scholarly journals A multilevel meta-analysis on the causal effect of ANS training on symbolic math performance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kailun Qiu ◽  
Edward Chen ◽  
Sirui Wan ◽  
Drew H Bailey

The Approximate Number System (ANS) is hypothesized to play a foundational role in humans’ development of symbolic numerical representations and even the symbolic mathematical ability. However, studies attempting to investigate the causal relation between ANS and symbolic mathematical performance by training the latter and measuring the former have produced mixed findings. We systematically review the ANS training literature to investigate the strength of the effects of practicing ANS related tasks on symbolic math performance. Across 31 effect sizes from 9 studies involving 595 participants, for which neither the treatment nor control group received symbolic training, we found a small non-significant effect of ANS training on symbolic math task performance (g = .10, CI[-0.03, 0.22]). Some heterogeneity was accounted for by participant age, with larger estimates for adults than for children. Estimates did not vary significantly by ANS training type, training duration, and control group type. An exploratory analysis on the transfer effects of ANS training on untrained non-symbolic tasks suggests weak support for the key auxiliary assumption that ANS training has substantial effects on a general ANS, indicating that the training literature may not adequately represent theories on how ANS influences symbolic number performance.

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 107327482199743
Author(s):  
Ke Chen ◽  
Xiao Wang ◽  
Liu Yang ◽  
Zheling Chen

Background: Treatment options for advanced gastric esophageal cancer are quite limited. Chemotherapy is unavoidable at certain stages, and research on targeted therapies has mostly failed. The advent of immunotherapy has brought hope for the treatment of advanced gastric esophageal cancer. The aim of the study was to analyze the safety of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy and the long-term survival of patients who were diagnosed as gastric esophageal cancer and received anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy. Method: Studies on anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy of advanced gastric esophageal cancer published before February 1, 2020 were searched online. The survival (e.g. 6-month overall survival, 12-month overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rates (ORR)) and adverse effects of immunotherapy were compared to that of control therapy (physician’s choice of therapy). Results: After screening 185 studies, 4 comparative cohort studies which reported the long-term survival of patients receiving immunotherapy were included. Compared to control group, the 12-month survival (OR = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.31 to 2.12, P < 0.0001) and 18-month survival (OR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.39 to 2.81, P = 0.0001) were significantly longer in immunotherapy group. The 3-month survival rate (OR = 1.05, 95% CI: 0.36 to 3.06, P = 0.92) and 18-month survival rate (OR = 1.44, 95% CI: 0.98 to 2.12, P = 0.07) were not significantly different between immunotherapy group and control group. The ORR were not significantly different between immunotherapy group and control group (OR = 1.54, 95% CI: 0.65 to 3.66, P = 0.01). Meta-analysis pointed out that in the PD-L1 CPS ≥10 sub group population, the immunotherapy could obviously benefit the patients in tumor response rates (OR = 3.80, 95% CI: 1.89 to 7.61, P = 0.0002). Conclusion: For the treatment of advanced gastric esophageal cancer, the therapeutic efficacy of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy was superior to that of chemotherapy or palliative care.


2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradyumna Agasthi ◽  
Sivakanth Aloor ◽  
Avantika Chenna ◽  
Anekwe Onwuanyi

