Methodological quality of a systematic review on physical therapy for temporomandibular disorders: influence of hand search and quality scales

The validity of a systematic review depends on completeness of identifying randomised clinical trials (RCTs) and the quality of the included RCTs. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of hand search on the number of identified RCTs and of four quality lists on the outcome of quality assessment of RCTs evaluating the effect of physical therapy on temporomandibular disorders. In addition, we investigated the association between publication year and the methodological quality of these RCTs. Cochrane, Medline and Embase databases were searched electronically. The references of the included studies were checked for additional trials. Studies not electronically identified were labelled as “obtained by means of hand search”. The included RCTs (69) concerning physical therapy for temporomandibular disorders were assessed using four different quality lists: the Delphi list, the Jadad list, the Megens & Harris list and the Risk of Bias list. The association between the quality scores and the year of publication were calculated. After electronic database search, hand search resulted in an additional 17 RCTs (25%). The mean quality score of the RCTs, expressed as a percentage of the maximum score, was low to moderate and varied from 35.1% for the Delphi list to 54.3% for the Risk of Bias list. The agreement among the four quality assessment lists, calculated by the Interclass Correlation Coefficient, was 0.603 (95% CI, 0.389; 0.749). The Delphi list scored significantly lower than the other lists. The Risk of Bias list scored significantly higher than the Jadad list. A moderate association was found between year of publication and scores on the Delphi list (r = 0.50), the Jadad list (r = 0.33) and the Megens & Harris list (r = 0.43)

Commercial chicken breeds exhibit highly divergent patterns of linkage disequilibrium

The analysis of linkage disequilibrium (LD) underpins the development of effective genotyping technologies, trait mapping and understanding of biological mechanisms such as those driving recombination and the impact of selection. We apply the Malécot-Morton model of LD to create additive LD maps that describe the high-resolution LD landscape of commercial chickens. We investigated LD in chickens (Gallus gallus) at the highest resolution to date for broiler, white egg and brown egg layer commercial lines. There is minimal concordance between breeds of fine-scale LD patterns (correlation coefficient <0.21), and even between discrete broiler lines. Regions of LD breakdown, which may align with recombination hot spots, are enriched near CpG islands and transcription start sites (P<2.2 × 10?16), consistent with recent evidence described in finches, but concordance in hot spot locations between commercial breeds is only marginally greater than random. As in other birds, functional elements in the chicken genome are associated with recombination but, unlike evidence from other bird species, the LD landscape is not stable in the populations studied. The development of optimal genotyping panels for genome-led selection programmes will depend on careful analysis of the LD structure of each line of interest. Further study is required to fully elucidate the mechanisms underlying highly divergent LD patterns found in commercial chickens

First Evaluation of [11C]R116301 as an In Vivo Tracer of NK1 Receptors in Man

PURPOSE: NK1 receptors have been implicated in various neuropsychiatric and other disorders. R116301 is a selective NK1 receptor antagonist. In this pilot study, [(11)C]R116301 was evaluated as a potential positron emission tomography (PET) ligand for the NK1 receptor. PROCEDURES: Two dynamic PET studies were performed in three normal volunteers before and after a blocking dose of aprepitant. Data were analyzed using striatum to cerebellum standardized uptake value (SUV) ratios. RESULTS: Baseline SUV ratios at 60-90 min after injection ranged from 1.22 to 1.70. Following aprepitant administration, this specific signal was completely blocked. Aprepitant administration did not significantly affect uptake in cerebellum, confirming the absence of NK1 receptors in cerebellum. CONCLUSION: These preliminary results indicate that [(11)C]R116301 has potential as a radioligand for in vivo assessment of NK1 receptors in the human brai

Analysis of genome-wide structure, diversity and fine mapping of Mendelian traits in traditional and village chickens

