The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in main characteristics, reporting and methodological quality between prospectively registered and nonregistered systematic reviews.
PubMed ...was searched to identify systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials published in 2015 in English. After title and abstract screening, potentially relevant reviews were divided into three groups: registered non-Cochrane reviews, Cochrane reviews, and nonregistered reviews. For each group, random number tables were generated in Microsoft Excel, and the first 50 eligible studies from each group were randomly selected. Data of interest from systematic reviews were extracted. Regression analyses were conducted to explore the association between total Revised Assessment of Multiple Systematic Review (R-AMSTAR) or Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) scores and the selected characteristics of systematic reviews.
The conducting and reporting of literature search in registered reviews were superior to nonregistered reviews. Differences in 9 of the 11 R-AMSTAR items were statistically significant between registered and nonregistered reviews. The total R-AMSTAR score of registered reviews was higher than nonregistered reviews mean difference (MD) = 4.82, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.70, 5.94. Sensitivity analysis by excluding the registration-related item presented similar result (MD = 4.34, 95% CI: 3.28, 5.40). Total PRISMA scores of registered reviews were significantly higher than nonregistered reviews (all reviews: MD = 1.47, 95% CI: 0.64-2.30; non-Cochrane reviews: MD = 1.49, 95% CI: 0.56-2.42). However, the difference in the total PRISMA score was no longer statistically significant after excluding the item related to registration (item 5). Regression analyses showed similar results.
Prospective registration may at least indirectly improve the overall methodological quality of systematic reviews, although its impact on the overall reporting quality was not significant.
Abstract Objectives We conducted a systematic review using GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) system to assess the quality of evidence of Chinese meta-analyses ...(MAs). Design/Setting A systematic review of MAs listed in Chinese Biomedicine Literature Database from January 2010 to December 2012. Methods Mesh term “meta-analysis” was used to search the Chinese Biomedicine Literature Database from January 2010 to December 2012. Characteristics and main outcomes of each included MA were extracted, and the GRADE system was used to assess the quality of evidence for each outcome. A 10% random sample of Cochrane MAs between 2010 and 2012 was also assessed as control group. Results A total of 564 Chinese MAs (including 1,237 main outcomes) and 95 Cochrane MAs (including 251 main outcomes) were identified. Almost half (600, 48.5%) of the outcomes in Chinese MAs were rated as low, and the proportion of outcomes with high or moderate quality of evidence was lower in Chinese MAs than Cochrane MAs (Chinese, 406 32.8% vs. Cochrane MAs, 155 61.8%, P < 0.001). Of the outcomes in Chinese MAs, 1,012 (81.8%) were downgraded for risk of bias. Other common factors for downgrading were imprecision (448, 36.2%), publication bias (418, 33.8%), inconsistency (351, 28.4%), and indirectness (1, 0.1%). Conclusions Chinese MAs were of low quality of evidence. Risk of bias, inconsistency, and publication bias were the three most common downgrade factors in Chinese MAs. Efforts must be made to improve quality of evidence of Chinese MAs, and a call for more rigorous training of investigators in China is warranted.
Genome structural variations (SVs) have been associated with key traits in a wide range of agronomically important species; however, SV profiles of peach and their functional impacts remain largely ...unexplored.
Here, we present an integrated map of 202,273 SVs from 336 peach genomes. A substantial number of SVs have been selected during peach domestication and improvement, which together affect 2268 genes. Genome-wide association studies of 26 agronomic traits using these SVs identify a number of candidate causal variants. A 9-bp insertion in Prupe.4G186800, which encodes a NAC transcription factor, is shown to be associated with early fruit maturity, and a 487-bp deletion in the promoter of PpMYB10.1 is associated with flesh color around the stone. In addition, a 1.67 Mb inversion is highly associated with fruit shape, and a gene adjacent to the inversion breakpoint, PpOFP1, regulates flat shape formation.
The integrated peach SV map and the identified candidate genes and variants represent valuable resources for future genomic research and breeding in peach.
