Community Detection and Growth Potential Prediction Using the Stochastic Block Model and the Long Short-term Memory from Patent Citation Networks

Scoring patent documents is very useful for technology management. However, conventional methods are based on static models and, thus, do not reflect the growth potential of the technology cluster of the patent. Because even if the cluster of a patent has no hope of growing, we recognize the patent is important if PageRank or other ranking score is high. Therefore, there arises a necessity of developing citation network clustering and prediction of future citations. In our research, clustering of patent citation networks by Stochastic Block Model was done with the aim of enabling corporate managers and investors to evaluate the scale and life cycle of technology. As a result, we confirmed nested SBM is appropriate for graph clustering of patent citation networks. Also, a high MAPE value was obtained and the direction accuracy achieved a value greater than 50% when predicting growth potential for each cluster by using LSTM.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1904.1204

Optimal duration of antibiotic treatment for community-acquired pneumonia in adults: a systematic review and duration-effect meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES To find the optimal treatment duration with antibiotics for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in adults. DESIGN Systematic review and duration-effect meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES MEDLINE, Embase and CENTRAL through 25 August 2021. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA All randomised controlled trials comparing the same antibiotics used at the same daily dosage but for different durations for CAP in adults. Both outpatients and inpatients were included but not those admitted to intensive care units. We imposed no date, language or publication status restriction. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Data extraction by two independent reviewers. We conducted a random-effects, one-stage duration-effect meta-analysis with restricted cubic splines. We tested the non-inferiority with the prespecified non-inferiority margin of 10% examined against 10 days . The primary outcome was clinical improvement on day 15 (range 7-45 days). SECONDARY OUTCOMES all-cause mortality, serious adverse events and clinical improvement on day 30 (15-60 days). RESULTS We included nine trials (2399 patients with a mean (SD) age of 61.2 (22.1); 39% women). The duration-effect curve was monotonic with longer duration leading to a lower probability of improvement, and shorter treatment duration (3-9 days) was likely to be non-inferior to 10-day treatment. Harmful outcome curves indicated no association. The weighted average percentage of the primary outcome in the 10-day treatment arms was 68%. Using that average, the absolute clinical improvement rates of the following durations were: 3-day treatment 75% (95% CI: 68% to 81%), 5-day treatment 72% (95% CI: 66% to 78%) and 7-day treatment 69% (95% CI: 61% to 76%). CONCLUSIONS Shorter treatment duration (3-5 days) probably offers the optimal balance between efficacy and treatment burden for treating CAP in adults if they achieved clinical stability. However, the small number of included studies and the overall moderate-to-high risk of bias may compromise the certainty of the results. Further research on the shorter duration range is required. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER CRD 42021273357

Around ten percent of most recent Cochrane reviews included outcomes in their literature search strategy and were associated with potentially exaggerated results: A research-on-research study

[Objectives] To assess the proportion of the recent Cochrane reviews that included outcomes in their literature search strategy, how often they acknowledged these limitations, and how qualitatively different the results of outcomes included and not included in the search strategy were. [Design and Setting] We identified all the Cochrane reviews of the interventions published in 2020 that used a search strategy connecting outcome terms with “AND.” Reviews were defined as acknowledging the limitations of searching for outcomes if they mentioned them in the discussion. We compared the characteristics of outcomes included and not included in the search strategy. [Results] Of the 523 Cochrane reviews published in 2020, 51 (9.8%) included outcomes in their search strategy. Only one review acknowledged it as a limitation. Forty-seven (92%) assessed outcomes not included in the search strategy. Outcomes included in the search strategies tended to include a larger number of studies and show their effects in favor of the intervention. [Conclusions] Around ten percent of the recent Cochrane reviews included outcomes in their search, which may have resulted in more outcomes significantly in favor of the intervention. Reviewers should be more explicit in acknowledging the potential implications of searching for outcomes

Hip Function Was Not Associated with the Incidence of Preoperative Deep Vein Thrombosis in Patients Undergoing Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty

The prevalence of preoperative deep vein thrombosis (DVT) has been reported to be relatively high in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty. We investigated the prevalence of DVT, the association between hip function and preoperative DVT, and the effect of a history of surgery in patients who underwent primary total hip arthroplasty. We retrospectively analyzed the cases of the patients who underwent primary total hip arthroplasty between April 2013 and February 2020 at our institution. We evaluated the prevalence of preoperative DVT based on the results of the patients’ ultrasound screening. We performed univariate and multivariate analyses to investigate the association between the incidence of DVT and patient factors including age, sex, hip function, medical histories, and American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status classification. We analyzed 451 patients (494 hips). The prevalence of DVT was 14.2% (64 patients). The multivariate analysis demonstrated that increased age was an independent significant risk factor for DVT. The prevalence of preoperative DVT was relatively high among patients who underwent primary total hip arthroplasty. Preoperative DVT tended to be more prevalent in older patients. Hip function was not associated with the incidence of DVT

The impact of continuity correction methods in Cochrane reviews with single-zero trials with rare events: A meta-epidemiological study.

