scholarly journals A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Buyang Huanwu Decoction in Animal Model of Focal Cerebral Ischemia

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui-li Wei ◽  
Hai-juan Teng ◽  
Bo Yin ◽  
Yang Xu ◽  
Yue Du ◽  
...  

Buyang Huanwu Decoction (BHD) is a well-known Chinese herbal prescription for ischemic stroke. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to provide the current evidence for neuroprotective effects of BHD and its possible mechanisms in animal models of focal ischemia. A systematic literature search, through October 2012, was performed using six databases. The outcome measures assessed were infarct size and/or neurological score. Fifty-six studies with 1270 animals that met the inclusion criteria were identified. The median score for methodological quality was 3 with a range of 2 to 6. Compared with vehicle or no treatment controls, BHD gave a 37% improvement in outcome for all doses ranging from 1.0 g/kg to 60 g/kg at each time point that BHD was administered (P<0.01). Efficacy was higher in mouse models that utilized suture occlusion and temporary ischemia. The neuroprotective effects of BHD are involved in multiple mechanisms and act upon multiple cell types. In conclusion, BHD possesses substantial neuroprotective effects in experimental stroke probably as a result of the multitarget therapy strategy typically utilized in traditional Chinese medicine. Future research should examine the presence of possible experimental bias and an in-depth study of herbal compound preparations.

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Biljana V. Coutinho ◽  
Anita L. Hansen ◽  
Leif Waage ◽  
Thomas K. Hillecke ◽  
Julian Koenig

The purpose of this systematic review of international research is to summarize the available literature on active music making interventions with adult offenders in forensic settings (i.e. forensic psychiatry or correctional facilities at different security levels). A systematic search of 13 electronic databases according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analysis (PRISMA) statement was employed. 28 articles fitting the inclusion criteria were included in the review. The search revealed mainly qualitative and narrative reports including articles on group music therapy, educational music making, choir interventions, individual music therapy sessions and musical projects. The musical interventions are described in detail to provide therapists with ideas on how to set up session with clients who may be in this particular situation and to help them understand the possible impact of musical interventions in the forensic setting. Furthermore, implications from the current evidence and ideas for future research are discussed. Note: Due to the length of the review it is published in two subsequent issues. This is the second part of the review focusing on case studies and the Good Vibrations program. The first part of the review was published in the previous issue of Music and Medicine focusing on group interventions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Biljana Vrancic Coutinho ◽  
Anita Lill Hansen ◽  
Leif Waage ◽  
Thomas K. Hillecke ◽  
Julian Koenig

The purpose of this systematic review of international research is to summarize the available literature on active music making interventions with adult offenders in forensic settings (i.e. forensic psychiatry or correctional facilities at different security levels). A systematic search of 13 electronic databases according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analysis (PRISMA) statement was employed. 28 articles fitting the inclusion criteria were included in the review. The search revealed mainly qualitative and narrative reports including articles on group music therapy, educational music making, choir interventions, individual music therapy sessions and musical projects. The musical interventions are described in detail to provide therapists with ideas on how to set up session with clients in this particular situation and to help understand the possible impact of musical interventions in the forensic setting. Furthermore, implications from the current evidence and ideas for future research are discussed. Note: Due to the length of the review it is published in two subsequent issues. This is the first part of the review focusing on group interventions. The second part of the review is published in the subsequent issue of Music and Medicine focusing on case studies and established music programs in the forensic setting.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. e029807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvin Kuo Jing Teo ◽  
Shweta R Singh ◽  
Kiesha Prem ◽  
Li Yang Hsu ◽  
Siyan Yi

