Two-step Selection Process Research Articles

Effects of sleep deprivation on maternal behaviour in animal models: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Pregnancy is a period of numerous physical and emotional changes in women's lives, including alterations in sleep patterns and worsening of pre-existing sleep disturbances, which possibly lead to impaired postpartum maternal behaviour and mother-infant relationship. The effects of sleep deprivation during pregnancy in maternal behaviour have been evaluated in preclinical studies, but have provided inconsistent results. Thus, in the present study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of sleep deprivation during pregnancy on maternal behaviour of animals through a systematic review and meta-analyses. After a two-step selection process, six articles were included, all of them describing rat studies. The most frequently used method of sleep deprivation was rapid eye movement sleep restriction, using the multiple-platform method. Four meta-analyses were performed, none of them presenting significant impact of sleep deprivation on maternal behaviour, failing to reproduce the results observed in previous clinical studies. In conclusion, our results show a lack of translational applicability of animal models to evaluate the effects of sleep deprivation during pregnancy on maternal behaviour.

Protocol for a systematic review of living labs in healthcare

IntroductionHealthcare is increasingly challenged to meet the demands of user involvement and knowledge mobilisation required by the 21st-century patient-centred and knowledge-based economies. Innovations are needed to reduce problematic barriers to...

DESIGNING A PLAN FOR KEEPING A CONFERENCE IN COVID-19 CONTEXT

The current social context, where we are facing problems like COVID-19 and climate changes, has created an environment where humans have to be innovative and find new ways to continue their lives showing respect for the rules, for the other people’s lives and for the planet Earth. This paper seeks to advance the understanding of designing a virtual conference through identifying advantages and challenges and to provide a draft plan for organizing a conference, a plan using tools available on the market. The researched problem was approached via a two-step selection process of the most relevant studies in achieving the objectives. As a result, the paper highlights the strengths that can be used to plan a successful virtual conference, only if the challenges are overcome. It also offers a schema for a virtual conference. As a conclusion, this article takes steps in identifying and preparing a universal plan to support the community in keeping events like conferences in the actual context with technologies available on the market.

Effects of turmeric and curcumin on oral mucositis: A systematic review.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of turmeric and curcumin in the management of oral mucositis in cancer patients undergoing chemo and/or radiotherapy. The systematic review was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses. The search was performed in the following database: Cochrane Library, LILACS, LIVIVO, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. A gray literature search was undertaken using Google Scholar, Open Grey, and ProQuest. The methodology of included studies was evaluated by the Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument. After a two-step selection process, four randomized and one nonrandomized clinical trials were included in the analysis. Two studies were categorized as low and three as moderate risk of bias. Turmeric/curcumin was applied topically as a gel or as a mouthwash. Patients treated with turmeric/curcumin experienced reduced grade of mucositis, pain, erythema intensity, and ulcerative area. Current evidence suggests that topical application of turmeric or curcumin is effective in controlling signs and symptoms of oral mucositis. Thus, further investigation is required to confirm the promising effect of turmeric and curcumin in oral inflammatory lesions.

Salivary Cytokines in patients with Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) treated with Radiotherapy.

BackgroundHead and Neck cancer (HNC) is the sixth most common cancer in the world. The 5-year survival rate depends on early diagnosis and appropriate therapy. Typically, late diagnosis requires not only surgical intervention, but also radiotherapy treatment combined or not with chemotherapy. Ionizing radiation is known to increase the expression of a number of cytokines involved in inflammation, wound healing and toxicity areas. Salivary cytokines have promising features to be used as biomarkers for disease screening and outcome prediction in this malignancy. The aim of this article is to analyze the role of salivary inflammatory response elements in HNC patients treated with radiotherapy, their modulation and association with the treatment outcome.Material and MethodsA bibliographical search was performed on Pubmed, Cochrane and Embase using the following keywords: cytokines, saliva, head and neck cancer, radiotherapy. The cut-off point for the research were scientific papers published over the last 10 years. After a two-step selection process, 15 articles were identified and subjected to review.ResultsRadiotherapy treatment was shown to influence a number of salivary cytokines. A trend towards a growth of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1, and TNF-α levels was observed and it correlated with the irradiation dose.ConclusionsThe analysis of salivary cytokines could be a useful biomarker for predicting radiotherapy outcome in HNC. However, large-scale investigations are required to validate the use of these cytokines in predicting and diagnosing HNC, as well as evaluating the response to the treatment. Key words:Cytokines, saliva, head and neck cancer, radiotherapy.

