A Perspective of International Collaboration Through Web-Based Telecommunication-Inspired by COVID-19 Crisis

Evolution of global scientific collaboration in mRNA vaccine research: Insights from bibliometric and social network analysis (2010~2023)

The field of mRNA vaccines has witnessed rapid development in recent years, leading to significant changes in global scientific collaboration. In this study, a bibliometric and social network analysis was conducted to reveal the evolution of global scientific collaboration in mRNA vaccine research. Altogether 6974 articles published since 2010 were retrieved and categorized into Period 1 (2010-2019), Period 2 (2020-2021) and Period 3 (2022-2023). During Period 2 and 3, there was a significant rise in the proportion of publications involving domestic inter-institutional cooperation (42.0%, 54.0% and 59.1%, respectively in Period 1, 2, and 3), while a significant decrease in international cooperation (32.1%, 23.7% and 21.0%). More countries participated in international collaboration during Period 2 and 3, with the US, the UK and Germany remaining top three throughout all periods, while some other countries like Italy, Japan, and China experiencing significant shifts. Significant correlations between collaboration type and publication impact and between geographical distance and collaborative publication counts were detected. Furthermore, significant changes in research focuses and institutions that are major contributors in the mRNA vaccine development have been observed. In conclusion, the mRNA vaccine field has experienced rapid development over the past decade, with significant evolutions of global scientific collaboration detected in our study.

Managing North-South Research Collaboration Projects During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Researchers from the Global North and South have collaborated for decades to conduct cutting-edge interdisciplinary research. The tools they used to manage their research projects remained virtually unchanged until the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak early in 2020. Since then, a lot has changed, including the nature and dynamics of research collaboration. How are researchers and project managers adapting to this change? Survey data, semi-structured interviews, and personal accounts from 102 respondents from 33 countries are used in this empirical study to investigate the impact of the pandemic on research collaboration projects. An independent non-parametric t-test revealed a significant difference in the research collaboration infrastructure and home environment between Global North and global South collaborators. The findings have practical implications for people involved in collaborative research projects, funding agencies, project management professionals, and universities interested in pursuing or sustaining North-South research collaboration during the pandemic.

An Augmented Reality Device for Remote Supervision of Ultrasound Examinations in International Exercise Science Projects: Usability Study

Background

Support for long-distance research and clinical collaborations is in high demand and has increased owing to COVID-19–related restrictions on travel and social contact. New digital approaches are required for remote scientific exchange.

Objective

This study aims to analyze the options of using an augmented reality device for remote supervision of exercise science examinations.

Methods

A mobile ultrasound examination of the diameter and intima-media thickness of the femoral and carotid arteries was remotely supervised using a head-mounted augmented reality device. All participants were provided with a link to a YouTube video of the technique in advance. In part 1, 8 international experts from the fields of engineering and sports science were remotely connected to the study setting. Internet connection speed was noted, and a structured interview was conducted. In part 2, 2 remote supervisors evaluated 8 physicians performing an examination on a healthy human subject. The results were recorded, and an evaluation was conducted using a 25-item questionnaire.

Results

In part 1, the remote experts were connected over a mean distance of 1587 km to the examination site. Overall transmission quality was good (mean upload speed: 28.7 Mbps, mean download speed: 97.3 Mbps, mean ping: 21.6 milliseconds). In the interview, participants indicated that the main potential benefits would be to the fields of education, movement analysis, and supervision. Challenges regarding internet connection stability and previous training with the devices used were reported. In part 2, physicians’ examinations showed good interrater correlation (interclass correlation coefficient: 0.84). Participants valued the experienced setting as highly positive.

Conclusions

The study showed the good feasibility of the chosen design and a highly positive attitude of all participants toward this digital approach. Head-mounted augmented reality devices are generally recommended for collaborative research projects with physical examination–based research questions.

An Intracortical Implantable Brain-Computer Interface for Telemetric Real-Time Recording and Manipulation of Neuronal Circuits for Closed-Loop Intervention

Recording and manipulating neuronal ensemble activity is a key requirement in advanced neuromodulatory and behavior studies. Devices capable of both recording and manipulating neuronal activity brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) should ideally operate un-tethered and allow chronic longitudinal manipulations in the freely moving animal. In this study, we designed a new intracortical BCI feasible of telemetric recording and stimulating local gray and white matter of visual neural circuit after irradiation exposure. To increase the translational reliance, we put forward a Göttingen minipig model. The animal was stereotactically irradiated at the level of the visual cortex upon defining the target by a fused cerebral MRI and CT scan. A fully implantable neural telemetry system consisting of a 64 channel intracortical multielectrode array, a telemetry capsule, and an inductive rechargeable battery was then implanted into the visual cortex to record and manipulate local field potentials, and multi-unit activity. We achieved a 3-month stability of the functionality of the un-tethered BCI in terms of telemetric radio-communication, inductive battery charging, and device biocompatibility for 3 months. Finally, we could reliably record the local signature of sub- and suprathreshold neuronal activity in the visual cortex with high bandwidth without complications. The ability to wireless induction charging combined with the entirely implantable design, the rather high recording bandwidth, and the ability to record and stimulate simultaneously put forward a wireless BCI capable of long-term un-tethered real-time communication for causal preclinical circuit-based closed-loop interventions.