IntroductionCountries identified to bear the highest tuberculosis (TB) incidence account for approximately 85% of the global TB burden. TB is curable, yet nearly 40% of TB cases remained undiagnosed hence delaying treatment and perpetuating transmission. This systematic review aimed to review current evidence on factors associated with delayed diagnosis and treatment of TB in the high TB-burden countries.Methods and analysisThis systematic review will incorporate qualitative and observational study designs published between 2008 and 2018. Articles will be retrieved from major databases including PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL and PsycINFO. Reference lists of key articles, including relevant systematic reviews and meta-analysis, will be screened for additional studies. Two independent reviewers will screen and select studies, extract data and assess the quality and risk of bias of each study. Study-specific estimates will be pooled by meta-analysis, and effect sizes will be presented as OR and their 95% CI. Levels of heterogeneity will be evaluated using chi-square statistic Q and I2. Publication bias will be assessed using forest plots and Egger’s tests. Qualitative findings and sample quotes will be extracted. Textual references to the topics of interest will be retrieved and categorised using qualitative thematic analysis. We will triangulate quantitative and qualitative findings for a complete understanding of the reasons for delayed TB diagnosis and treatment. Results will be presented by geographical region.Ethics and disseminationThis study will be conducted based on published data. This systematic review may provide insights into the reasons for delayed TB diagnosis in high-burden countries. These findings will also inform future research and key stakeholders in developing interventions to reach these undiagnosed cases effectively. Findings from this review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42018107237


2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Parker ◽  
Sue Mallet ◽  
Laura Quinn ◽  
Christopher Wood ◽  
Richard Boulton ◽  
...  

Abstract Aim Ventral hernias are increasing in prevalence and many recur despite attempted repair. To date, much of the literature is underpowered and divergent. As a result there is limited high quality evidence to inform surgeons succinctly which perioperative variables influence postoperative recurrence. This systematic review aimed to identify predictors of ventral hernia recurrence. Material and Methods PubMed was searched for studies reporting prognostic data of ventral hernia recurrence between 1 January 1995 and 1 January 2018. Extracted data described hernia type (primary/incisional), definitions of recurrence, methods used to detect recurrence, duration of follow-up, and co-morbidity. Data were extracted for all potential predictors, estimates and thresholds described. Random-effects meta-analysis was used. Bias was assessed with a modified PROBAST (Prediction model Risk Of Bias ASsessment Tool). Results Screening of 18 214 abstracts yielded 274 individual studies for inclusion. Hernia recurrence was defined in 66 studies (24.1 per cent), using 41 different unstandardized definitions. Three patient variables (female sex, age 65 years or less, and BMI greater than 25, 30, 35 or 40 kg/m2), five patient co-morbidities (smoking, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ASA grade III–IV, steroid use), two hernia-related variables (incisional/primary, recurrent/primary), six intraoperative variables (biological mesh, bridged repair, open versus laparoscopic surgery, suture versus mesh repair, onlay/retrorectus, intraperitoneal/retrorectus), and six postoperative variables (any complication, surgical-site occurrence, wound infection, seroma, haematoma, wound dehiscence) were identified as significant prognostic factors for hernia recurrence. Conclusions This study summarized the current evidence base for predicting ventral hernia recurrence. Results should inform best practice and future research.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melvyn Zhang ◽  
Jiangbo Ying ◽  
Guo Song ◽  
Daniel SS Fung ◽  
Helen Smith

UNSTRUCTURED Background: Traditional psychological therapies focus mainly on modification of individuals’ conscious decision-making process. Unconscious processes such as cognitive biases have been found to be accountable for various psychiatric psychopathologies. The advances in technologies have transformed how bias modification programs are being delivered. Objective: We seek to synthesize the current evidence of web-based cognitive bias modification for psychiatric disorders, by identifying the range of conditions targeted and their current efficacy. We wish to determine if web-based attention bias modification is as efficacious as compared to conventional methods. Methods and analysis: A systematic review will be conducted, and all studies types will be included. There will not be any restrictions on the participants included in the study. A search will be conducted on the respective databases up till 2017. Selection of studies will be by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses (PRISMA-P) guidelines. Quality assessment of the included studies will be assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool (for randomized trials) and the Newcastle-Ottawa scale for other study designs. A narrative synthesises of the identified articles will be conducted. A meta-analysis will be considered, only if there are sufficient articles in a domain for statistical analysis. Ethical approval for the current protocol and the planned systematic review was not required. Results: Results synthesized would be disseminated using conference presentation or published works in peer-reviewed journals. Conclusions: This review is of importance given how technology transformed the delivery of conventional therapies. The findings from this review will provide guidance for future research involving technology and cognitive bias modification interventions. Registration details: International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) number 2017 CRD42017074754