Effective study selection using text mining or a single-screening approach: a study protocol

BackgroundSystematic information retrieval generally requires a two-step selection process for studies, which is conducted by two persons independently of one another (double-screening approach). To increase efficiency, two methods seem promising, which will be tested in the planned study: the use of text mining to prioritize search results as well as the involvement of only one person in the study selection process (single-screening approach). The aim of the present study is to examine the following questions related to the process of study selection: Can the use of the Rayyan or EPPI Reviewer tools to prioritize the results of study selection increase efficiency? How accurately does a single-screening approach identify relevant studies? Which advantages or disadvantages (e.g., shortened screening time or increase in the number of full texts ordered) does a single-screening versus a double-screening approach have?MethodsOur study is a prospective analysis of study selection processes based on benefit assessments of drug and non-drug interventions. It consists of two parts: firstly, the evaluation of a single-screening approach based on a sample size calculation (11 study selection processes, including 33 single screenings) and involving different screening tools and, secondly, the evaluation of the conventional double-screening approach based on five conventional study selection processes. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of the single-screening versus the double-screening approach with regard to the outcomes “number of full texts ordered” and “time required for study selection” are analyzed. The previous work experience of the screeners is considered as a potential effect modifier.DiscussionNo study comparing the features of prioritization tools is currently available. Our study can thus contribute to filling this evidence gap. This study is also the first to investigate a range of questions surrounding the screening process and to include an a priori sample size calculation, thus enabling statistical conclusions. In addition, the impact of missing studies on the conclusion of a benefit assessment is calculated.Systematic review registrationNot applicable

Teacher autonomy and responsibility variation and association with student performance in Didaktik and curriculum traditions

ABSTRACTThe primary objective of the study was to empirically test theoretical claims made about differences between Didaktik and curriculum traditions concerning teacher autonomy (TA) and teacher responsibility (TR). It tests the hypothesis that TA and TR are higher among Didaktik than curriculum countries. The second objective was to explore associations of TA and responsibility measures with students’ science performance? Nationally representative data from 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), collected through a two-step random selection process were used. For TA individual items Mann–Whitney rank-sum test was employed, while a difference of proportion test was used for TR items to examine the differences. Hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) was used to examine association of TA and TR items with students’ science performance in PISA 2009. Overall and contrary to the initial hypothesis, teachers in curriculum countries enjoy both more autonomy and responsibility than teachers in Didaktik countries, but differences were substantively weak. Furthermore, within-country associations of autonomy and responsibility measures with students’ science performance were found in a few countries. Further research is recommended to address TA and responsibility and complexities that accompany them in current stakeholder-crowded school contexts.

Imaging Aspects of the Mandibular Incisive Canal: A PROSPERO-Registered Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cone Beam Computed Tomography Studies