Meta-analyses examining dichotomous outcomes often include single-zero studies, where no events occur in intervention or control groups. These pose challenges, and several methods have been proposed to address them. A fixed continuity correction method has been shown to bias estimates, but it is frequently used because sometimes software (e.g., RevMan software in Cochrane reviews) uses it as a default. We aimed to empirically compare results using the continuity correction with those using alternative models that do not require correction. To this aim, we reanalyzed the original data from 885 meta-analyses in Cochrane reviews using the following methods: (i) Mantel-Haenszel model with a fixed continuity correction, (ii) random effects inverse variance model with a fixed continuity correction, (iii) Peto method (the three models available in RevMan), (iv) random effects inverse variance model with the treatment arm continuity correction, (v) Mantel-Haenszel model without correction, (vi) logistic regression, and (vii) a Bayesian random effects model with binominal likelihood. For each meta-analysis we calculated ratios of odds ratios between all methods, to assess how the choice of method may impact results. Ratios of odds ratios <0.8 or <1.25 were seen in ~30% of the existing meta-analyses when comparing results between Mantel-Haenszel model with a fixed continuity correction and either Mantel-Haenszel model without correction or logistic regression. We concluded that injudicious use of the fixed continuity correction in existing Cochrane reviews may have substantially influenced effect estimates in some cases. Future updates of RevMan should incorporate less biased statistical methods

Immunomodulatory Effects of Radon Inhalation on Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammation in Mice

Typical indications for radon therapy include autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We had previously reported that radon inhalation inhibits Th17 immune responses in RA mice by activating Th1 and Th2 immune responses. However, there are no reports on how radon inhalation affects the activated Th1 and Th17 immune responses, and these findings may be useful for identifying new indications for radon therapy. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of radon inhalation on the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory response, focusing on the expression of related cytokines and antioxidant function. Male BALB/c mice were exposed to 2000 Bq/m(3) radon for one day. Immediately after radon inhalation, LPS was administered intraperitoneally at 1.0 mg/kg body weight for 4 h. LPS administration increased the levels of Th1- and Th17-prone cytokines, such as interleukin-2, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, compared to no treatment control (sham). However, these effects were suppressed by radon inhalation. IL-10 levels were significantly increased by LPS administration, with or without radon inhalation, compared to sham. However, radon inhalation did not inhibit oxidative stress induced by LPS administration. These findings suggest that radon inhalation has immunomodulatory but not antioxidative functions in LPS-induced injury

Effects of low-dose/high-dose-rate X-irradiation on oxidative stress in organs following forced swim test and its combined effects on alcohol-induced liver damage in mice

The liver's susceptibility to oxidative stress after a combination of forced swim test (FST) and low-dose-rate gamma-irradiation has been observed. Therefore, this study aims to clarify the effects of low-dose (0.1 and 0.5 Gy)/high-dose-rate (1.2 Gy/min) irradiation on combined oxidative stressors-liver damage associated with FST and alcohol administration. In addition, the effects of similar irradiation on FST-induced immobility, which induces psychomotor retardation, and antioxidative effects on the brain, lungs, liver and kidneys were investigated, and the results were compared with those of a similar previous study that utilized low-dose-rate irradiation. Low-dose/high-dose-rate (especially 0.5 Gy) irradiation temporarily worsened liver antioxidant function and hepatic function with FST- and alcohol administration-related oxidative damage; however, the damages improved soon after. In addition, the increase in total glutathione content in the liver contributed to the early improvement of hepatic functions. However, pre-irradiation did not suppress immobility during the FST. The results also suggested that the effects of low-dose/high-dose-rate irradiation on the antioxidant functions of each organ after the FST were different from those of low-dose/low-dose-rate irradiation. Overall, this study provides further insights into the effects of low-dose irradiation on exposure to a combination of different oxidative stressors. It will also contribute to the elucidation of dose rate effects on oxidative stress in the low-dose irradiation range

Retracted randomised controlled trials were cited and not corrected in systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines

[Background and Objectives] To investigate whether and when the correction is done in Systematic Reviews (SRs) and Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) when included Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) have been retracted. [Methods] In this meta-epidemiological study, we included SRs and CPGs citing the retracted RCTs from the Retraction Watch Database. We investigated how often the retracted RCTs were cited in SRs and CPGs. We also investigated whether and when such SRs and CPGs corrected themselves. [Results] We identified 587 articles (525 SRs and 62 CPGs) citing retracted RCTs. Among the 587 articles, 252 (43%) were published after retraction, and 335 (57%) were published before retraction. Among 127 articles published citing already retracted RCTs in their evidence synthesis without caution, none corrected themselves after publication. Of 335 articles published before retraction, 239 included RCTs that were later retracted in their evidence synthesis. Among them, only 5% of SRs (9/196) and 5% of CPGs (2/43) corrected or retracted their results. [Conclusion] Many SRs and CPGs included already or later retracted RCTs without caution. Most of them were never corrected. The scientific community, including publishers and researchers, should make systematic and concerted efforts to remove the impact of retracted RCTs