Abstract
The controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score and prognostic nutrition index (PNI) are immune-nutritional biomarkers that are related to clinical prognosis. Previous studies have reported ...using them to predict the prognosis of traumatic brain injury, tumours and other diseases. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the PNI and CONUT score and the one-year prognosis of patients with spinal tuberculosis (STB). In this study, the clinical characteristics of 97 patients with STB who underwent debridement and internal fixation at our institution between 2015 and 2020 were retrospectively analysed. According to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, patients were divided into two groups: a high CONUT group and a low CONUT group. Patients were also divided into a high PNI group and a low PNI group. One-year postoperative prognosis was evaluated by the clinical cure standard. Patients in the favourable group were younger and had a lower rate of pneumonia and urinary tract infection, higher PNI and lower CONUT score than those in the favourable group (P < 0.05). There was an obvious correlation between the PNI and CONUT score (r = − 0.884, P < 0.05). The areas under the curve (AUCs) of the CONUT score and PNI for predicting unfavourable prognosis were 0.888 (95% CI 0.808–0.943, P < 0.001) and 0.896 (95% CI 0.818–0.949, P < 0.001), respectively. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of the CONUT score and PNI for predicting unfavourable outcomes were 2.447 (95% CI 1.518–4.043, P < 0.001) and 0.689 (95% CI 0.563–0.843, P < 0.001), respectively. Higher CONUT scores and a lower PNI were associated with adverse outcomes in patients with spinal tuberculosis, and the CONUT score and PNI might be independent predictors of adverse outcomes of spinal tuberculosis postoperatively.
To compare the impact of the scrotal vs inguinal orchidopexy approach on the testicular function of infants with cryptorchidism, a randomized controlled trial was conducted involving boys who were ...6-12 months old at surgery and were diagnosed with clinically palpable, inguinal undescended testis. Between June 2021 and December 2021, these boys at Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital (Fuzhou, China) and Fujian Children's Hospital (Fuzhou, China) were enrolled. Block randomization with a 1:1 allocation ratio was employed. The primary outcome was testicular function assessed by testicular volume, serum testosterone, anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), and inhibin B (InhB) levels. Secondary outcomes included operative time, amount of intraoperative bleeding, and postoperative complications. Among 577 screened patients, 100 (17.3%) were considered eligible and enrolled in the study. Of the 100 children who completed the 1-year follow-up, 50 underwent scrotal orchidopexy and 50 underwent inguinal orchidopexy. The testicular volume, serum testosterone, AMH, and InhB levels in both groups increased markedly after surgery (all P < 0.05), but there were no apparent differences between groups at 6 months and 12 months after operation (all P > 0.05). No differences between the scrotal and inguinal groups were noted regarding the operative time (P = 0.987) and amount of intraoperative bleeding (P = 0.746). The overall complication rate (2.0%) of the scrotal group was slightly lower than that of the inguinal group (8.0%), although this difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Both scrotal and inguinal orchiopexy exerted protective effects on testicular function in children with cryptorchidism, with similar operative status and postoperative complications. Scrotal orchiopexy is an effective alternative to inguinal orchiopexy in children with cryptorchidism.
Chondrocyte apoptosis has also been strongly correlated with the severity of cartilage damage and matrix depletion in an osteoarthritis (OA) joint. Therefore, pharmacological inhibitors of apoptosis ...may provide a novel treatment option for patients with OA. Aucubin, a natural compound isolated from
, has been proved to possess antioxidative and anti-apoptotic properties. However, anti-osteoarthritis effect of aucubin in animal model and anti-apoptotic response of aucubin in OA chondrocytes remain unclear. This study aimed to determine whether aucubin could slow progression of OA in a mouse model and inhibit the IL-1β-induced chondrocyte apoptosis.
OA severity and articular cartilage degradation were evaluated by Safranin-O staining, Hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining, and Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) standards. Chondrocyte viability was observed by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) and live/dead cells assay; the apoptotic rate of chondrocytes was evaluated by flow cytometry (FCM) with Annexin V-FITC/PI kit. Mediators of apoptosis were tested by Western blot of Bax, caspase-3, caspase-9, and Bcl-2 expression. The intracellular levels of Reactive oxygen species (ROS) were assessed by the probe of 2,7-Dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA).
The articular cartilage in the limb with destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) exhibited early OA-like manifestations characterized by proteoglycan loss, cartilage fibrillation, and erosion, with lower OARSI score. Oral administration of aucubin remarkably attenuated the loss of proteoglycan and the articular cartilage erosion and decreased the OARSI scores underwent DMM surgery. Aucubin treatment significantly reverses IL-1β-induced cytotoxicity and attenuated the IL-1β-induced chondrocyte apoptosis. In addition, aucubin can significantly inhibit mediators of apoptosis in rat primary chondrocytes. Furthermore, aucubin remarkably attenuated the IL-1β-induced intracellular ROS production.
Our findings suggest that aucubin has a protective effect on articular cartilage and slowing progression of OA in a mouse model. This protective effect may result from inhibiting chondrocyte apoptosis and excessive ROS production.