This study aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature on the mandibular incisive canal (MIC) studies using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). A PROSPERO-registered systematic review (#42017056619) was conducted following the PRISMA statements to summarize current knowledge on the CBCT aspects of the MIC. A search was performed in PubMed's Medline and Scopus databases, without date or language restrictions, using the algorithm {[(Interforaminal region) OR (mandibular incisive channel) OR (mandibular incisive nerve) OR (mental mandible) OR (anterior mandible) (cone beam computed tomography). Also, the references were crosschecked. The Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument and meta-analysis was used to evaluate the selected studies. A total of 410 articles were found, and 25 studies were selected after a two-step selection process. The CBCT systems differed regarding field of view (FOV) (large, n = 3; medium, n = 2; small, n = 4; not informed, n = 16) and voxel size (0.15 to 0.4 mm). Geographically, the studies were distributed across four continents (South America, North America, Asia, and Europe), and there was a statistical significance of studies from the American and Asian continents (P < .0001). From 3,421 CBCT exams, the number of female patients was slightly higher than male, and the mean age ranged from 29.8 to 59.1 years. The overall mean prevalence of MIC was 89.6% ± 15.08%, and bilateral occurrence was statistically significant (P < .0001). The studies using a voxel size lower than 0.3 mm showed the highest mean prevalence (93.88%) in comparison with voxel size described as ≥ 0.3 mm (89.33%). Diameter (0.45 to 4.12 mm) and length (6.6 to 40.3 mm) showed great variability among the included studies. In summary, the results of this systematic review evidenced a high worldwide prevalence of MIC. There was no prevalence of MIC in relation to sex, and its presence was mainly related to adults between the fourth and sixth decades of life. In addition, great heterogeneity of methodologies was observed.

A Two-Step Feature Selection Method to Predict Cancerlectins by Multiview Features and Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique.

Cancerlectins have an inhibitory effect on the growth of cancer cells and are currently being employed as therapeutic agents. The accurate identification of the cancerlectins should provide insight into the molecular mechanisms of cancers. In this study, a new computational method based on the RF (Random Forest) algorithm is proposed for further improving the performance of identifying cancerlectins. Hybrid feature space before feature selection is developed by combining different individual feature spaces, CTD (Composition, Transition, and Distribution), PseAAC (Pseudo Amino Acid Composition), PSSM (Position-Specific Scoring Matrix), and disorder. The SMOTE (Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique) is applied to solve the imbalanced data problem. To reduce feature redundancy and computation complexity, we propose a two-step feature selection process to select informative features. A 5-fold cross-validation technique is used for the evaluation of various prediction strategies. The proposed method achieves a sensitivity of 0.779, a specificity of 0.717, an accuracy of 0.748, and an MCC (Matthew's Correlation Coefficient) of 0.497. The prediction results are also compared with other existing methods on the same dataset using 5-fold cross-validation. The comparison results demonstrate the high effectiveness of our method for predicting cancerlectins.

Optimization and purification of l-asparaginase from fungi: A systematic review.

The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the available literature of the l-asparaginase producing fungi. This study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews. The search was conducted on five databases: LILACS, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus and Web of Science up until July 20th, 2016, with no time or language restrictions. The reference list of the included studies was crosschecked and a partial gray literature search was undertaken. The methodology of the selected studies was evaluated using GRADE. Asparaginase production, optimization using statistical design, purification and characterization were the main evaluated outcomes. Of the 1686 initially gathered studies, 19 met the inclusion criteria after a two-step selection process. Nine species of fungi were reported in the selected studies, out of which 13 studies optimized the medium composition using statistical design for enhanced asparaginase production and six reported purification and characterization of the enzyme. The genera Aspergillus were identified as producers of asparaginase in both solid and submerged fermentation and l-asparagine was the amino acid most used as nitrogen source. This systematic review demonstrated that different fungi produce l-asparaginase, which possesses a potential in leukemia treatment. However, further investigations are required to confirm the promising effect of these fungal enzymes.