BJS Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
S G Parker ◽  
S . Mallett ◽  
L Quinn ◽  
C P J Wood ◽  
R W Boulton ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Ventra hernias are increasing in prevalence and many recur despite attempted repair. To date, much of the literature is underpowered and divergent. As a result there is limited high quality evidence to inform surgeons succinctly which perioperative variables influence postoperative recurrence. This systematic review aimed to identify predictors of ventral hernia recurrence. Methods PubMed was searched for studies reporting prognostic data of ventral hernia recurrence between 1 January 1995 and 1 January 2018. Extracted data described hernia type (primary/incisional), definitions of recurrence, methods used to detect recurrence, duration of follow-up, and co-morbidity. Data were extracted for all potential predictors, estimates and thresholds described. Random-effects meta-analysis was used. Bias was assessed with a modified PROBAST (Prediction model Risk Of Bias ASsessment Tool). Results Screening of 18 214 abstracts yielded 274 individual studies for inclusion. Hernia recurrence was defined in 66 studies (24.1 per cent), using 41 different unstandardized definitions. Three patient variables (female sex, age 65 years or less, and BMI greater than 25, 30, 35 or 40 kg/m2), five patient co-morbidities (smoking, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ASA grade III–IV, steroid use), two hernia-related variables (incisional/primary, recurrent/primary), six intraoperative variables (biological mesh, bridged repair, open versus laparoscopic surgery, suture versus mesh repair, onlay/retrorectus, intraperitoneal/retrorectus), and six postoperative variables (any complication, surgical-site occurrence, wound infection, seroma, haematoma, wound dehiscence) were identified as significant prognostic factors for hernia recurrence. Conclusion This study summarized the current evidence base for predicting ventral hernia recurrence. Results should inform best practice and future research.


2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 961-968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikael Jerndal ◽  
Kalle Forsberg ◽  
Emily S Sena ◽  
Malcolm R Macleod ◽  
Victoria E O'Collins ◽  
...  

Erythropoietin (EPO) has shown promise as a neuroprotectant in animal models of ischemic stroke. EPO is thought not only to protect neurons from cell death, but also to promote regeneration after stroke. Here, we report a systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy of EPO in animal models of focal cerebral ischemia. Primary outcomes were infarct size and neurobehavioral outcome. Nineteen studies involving 346 animals for infarct size and 425 animals for neurobehavioral outcome met our inclusion criteria. Erythropoietin improved infarct size by 30.0% (95% CI: 21.3 to 38.8) and neurobehavioral outcome by 39.8% (33.7 to 45.9). Studies that randomized to treatment group or that blinded assessment of outcome showed lower efficacy. Erythropoietin was tested in animals with hypertension in no studies reporting infarct size and in 7.5% of the animals reporting neurobehavioral outcome. These findings show efficacy for EPO in experimental stroke, but when the impact of common sources of bias are considered, this efficacy falls, suggesting we may be overestimating its potential benefit. As common human co-morbidities may reduce therapeutic efficacy, broader testing to delineate the range of circumstances in which EPO works best would be beneficial.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt D Shulver ◽  
Nicholas A Badcock

