Risk of Bias Tool in Systematic Reviews/Meta-Analyses of Acupuncture in Chinese Journals

BACKGROUND: Use of a risk of bias (ROB) tool has been encouraged and advocated to reviewers writing systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs). Selective outcome reporting and other sources of bias are included in the Cochrane ROB tool. It is important to know how this specific tool for assessing ROB has been applied since its release. Our objectives were to evaluate whether and to what extent the new Cochrane ROB tool has been used in Chinese journal papers of acupuncture. METHODS: We searched CBM, TCM database, CJFD, CSJD, and the Wanfang Database from inception to March 2011. Two reviewers independently selected SRs that primarily focused on acupuncture and moxibustion, from which the data was extracted and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 836 SRs were identified from the search, of which, 105 were included and four are awaiting assessment. Thirty-six of the 105 SRs were published before release of the Cochrane ROB tool (up to 2009). Most used the Cochrane Handbook 4.2 or Jadad's scale for risk or quality assessment. From 2009 to March 2011 69 SRs were identified. While "risk of bias" was reported for approximately two-thirds of SRs, only two SRs mentioned use of a "risk of bias tool" in their assessment. Only 5.8% (4/69) of reviews reported information on all six domains which are involved in the ROB tool. A risk of bias graph/summary figure was provided in 2.9% (2/69) of reviews. Most SRs gave information about sequence generation, allocation concealment, blindness, and incomplete outcome data, however, few reviews (5.8%; 4/69) described selective reporting or other potential sources of bias. CONCLUSIONS: The Cochrane "risk of bias" tool has not been used in all SRs/MAs of acupuncture published in Chinese Journals after 2008. When the ROB tool was used, reporting of relevant information was often incomplete

Genome-wide association analysis reveal candidate genes and haplotypes related to root weight in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.).

BACKGROUND: The plant root system is critical for the absorption of water and nutrients, and have a direct influence on growth and yield. In cucumber, a globally consumed crop, the molecular mechanism of root development remains unclear, and this has implications for developing stress tolerant varieties. This study sought to determine the genetic patterns and related genes of cucumber root weight. A core cucumber germplasms population was used to do the GWAS analysis in three environments. RESULTS: Here, we investigated four root-weight related traits including root fresh weight (RFW), root dry weight (RDW), ratio of root dry weight to root fresh weight (RDFW) and the comprehensive evaluation index, D-value of root weight (DRW) deduced based on the above three traits for the core germplasm of the cucumber global repository. According to the D-value, we identified 21 and 16 accessions with light and heavy-root, respectively. We also found that the East Asian ecotype accessions had significantly heavier root than other three ecotypes. The genome-wide association study (GWAS) for these four traits reveals that 4 of 10 significant loci (gDRW3.1, gDRW3.2, gDRW4.1 and gDRW5.1) were repeatedly detected for at least two traits. Further haplotype and expression analysis for protein-coding genes positioned within these 4 loci between light and heavy-root accessions predicted five candidate genes (i.e., Csa3G132020 and Csa3G132520 both encoding F-box protein PP2-B1 for gDRW3.1, Csa3G629240 encoding a B-cell receptor-associated protein for gDRW3.2, Csa4G499330 encodes a GTP binding protein for gDRW4.1, and Csa5G286040 encodes a proteinase inhibitor for gDRW5.1). CONCLUSIONS: We conducted a systematic analysis of the root genetic basis and characteristics of cucumber core germplasms population. We detected four novel loci, which regulate the root weight in cucumber. Our study provides valuable candidate genes and haplotypes for the improvement of root system in cucumber breeding

Electric Vehicle Charging Reservation Under Preemptive Service

Electric Vehicles (EV) are environment-friendly with lower CO2 emissions, and financial affordability (in term of battery based refuel) benefits. Here, when and where to recharge are sensitive factors significantly impacting the environmental and financial gains, these are still challenges to be tackled. In this paper, we propose a sustainable and smart EV charging scheme enables the preemptive charging functions for heterogeneous EVs equipped with various charging capabilities and brands. Our scheme intents to address the problems when EVs are with various ownerships and priority, in related to the services agreed with charging infrastructure operators. Particularly, the anticipated EVs' charging reservations information with heterogeneity (are multiscale) including their EV type, expected arrival time and charging waiting time at the charging stations (CSs), have been considered for design, planning and optimal decision making on the selection (i.e., where to charge) among the candidature CSs. We have conducted extensive simulation studies, by taking the realistic Helsinki city geographical and traffic scenarios as an example. The numerical results have confirmed that our proposed preemptive approach is better than the First-Come-First-Serve (FCFS) based system, associated with its significant improvement on the reservation feature in EV charging

GWAS Identifies Novel Susceptibility Loci on 6p21.32 and 21q21.3 for Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Carriers