Extensive phenotypic variation is a common feature among village chickens found throughout much of the developing world, and in traditional chicken breeds that have been artificially selected for traits such as plumage variety. We present here an assessment of traditional and village chicken populations, for fine mapping of Mendelian traits using genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping while providing information on their genetic structure and diversity. Bayesian clustering analysis reveals two main genetic backgrounds in traditional breeds, Kenyan, Ethiopian and Chilean village chickens. Analysis of linkage disequilibrium (LD) reveals useful LD (r(2)⩾0.3) in both traditional and village chickens at pairwise marker distances of ∼10 Kb; while haplotype block analysis indicates a median block size of 11–12 Kb. Association mapping yielded refined mapping intervals for duplex comb (Gga 2:38.55–38.89 Mb) and rose comb (Gga 7:18.41–22.09 Mb) phenotypes in traditional breeds. Combined mapping information from traditional breeds and Chilean village chicken allows the oocyan phenotype to be fine mapped to two small regions (Gga 1:67.25–67.28 Mb, Gga 1:67.28–67.32 Mb) totalling ∼75 Kb. Mapping the unmapped earlobe pigmentation phenotype supports previous findings that the trait is sex-linked and polygenic. A critical assessment of the number of SNPs required to map simple traits indicate that between 90 and 110K SNPs are required for full genome-wide analysis of haplotype block structure/ancestry, and for association mapping in both traditional and village chickens. Our results demonstrate the importance and uniqueness of phenotypic diversity and genetic structure of traditional chicken breeds for fine-scale mapping of Mendelian traits in the species, with village chicken populations providing further opportunities to enhance mapping resolutions

A comparison of low-dose risperidone to paroxetine in the treatment of panic attacks: a randomized, single-blind study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Because a large proportion of patients with panic attacks receiving approved pharmacotherapy do not respond or respond poorly to medication, it is important to identify additional therapeutic strategies for the management of panic symptoms. This article describes a randomized, rater-blind study comparing low-dose risperidone to standard-of-care paroxetine for the treatment of panic attacks.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fifty six subjects with a history of panic attacks were randomized to receive either risperidone or paroxetine. The subjects were then followed for eight weeks. Outcome measures included the Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS), the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (Ham-A), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (Ham-D), the Sheehan Panic Anxiety Scale-Patient (SPAS-P), and the Clinical Global Impression scale (CGI).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All subjects demonstrated a reduction in both the frequency and severity of panic attacks regardless of treatment received. Statistically significant improvements in rating scale scores for both groups were identified for the PDSS, the Ham-A, the Ham-D, and the CGI. There was no difference between treatment groups in the improvement in scores on the measures PDSS, Ham-A, Ham-D, and CGI. Post hoc tests suggest that subjects receiving risperidone may have a quicker clinical response than subjects receiving paroxetine.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We can identify no difference in the efficacy of paroxetine and low-dose risperidone in the treatment of panic attacks. Low-dose risperidone appears to be tolerated equally well as paroxetine. Low-dose risperidone may be an effective treatment for anxiety disorders in which panic attacks are a significant component.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT100457106</p

Genome-wide characterization of genetic variants and putative regions under selection in meat and egg-type chicken lines

Abstract\ud \ud Background\ud Meat and egg-type chickens have been selected for several generations for different traits. Artificial and natural selection for different phenotypes can change frequency of genetic variants, leaving particular genomic footprints throghtout the genome. Thus, the aims of this study were to sequence 28 chickens from two Brazilian lines (meat and white egg-type) and use this information to characterize genome-wide genetic variations, identify putative regions under selection using Fst method, and find putative pathways under selection.\ud \ud \ud Results\ud A total of 13.93 million SNPs and 1.36 million INDELs were identified, with more variants detected from the broiler (meat-type) line. Although most were located in non-coding regions, we identified 7255 intolerant non-synonymous SNPs, 512 stopgain/loss SNPs, 1381 frameshift and 1094 non-frameshift INDELs that may alter protein functions. Genes harboring intolerant non-synonymous SNPs affected metabolic pathways related mainly to reproduction and endocrine systems in the white-egg layer line, and lipid metabolism and metabolic diseases in the broiler line. Fst analysis in sliding windows, using SNPs and INDELs separately, identified over 300 putative regions of selection overlapping with more than 250 genes. For the first time in chicken, INDEL variants were considered for selection signature analysis, showing high level of correlation in results between SNP and INDEL data. The putative regions of selection signatures revealed interesting candidate genes and pathways related to important phenotypic traits in chicken, such as lipid metabolism, growth, reproduction, and cardiac development.\ud \ud \ud Conclusions\ud In this study, Fst method was applied to identify high confidence putative regions under selection, providing novel insights into selection footprints that can help elucidate the functional mechanisms underlying different phenotypic traits relevant to meat and egg-type chicken lines. In addition, we generated a large catalog of line-specific and common genetic variants from a Brazilian broiler and a white egg layer line that can be used for genomic studies involving association analysis with phenotypes of economic interest to the poultry industry.CB received a fellowship from the program Science Without Borders - National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, grant 370620/2013–5). GCMM and TFG received fellowships from São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, grants 14/21380–9 and 15/00616–7). LLC is recipient of productivity fellowship from CNPq. This project was funded by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) - thematic project (2014/08704–0)