We report the results of a systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the relationship between perceptual anchoring and dyslexia. Our goal was to assess the direction and degree of effect between perceptual anchoring and reading ability in typical and atypical (dyslexic) readers. We performed a literature search of experiments explicitly assessing perceptual anchoring and reading ability using PsycInfo (Ovid, 1860 to 2020), MEDLINE (Ovid, 1860 to 2019), EMBASE (Ovid, 1883 to 2019), and PubMed for all available years up to June (2020). Our eligibility criteria consisted of English-language articles and, at minimum, one experimental group identified as dyslexic - either by reading assessment at the time, or by previous diagnosis. We assessed for risk of bias using an adapted version of the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Six studies were included in this review, but only five (n = 280 participants) were included in the meta-analysis (we were unable to access the necessary data for one study).The overall effect was negative, large and statistically significant; g = -0.87, 95% CI [-1.47, 0.27]: a negative effect size indicating less perceptual anchoring in dyslexic versus non-dyslexic groups. Visual assessment of funnel plot and Egger’s test suggest minimal bias but with significant heterogeneity; Q (4) = 9.70, PI (prediction interval) [-2.32, -0.58]. The primary limitation of the current review is the small number of included studies. We discuss methodological limitations, such as limited power, and how future research may redress these concerns. The variability of effect sizes appears consistent with the inherent variability within subtypes of dyslexia. This level of dispersion seems indicative of the how we define cut-off thresholds between typical reading and dyslexia populations, but also the methodological tools we use to investigate individual performance.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Polona Caserman ◽  
Augusto Garcia-Agundez ◽  
Alvar Gámez Zerban ◽  
Stefan Göbel

AbstractCybersickness (CS) is a term used to refer to symptoms, such as nausea, headache, and dizziness that users experience during or after virtual reality immersion. Initially discovered in flight simulators, commercial virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMD) of the current generation also seem to cause CS, albeit in a different manner and severity. The goal of this work is to summarize recent literature on CS with modern HMDs, to determine the specificities and profile of immersive VR-caused CS, and to provide an outlook for future research areas. A systematic review was performed on the databases IEEE Xplore, PubMed, ACM, and Scopus from 2013 to 2019 and 49 publications were selected. A summarized text states how different VR HMDs impact CS, how the nature of movement in VR HMDs contributes to CS, and how we can use biosensors to detect CS. The results of the meta-analysis show that although current-generation VR HMDs cause significantly less CS ($$p<0.001$$ p < 0.001 ), some symptoms remain as intense. Further results show that the nature of movement and, in particular, sensory mismatch as well as perceived motion have been the leading cause of CS. We suggest an outlook on future research, including the use of galvanic skin response to evaluate CS in combination with the golden standard (Simulator Sickness Questionnaire, SSQ) as well as an update on the subjective evaluation scores of the SSQ.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 773
Author(s):  
Wei-Ting Wu ◽  
Tsung-Min Lee ◽  
Der-Sheng Han ◽  
Ke-Vin Chang

The association of sarcopenia with poor clinical outcomes has been identified in various medical conditions, although there is a lack of quantitative analysis to validate the influence of sarcopenia on patients with lumbar degenerative spine disease (LDSD) from the available literature. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarize the prevalence of sarcopenia in patients with LDSD and examine its impact on clinical outcomes. The electronic databases (PubMed and Embase) were systematically searched from inception through December 2020 for clinical studies investigating the association of sarcopenia with clinical outcomes in patients with LDSD. A random-effects model meta-analysis was carried out for data synthesis. This meta-analysis included 14 studies, comprising 1953 participants. The overall prevalence of sarcopenia among patients with LDSD was 24.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 17.3%–34.3%). The relative risk of sarcopenia was not significantly increased in patients with LDSD compared with controls (risk ratio, 1.605; 95% CI, 0.321–8.022). The patients with sarcopenia did not experience an increase in low back and leg pain. However, lower quality of life (SMD, −0.627; 95% CI, −0.844–−0.410) were identified postoperatively. Sarcopenia did not lead to an elevated rate of complications after lumbar surgeries. Sarcopenia accounts for approximately one-quarter of the population with LDSD. The clinical manifestations are less influenced by sarcopenia, whereas sarcopenia is associated with poorer quality of life after lumbar surgeries. The current evidence is still insufficient to support sarcopenia as a predictor of postoperative complications.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document