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have recently identified KIF1B as susceptibility locus for hepatitis B virus (HBV)–related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To further identify novel susceptibility loci associated with HBV–related HCC and replicate the previously reported association, we performed a large three-stage GWAS in the Han Chinese population. 523,663 autosomal SNPs in 1,538 HBV–positive HCC patients and 1,465 chronic HBV carriers were genotyped for the discovery stage. Top candidate SNPs were genotyped in the initial validation samples of 2,112 HBV–positive HCC cases and 2,208 HBV carriers and then in the second validation samples of 1,021 cases and 1,491 HBV carriers. We discovered two novel associations at rs9272105 (HLA-DQA1/DRB1) on 6p21.32 (OR = 1.30, P = 1.13×$10^{−19}$) and rs455804 (GRIK1) on 21q21.3 (OR = 0.84, P = 1.86×$10^{−8}$), which were further replicated in the fourth independent sample of 1,298 cases and 1,026 controls (rs9272105: OR = 1.25, P = 1.71×$10^{−4}$; rs455804: OR = 0.84, P = 6.92×$10^{−3}$). We also revealed the associations of HLA-DRB1*0405 and 0901*0602, which could partially account for the association at rs9272105. The association at rs455804 implicates GRIK1 as a novel susceptibility gene for HBV–related HCC, suggesting the involvement of glutamate signaling in the development of HBV–related HCC

Recent Progress on Hydrogen-Rich Syngas Production from Coal Gasification

Coal gasification is recognized as the core technology of clean coal utilization that exhibits significant advantages in hydrogen-rich syngas production and CO2 emission reduction. This review briefly discusses the recent research progress on various coal gasification techniques, including conventional coal gasification (fixed bed, fluidized bed, and entrained bed gasification) and relatively new coal gasification (supercritical water gasification, plasma gasification, chemical-looping gasification, and decoupling gasification) in terms of their gasifiers, process parameters (such as coal type, temperature, pressure, gasification agents, catalysts, etc.), advantages, and challenges. The capacity and potential of hydrogen production through different coal gasification technologies are also systematically analyzed. In this regard, the decoupling gasification technology based on pyrolysis, coal char–CO2 gasification, and CO shift reaction shows remarkable features in improving comprehensive utilization of coal, low-energy capture and conversion of CO2, as well as efficient hydrogen production. As the key unit of decoupling gasification, this work also reviews recent research advances (2019–2023) in coal char–CO2 gasification, the influence of different factors such as coal type, gasification agent composition, temperature, pressure, particle size, and catalyst on the char–CO2 gasification performance are studied, and its reaction kinetics are also outlined. This review serves as guidance for further excavating the potential of gasification technology in promoting clean fuel production and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions

High-Sensitivity Pressure Sensors Based on a Low Elastic Modulus Adhesive

With the rapid development of intelligent applications, the demand for high-sensitivity pressure sensor is increasing. However, the simple and efficient preparation of an industrial high-sensitivity sensor is still a challenge. In this study, adhesives with different elastic moduli are used to bond pressure-sensitive elements of double-sided sensitive grids to prepare a highly sensitive and fatigue-resistant pressure sensor. It was observed that the low elastic modulus adhesive effectively produced tensile and compressive strains on both sides of the sensitive grids to induce greater strain transfer efficiency in the pressure sensor, thus improving its sensitivity. The sensitivity of the sensor was simulated by finite element analysis to verify that the low elastic modulus adhesive could enhance the sensitivity of the sensor up to 12%. The preparation of high-precision and fatigue-resistant pressure sensors based on low elastic modulus, double-sided sensitive grids makes their application more flexible and convenient, which is urgently needed in the miniaturization and integration electronics field

Electric Vehicle Charging Reservation Under Preemptive Service

IAI 2019, 1st International Conference on Industrial Artificial Intelligence, Shenyang, CHINE, 22-/07/2019 - 26/07/2019Electric Vehicles (EV) are environment-friendly with lower CO2 emissions, and financial affordability (in term of battery based refuel) benefits. Here, when and where to recharge are sensitive factors significantly impacting the environmental and financial gains, these are still challenges to be tackled. In this paper, we propose a sustainable and smart EV charging scheme enables the preemptive charging functions for heterogeneous EVs equipped with various charging capabilities and brands. Our scheme intents to address the problems when EVs are with various ownerships and priority, in related to the services agreed with charging infrastructure operators. Particularly, the anticipated EVs' charging reservations information with heterogeneity (are multiscale) including their EV type, expected arrival time and charging waiting time at the charging stations (CSs), have been considered for design, planning and optimal decision making on the selection (i.e., where to charge) among the candidature CSs. We have conducted extensive simulation studies, by taking the realistic Helsinki city geographical and traffic scenarios as an example. The numerical results have confirmed that our proposed preemptive approach is better than the First-Come-First-Serve (FCFS) based system, associated with its significant improvement on the reservation feature in EV charging

Genome-wide association study reveals candidate genes for gummy stem blight resistance in cucumber

Gummy stem blight (GSB), caused by Didymella bryoniae, is a serious fungal disease that leads to decline in cucumber yield and quality. The molecular mechanism of GSB resistance in cucumber remains unclear. Here, we investigated the GSB resistance of cucumber core germplasms from four geographic groups at the seedling and adult stages. A total of 9 SNPs related to GSB resistance at the seedling stage and 26 SNPs at the adult stage were identified, of which some are co-localized to previously mapped Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for GSB resistance (gsb3.2/gsb3.3, gsb5.1, and gsb-s6.2). Based on haplotype analysis and expression levels after inoculation, four candidate genes were identified within the region identified by both Genome-wide association study (GWAS) and previous identified QTL mapping, including Csa3G129470 for gsb3.2/gsb3.3, Csa5G606820 and Csa5G606850 for gsb5.1, and Csa6G079730 for gsb-s6.2. The novel GSB resistant accessions, significant SNPs, and candidate genes facilitate the breeding of GSB resistant cucumber cultivars and provide a novel idea for understanding GSB resistance mechanism in cucumber