determine the best way to address this threat.
Results: The USA is the key player, dealing mainly with domestic issues. European countries are also involved but tend to be more internationally oriented. Developing countries are underrepresented, with Nigeria standing out. A positive correlation was found between publication numbers and economic strength, while the relationship between article numbers and multidimensional poverty was negatively correlated.
Conclusions: These findings highlight the need for advanced networking and the benefits of cross-disciplinary research to mitigate the coming impacts.