Background: Ghrelin (GH) is a gastrointestinal endocrine peptide regulating multiple biological processes including adipogenesis, glucose metabolism, cell differentiation and proliferation. Recent studies demonstrated that GH inhibits pro-atherogenic changes in vessel wall via inhibition of nuclear factor - B activity, a transcriptional factor mediating production pro-inflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecule expression in the endothelium. The aim of the current study is to conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between serum GH levels and coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: We searched MEDLINE, CINHAL and COCHRANE databases for studies reporting serum GH levels in the CAD and non CAD study population. We included case controls, cohort and cross-sectional studies. We calculated the weighted standardized mean difference (SMD) in serum GH levels between the CAD and control groups. Results: Our search strategy yielded 285 articles and we included 10 studies enrolling 1855 participants. The median age of the CAD group was 62 yrs. (IQR 60 - 63) compared to 61 yrs. (IQR 58 - 65) in the control group. The median body mass index in the CAD group was 28 kg/m2 (IQR 27.9 - 28) compared to 27 kg/m2 (IQR 26 - 27) in the control group. The unweighted median serum GH levels in the CAD group were 0.66 ng/ml (IQR 0.3 - 1.6) compared to 0.76 ng/ml (IQR 0.38 - 4.9) in the control group. The SMD of GH level was -0.44 (95% CI -0.56,-0.31) p<0.001 comparing those in the CAD group and control group. Conclusion: Serum GH levels are significantly and inversely associated with CAD. Current findings warrant the need to further investigate the role of GH in the pathogenesis of CAD.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Zhao ◽  
Bin Xu ◽  
Xi Huang ◽  
Yi Yan ◽  
Yanping Li

Abstract Background Letrozole can significantly decrease the estrogen level, and has been administrated to prevent the incidence of early ovary hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). However, the effect of Letrozole on prevention of OHSS reached to controversial conclusions. The present meta-analysis aim to examine whether Letrozole could reduce the incidence of early OHSS after assisted reproductive technology (ART). Methods An exhaustive electronic literature search was conducted on MEDLINE, Google Scholar, CNKI and WANFANG MED ONLINE, from inception until May 2018. We include clinical trials that examined the effect of Letrozole on the prevention of early OHSS. The main outcome measures were the incidence of total early OHSS, mild early OHSS, moderate early OHSS, and severe early OHSS. Results Eight studies included in the review. Of these, five publications evaluated the effect of Letrozolel on the prevention of total, mild, moderate, and severe OHSS, respectively. The results indicated that there was a significantly decreased incidence of total OHSS with Letrozole compared with control group, and there were no significantly differences in the incidence of mild, moderate, and severe OHSS between study group with Letrozole and control group. Eight studies reported the incidence of moderate + severe OHSS. We found a significant decrease in incidence of moderate + severe OHSS in high-risk women with Letrozole. Conclusions Letrozole has no beneficial effect on the prevention of mild, moderate, and severe OHSS, individually; Letrozole should not be considered as the first-line treatment for prevention of OHSS. Further cohort studies are required to explore the effect of Letrozole on the prevention of OHSS. Plain English Summary This study aimed to examine whether Letrozole could reduce the incidence of early OHSS after assisted reproductive technology (ART). A meta-analysis including 8 studies was conducted. There were no significantly differences in the incidence of mild, moderate, and severe OHSS between study group with Letrozole and control group. Letrozole has no beneficial effect on the prevention of mild, moderate, and severe OHSS, individually.


2016 ◽  
Vol 241 (13) ◽  
pp. 1416-1428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing-Dong Xue ◽  
Jing Gao ◽  
Qiang Fu ◽  
Chao Feng ◽  
Hong Xie

We systematically reviewed published preclinical studies to evaluate the effectiveness of cell-seeded tissue engineering approach for urethral reconstruction in an animal model. The outcomes were summarized by success factors in the animal experiments, which evaluate the possibility and feasibility of a clinical application in the future. Preclinical studies of tissue engineering approaches for urethral reconstruction were identified through a systematic search in PubMed, Embase, and Biosis Previews (web of science SP) databases for studies published from 1 January 1980 to 23 November 2014. Primary studies were included if urethral reconstruction was performed using a tissue-engineered biomaterial in any animal species (with the experiment group being a cell-seeded scaffold and the control group being a cell-free scaffold) with histology and urethrography as the outcome measure. A total of 15 preclinical studies were included in our meta-analysis. The histology and urethrography outcome between the experimental and control groups were considered to be the most clinically relevant. Through this systematic approach, our outcomes suggested that applying the cell-seeded biomaterial in creating a neo-urethra was stable and effective. And multi-type cells including epithelial cells as well as smooth muscle cells or fibroblasts seemed to be a better strategy. Stem cells, especially after epithelial differentiation, could be a promising choice for future researches.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 4417
Author(s):  
E. Z. Golukhova ◽  
I. V. Slivneva ◽  
M. L. Mamalyga ◽  
D. I. Marapov ◽  
M. N. Alekhin ◽  
...  