The lack of safe and efficient hydrogen storage is a major bottleneck for large‐scale application of hydrogen energy. Reversible hydrogen storage of light‐weight metal hydrides with high theoretical ...gravimetric and volumetric hydrogen density is one ideal solution but requires extremely high operating temperature with large energy input. Herein, taking MgH2 as an example, a concept is demonstrated to achieve solar‐driven reversible hydrogen storage of metal hydrides via coupling the photothermal effect and catalytic role of Cu nanoparticles uniformly distributed on the surface of MXene nanosheets (Cu@MXene). The photothermal effect of Cu@MXene, coupled with the “heat isolator” role of MgH2 indued by its poor thermal conductivity, effectively elevates the temperature of MgH2 upon solar irradiation. The “hydrogen pump” effect of Ti and TiHx species that are in situ formed on the surface of MXene from the reduction of MgH2, on the other hand, plays a catalytic role in effectively alleviating the kinetic barrier and hence decreasing the operating temperature required for reversible hydrogen adsorption and desorption of MgH2. Based on the combination of photothermal and catalytic effect of Cu@MXene, a reversible hydrogen storage capacity of 5.9 wt% is achieved for MgH2 after 30 cycles using solar irradiation as the only energy source.
A concept is demonstrated to achieve solar‐driven reversible hydrogen storage of metal hydrides via coupling the photothermal effect and catalytic role of Cu nanoparticles uniformly distributed on the surface of MXene nanosheets. Induced by this synergistic effect, a reversible hydrogen storage capacity of 5.9 wt% is achieved for MgH2 after 30 cycles.
Guideline development should be based on the quality of evidence, balance of benefits and harms, economic evaluation and patients' views and preferences. Therefore, these factors were considered in ...the development of a new guideline for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of vancomycin.
To develop an evidence-based guideline for vancomycin TDM and to promote standardized vancomycin TDM in clinical practice in China.
We referred to the WHO Handbook for Guideline Development and used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system to rate the quality of evidence and grade the strength of recommendations, according to economic evaluation and patients' views and preferences. We used the GRADE Grid method to formulate the recommendations.
The guideline presents recommendations about who should receive vancomycin TDM, how to monitor vancomycin efficacy and renal safety, therapeutic trough concentrations, time to start initial vancomycin TDM, loading dose and how to administer and adjust the vancomycin dose.
We developed an evidence-based guideline for vancomycin TDM, which provides recommendations for clinicians and pharmacists to conduct vancomycin TDM in China.
Stone cells in fruits of pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) negatively influence fruit quality because their lignified cell walls impart a coarse and granular texture to the fruit flesh.
We generate RNA-seq data ...from the developing fruits of 206 pear cultivars with a wide range of stone cell contents and use a systems genetics approach to integrate co-expression networks and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) to characterize the regulatory mechanisms controlling lignocellulose formation in the stone cells of pear fruits. Our data with a total of 35,897 expressed genes and 974,404 SNPs support the identification of seven stone cell formation modules and the detection of 139,515 eQTLs for 3229 genes in these modules. Focusing on regulatory factors and using a co-expression network comprising 39 structural genes, we identify PbrNSC as a candidate regulator of stone cell formation. We then verify the function of PbrNSC in regulating lignocellulose formation using both pear fruit and Arabidopsis plants and further show that PbrNSC can transcriptionally activate multiple target genes involved in secondary cell wall formation.
This study generates a large resource for studying stone cell formation and provides insights into gene regulatory networks controlling the formation of stone cell and lignocellulose.
Summary
Although maturity date (MD) is an essential factor affecting fresh fruit marketing and has a pleiotropic effect on fruit taste qualities, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. In ...this study, we functionally characterized two adjacent NAM‐ATAF1/2‐CUC2 (NAC) transcription factors (TFs), PpNAC1 and PpNAC5, both of which were associated with fruit MD in peach.
PpNAC1 and PpNAC5 were found capable of activating transcription of genes associated with cell elongation, cell wall degradation and ethylene biosynthesis, suggesting their regulatory roles in fruit enlargement and ripening.
Furthermore, PpNAC1 and PpNAC5 had pleiotropic effects on fruit taste due to their ability to activate transcription of genes for sugar accumulation and organic acid degradation.
Interestingly, both PpNAC1 and PpNAC5 orthologues were found in fruit‐producing angiosperms and adjacently arranged in all 91 tested dicots but absent in fruitless gymnosperms, suggesting their important roles in fruit development. Our results provide insight into the regulatory roles of NAC TFs in MD and fruit taste.
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