Neuroimmune expression in hip osteoarthritis: a systematic review

BackgroundNeuroimmune axis is central in the physiopathology of hip osteoarthritis (OA), but its specific pathways are still unclear. This systematic review aims to assess the nervous and immune system profile of patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA) when compared to healthy controls.MethodsA systematic review followed PRISMA guidelines was conducted. A two-step selection process was completed, and from 609 references 17 were included. The inclusion criteria were: original articles on adult patients with hip OA, with assessment of neuroimmune expression. Articles with other interventions prior to analysis and those without a control group were excluded.ResultsThirty-nine relevant neuroimmune markers were identified, with assessments in bone, cartilage, synovial membrane, synovial fluid, whole blood, serum and/or immune cells. GM-CSF, IFN-γ, IL-1α, IL-6, IL-8, IL-1 and TNF-α presented variable expression among tissues studied when compared between hip OA and controls. VEGFs and TGF-ß isoforms showed similar tendencies among tissues and studies. On nervous expression, CGRP, Tuj-1 and SP were increased in synovial membrane. Overall, patients with hip OA presented a higher number of overexpressed markers.ConclusionsFor the first time a systematic review on neuroimmune expression in patients with hip OA found an upregulation of neuroimmune markers, with deregulated balance between pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines. However, no clear systematic pattern was found, and few information is available on nervous expression. This highlights the importance of future research with clear methodologies to guide the management of these patients.

Biomarkers in the assessment of oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the capability of biomarkers to predict the risk of oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients, as well as to assess the correlation between these biomarkers and the severity of mucositis. The search was performed at LILACS, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Web of Science. A search of the gray literature was performed on Google Scholar, OpenGrey, and ProQuest. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (MAStARI) tool, and the evidence quality was assessed by the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system. After a two-step selection process, 26 studies met the eligibility criteria. In total, 27 biomarkers were evaluated, and the most frequent were the epidermal growth factor (EGF), C-reactive protein (CRP), genetic polymorphisms, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). The meta-analysis showed an expression of polymorphisms in XRCC1 (32.66%), XRCC3 (31.00%), and RAD51 (39.16%) genes, as well as an expression of protein biomarkers (39.57%), in patients with an increased risk of developing oral mucositis. Dosing biomarkers before starting radiation therapy may be a promising method to predict the risk of developing mucositis and allow radiosensitive patients to have a customized treatment. Although there is currently limited evidence to confirm the putative implementation of serum and salivary biomarkers to assess the correlation between them and the severity of mucositis, this current review provides new research directions.

In vivo and clinical application of strontium-enriched biomaterials for bone regeneration: A systematic review.

ObjectivesThis systematic review aimed to assess the in vivo and clinical effect of strontium (Sr)-enriched biomaterials in bone formation and/or remodelling.MethodsA systematic search was performed in Pubmed, followed by a two-step selection process. We included in vivo original studies on Sr-containing biomaterials used for bone support or regeneration, comparing at least two groups that only differ in Sr addition in the experimental group.ResultsA total of 572 references were retrieved and 27 were included. Animal models were used in 26 articles, and one article described a human study. Osteoporotic models were included in 11 papers. All articles showed similar or increased effect of Sr in bone formation and/or regeneration, in both healthy and osteoporotic models. No study found a decreased effect. Adverse effects were assessed in 17 articles, 13 on local and four on systemic adverse effects. From these, only one reported a systemic impact from Sr addition. Data on gene and/or protein expression were available from seven studies.ConclusionsThis review showed the safety and effectiveness of Sr-enriched biomaterials for stimulating bone formation and remodelling in animal models. The effect seems to increase over time and is impacted by the concentration used. However, included studies present a wide range of study methods. Future work should focus on consistent models and guidelines when developing a future clinical application of this element.Cite this article: N. Neves, D. Linhares, G. Costa, C. C. Ribeiro, M. A. Barbosa. In vivo and clinical application of strontium-enriched biomaterials for bone regeneration: A systematic review. Bone Joint Res 2017;6:366–375. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.66.BJR-2016-0311.R1.

Surveillance Systems from Public Health Institutions and Scientific Societies for Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-Associated Infections in Europe (SUSPIRE): protocol for a systematic review

IntroductionThe worldwide spread of antimicrobial resistance is now recognised as a global public health threat. Owing to the geographical heterogeneity, complexity and continuously evolving dynamics of resistant organisms and genes,...