The absence of consensus regarding the reference values of right ventricular free wall longitudinal strain (RVFWLS) and its predictive value prompted us to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of publications on the predictive role of this parameter in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH).Aim. To study the independent predictive value of RVFWLS in PH patients using 2D/3D speckle tracking echocardiography.Material and methods. Firstly, 317 publications (PubMed) and 857 Google Scholar results were selected. Of the initially identified search results, 12 articles were analyzed. The papers were cohort designed.Results. The total number of patients with PH was 1281. The mean age of patients was 54,7±6,8 years. Four studies compared the RVFWLS with a control group (n=251). The mean RVFWLS were -17,0±2,4% and -24,7±2,2% in the experimental and control groups, respectively. A meta-analysis of the difference between the mean RVFWLS values in experimental and control group patients showed its total increase in PH subjects of 8,06% (95% CI: 5,18-10,94%; p<0,00001).The total number of deaths was 268 (all-cause — 180, composite endpoint — 88). According to the meta-analysis, with an increase of 1% in RVFWLS, there is an increase in mean all-cause mortality risk by 14% (p<0,00001), as well as mean risk of adverse outcomes or PH-related events (composite endpoint) by 14% (p<0,0001).Conclusion. These results highlight the high independent predictive value of RVFWLS as a predictor of adverse outcomes or events associated with a right ventricular dysfunction progression in PH patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Razie Kamali Dolatabadi ◽  
Awat Feizi ◽  
Mehrdad Halaji ◽  
Hossein Fazeli ◽  
Peyman Adibi

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), are known as chronic gastrointestinal inflammatory disorders. The present systematic review and meta analysis was conducted to estimate the prevalence of adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) isolates and their phylogenetic grouping among IBD patients compared with the controls. A systematic literature search was conducted among published papers by international authors until April 30, 2020 in Web of Science, Scopus, EMBASE, and PubMed databases. The pooled prevalence of AIEC isolates and their phylogenetic grouping among IBD patients as well as in controls was estimated using fixed or random effects models. Furthermore, for estimating the association of colonization by AIEC with IBD, odds ratio along with 95% confidence interval was reported. A total of 205 articles retrieved by the initial search of databases, 13 case–control studies met the eligibility criteria for inclusion in the meta analysis. There were 465 IBD cases (348 CD and 117 UC) and 307 controls. The pooled prevalence of AIEC isolates were 28% (95% CI: 18–39%), 29% (95% CI: 20–40%), 13% (95% CI: 1–30%), and 9% (95% CI: 3–19%), respectively among IBD, CD, UC, and control group, respectively. Our results revealed that the most frequent AIEC phylogroup in the IBD, CD, and control groups was B2. Fixed-effects meta analysis showed that colonization of AIEC is significantly associated with IBD (OR: 2.93; 95% CI: 1.90–4.52; P &lt; 0.001) and CD (OR: 3.07; 95% CI: 1.99–4.74; P &lt; 0.001), but not with UC (OR: 2.29; 95% CI: 0.81–6.51; P = 0.11). In summary, this meta analysis revealed that colonization by AIEC is more frequent in IBD and is associated with IBD (CD and UC). Our results suggested that the affects of IBD in patients colonized with the AIEC pathovar is not random, it is in fact a specific disease-related pathovar.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Wu ◽  
Ningning Yang ◽  
Yueli Wang ◽  
Mingguo Xu ◽  
Yunfeng Zhang ◽  
...  