Mutant selection in the self-incompatible plant radish (Raphanus sativus L. var. sativus) using two-step TILLING.

Radish (Raphanus sativus L. var. sativus), a widely cultivated root vegetable crop, possesses a large sink organ (the root), implying that photosynthetic activity in radish can be enhanced by altering both the source and sink capacity of the plant. However, since radish is a self-incompatible plant, improved mutation-breeding strategies are needed for this crop. TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes) is a powerful method used for reverse genetics. In this study, we developed a new TILLING strategy involving a two-step mutant selection process for mutagenized radish plants: the first selection is performed to identify a BC1M1 line, that is, progenies of M1 plants crossed with wild-type, and the second step is performed to identify BC1M1 individuals with mutations. We focused on Rubisco as a target, since Rubisco is the most abundant plant protein and a key photosynthetic enzyme. We found that the radish genome contains six RBCS genes and one pseudogene encoding small Rubisco subunits. We screened 955 EMS-induced BC1M1 lines using our newly developed TILLING strategy and obtained six mutant lines for the six RsRBCS genes, encoding proteins with four different types of amino acid substitutions. Finally, we selected a homozygous mutant and subjected it to physiological measurements.

The prevalence and sociodemographic determinants of uninvestigated dyspepsia in the Czech Republic: a multicentre prospective study accomplished 10 years after the first study from the same geographical areas.

The epidemiology of uninvestigated dyspepsia was studied in the Czech Republic for the first time in 2001. The aim of the current multicenter prospective study was to evaluate dyspepsia using the same methods in a representative sample of general unselected population from the same geographical areas 10 years later. A total of 38 147 individuals comprised the general population for a random two-step selection process. A total of 1836 participants (863 males and 973 females; aged 5-98 years) took part in the questionnaire-based study. Helicobacter pylori status was investigated in all participants by means of C-urea breath test. The overall prevalence of dyspepsia was 2.6% among children and adolescents aged 5-17 years and 16.0% among adults aged 18-98 years. We did not detect any statistically significant sex differences in the prevalence of total dyspepsia or its subtypes. Overall, 2.4% of H. pylori-negative children and adolescents aged less than 18 years reported dyspepsia, and 16.8% of H. pylori-negative adults reported it. Among H. pylori-positive children and adolescents and adults, dyspepsia was present in 8.3 and 15.8%, respectively. Type A dyspepsia (as the only long-lasting symptom) was statistically significantly associated with H. pylori status among children and adolescents. Among adults aged 18 years or older, we noted a lower prevalence of dyspepsia in adults with elementary education compared with university education. Current use of antibiotics was associated with an increased prevalence of dyspepsia in adults. Despite the substantial decrease of H. pylori infection in the Czech Republic over the past 10 years, the prevalence and sociodemographic determinants of uninvestigated dyspepsia did not change significantly.

The Predictive Validity of a Two-Step Selection Process to Medical Schools

Background. A two-step selection process, consisting of cognitive and noncognitive measures, is common in medical school admissions. Objective. To estimate the validity of this process in predicting academic performance, taking into account the complex and pervasive effect of range restriction in this context. Methods. The estimation of the validity of the two-step process included a sequential correction for range restriction and an estimation of the predictive validity of the process in its entirety. Data were collected from 1,002 undergraduate students from four cohorts (2006/07–2009/10) at three medical schools in Israel. Results. The predictive validity of the composite of the cognitive measures with respect to Year 1 performance was high, resulting entirely from the predictive validity of the admission test (a standard measure of ability). The predictive validity of the noncognitive measure was moderate. The predictive validity of the process in its entirety was high, its value dependent on the weights given to the cognitive and noncognitive measures. Conclusion. A cognitive admission test has a high predictive validity with respect to Year 1 performance. The addition of a noncognitive measure in the second step does not markedly diminish the predictive validity of the selection process with respect to academic achievement.