AbstractFoot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a pathological disease caused by the foot- and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), which mainly affects cloven-hoofed animals. This study was conducted to a meta-analysis and experiment on the effect of bacteriophages used in the development of FMDV vaccines. A systematic search was conducted for the collection of the protection effect for the phage-based FMDV vaccine using sensitive search strategies. The extracted data were analyzed using Rev-Man 5.4 software. This experiment used the T7 phage to express the capsid protein VP1 of the OHM-02 strain, and the recombinant VP1 phage was termed OHM-T7. Antibodies and cytokines levels were assessed after immunizing BALB/C mice with OHM-T7. The results showed that a total of 115 articles were retrieved, and 4 of them met the inclusion criteria. There was no heterogeneity with I2 = 0%, 20% or 43%. We used a fixed-effect model for meta-analysis, and the results showed a protective effect on FMDV between the phage group and control group (P<0.01) and between FMDV group and control group (P<0.01). Furthermore, when the phage group was compared to the FMDV group, there was also no significant difference (P>0.05). After successfully obtained the ohm-t7 strain and immunized the mice, it could induce high levels of IFN-γ levels in mice with little effect on IL-4 levels. OHM-T7 could be used to detect antibodies produced by mice immunized with different FMDV antigens and produce high levels of anti-FMD antibodies. In summary, these results showed the potential of phage-based FMDV vaccines in FMDV prevention.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Jialing Zhang ◽  
Xiangxue Lu ◽  
Jianan Feng ◽  
Han Li ◽  
Shixiang Wang

Introduction. The present meta-analysis was to explore the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in IgA nephropathy patients in terms of proteinuria. Method. We systematically searched PubMed and Embase for studies that compared HCQ and other treatments to reduce proteinuria in patients with IgA nephropathy up to June 2021. Mean ± SD of percentage change and level of proteinuria was calculated. Results. A total of 5 studies with 587 participants were included. IgA nephropathy patients who received HCQ were at a lower level of mean proteinuria at 6 months. However, there was no statistical difference between HCQ and control group considering percentage reduction in proteinuria. The long-term therapeutic effect of HCQ might be inferior to HCQ and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibition. Conclusion. HCQ might play a role in the reduction of proteinuria in IgA nephropathy patients. The addition of HCQ to other immunosuppressive agents should be clarified further.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shujun Lin ◽  
Wenshan Lin ◽  
Chunling Liao ◽  
Tianbiao Zhou

Abstract Background: Renal damage caused by drug toxicity is becoming more and more common in clinic. How to avoid and treat kidney damage caused by drug toxicity is essential to maintain patient health and reduce social economic burden. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis to assess the nephroprotective effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in therapy of kidney disease induced by toxicant. Methods: Cochrane Library, Embase, ISI Web of Science and PubMed databases were searched up to Dec 31, 2019 to identify the studies and extract the data to assess the efficacy of MSCs for kidney disease induced by toxicant using Cochrane Review Manager Version 5.3. 27 studies were eligible and recruited for this meta-analysis. Results: The results showed that the difference of Scr between MSCs treatment group and control group was notable for 2 days, 4 days, 5 days, 6-8 days, 10-15 days, ≥42 days (2 days: WMD =-0.88, 95%CI: -1.34, -0.42, P=0.0002; 4 days: WMD=-0.69, 95%CI: -0.99, -0.39, P<0.00001; 5 days: WMD=-0.46, 95%CI: -0.67, -0.25, P<0.0001; 6-8 days: WMD=-0.51, 95%CI: -0.79, -0.22, P=0.0005; 10-15 days: WMD =-0.38, 95%CI: -0.56, -0.20, P<0.0001; ≥42 days: WMD =-0.22, 95%CI: -0.39, -0.06, P=0.007). Furthermore, the difference of BUN between MSCs treatment group and control group was notable for 2-3 days, 4-5 days, 6-8 days, ≥28 days. The results also indicated that MSCs treatment can alleviate the inflammatory cells, necrotic tubule, regenerative tubules, renal interstitial fibrosis in kidney disease induced by toxicant. Conclusion: MSCs might be a promising therapeutic agent for kidney disease induced by toxicant.


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