Glass-frit size dependence of densification behavior and mechanical properties of zinc aluminum calcium borosilicate glass-ceramics

Glass-ceramic frits of various sizes composed of zinc aluminum calcium borosilicate (CaOB2O3SiO2ZnOAl2O3) were prepared by mechanical milling and subsequent size selection of the glass melt. Glass frits with mean particle sizes of 1.2 ± 0.9 μm, 2.9 ± 2.1 μm, and 4.8 ± 2.3 μm were successfully obtained using a two-step size selection process combined with gravity sedimentation and centrifugation methods. Dilatometry, DTA, XRD, SEM, and high-resolution TEM were utilized to examine densification/crystallization behaviors of the produced materials, while mechanical properties of sintered samples were evaluated using a three-point bending test and micro-indentation method. The obtained results show that densification temperatures of the produced glasses were notably lowered, while bending strength and indentation hardness of the sintered samples increased as the initial frit size decreased to ∼1 μm. The observed enhancement of mechanical properties is attributed to pore reduction, small grain sizes, and formation of nano-sized crystalline phases in the glass matrix.

An integrated feature ranking and selection framework for ADHD characterization.

Today, diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) still primarily relies on a series of subjective evaluations that highly rely on a doctor’s experiences and intuitions from diagnostic interviews and observed behavior measures. An accurate and objective diagnosis of ADHD is still a challenge and leaves much to be desired. Many children and adults are inappropriately labeled with ADHD conditions, whereas many are left undiagnosed and untreated. Recent advances in neuroimaging studies have enabled us to search for both structural (e.g., cortical thickness, brain volume) and functional (functional connectivity) abnormalities that can potentially be used as new biomarkers of ADHD. However, structural and functional characteristics of neuroimaging data, especially magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), usually generate a large number of features. With a limited sample size, traditional machine learning techniques can be problematic to discover the true characteristic features of ADHD due to the significant issues of overfitting, computational burden, and interpretability of the model. There is an urgent need of efficient approaches to identify meaningful discriminative variables from a higher dimensional feature space when sample size is small compared with the number of features. To tackle this problem, this paper proposes a novel integrated feature ranking and selection framework that utilizes normalized brain cortical thickness features extracted from MRI data to discriminate ADHD subjects against healthy controls. The proposed framework combines information theoretic criteria and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) method into a two-step feature selection process which is capable of selecting a sparse model while preserving the most informative features. The experimental results showed that the proposed framework generated the highest/comparable ADHD prediction accuracy compared with the state-of-the-art feature selection approaches with minimum number of features in the final model. The selected regions of interest in our model were consistent with recent brain–behavior studies of ADHD development, and thus confirmed the validity of the selected features by the proposed approach.

Predicting hot spots in protein interfaces based on protrusion index, pseudo hydrophobicity and electron-ion interaction pseudopotential features.

The identification of hot spots, a small subset of protein interfaces that accounts for the majority of binding free energy, is becoming more important for the research of drug design and cancer development. Based on our previous methods (APIS and KFC2), here we proposed a novel hot spot prediction method. For each hot spot residue, we firstly constructed a wide variety of 108 sequence, structural, and neighborhood features to characterize potential hot spot residues, including conventional ones and new one (pseudo hydrophobicity) exploited in this study. We then selected 3 top-ranking features that contribute the most in the classification by a two-step feature selection process consisting of minimal-redundancy-maximal-relevance algorithm and an exhaustive search method. We used support vector machines to build our final prediction model. When testing our model on an independent test set, our method showed the highest F1-score of 0.70 and MCC of 0.46 comparing with the existing state-of-the-art hot spot prediction methods. Our results indicate that these features are more effective than the conventional features considered previously, and that the combination of our and traditional features may support the creation of a discriminative feature set for efficient prediction of hot spots in protein interfaces.