VIP Journal Integration Platform Research Articles

Diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound for small hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhotic patients: a meta-analysis

To perform a meta-analysis of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) as a diagnostic tool for small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with cirrhosis. A computer-based retrieval system was first used to identify reports on the diagnostic efficacy of CEUS for small HCC in patients with cirrhosis that were published between 1995 and April 2012 in the following literature databases: Medline, PubMed, Foreign Medical Journal Service (FMJS), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Journal Integration Platform (VJIP), Wanfang Chinese Periodical Database, and Chinese Biomedicine Database (CBM). Two investigators, working independently, then selected cases from the relevant based upon specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. The extracted data was subjected to quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS). The MetaDisc version 1.4 software was used to conduct meta-analyses. Six studies, involving 380 lesions detected by various contrast mediums, were selected for analysis. Diagnosis of small HCC in patients with cirrhosis by CEUS based on Sonovue and Levovist had pooled sensitivities of 0.73 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.67-0.79) and 0.76 (95% CI: 0.60-0.89), pooled specificities of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.81-0.94) and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.61-0.91), pooled positive likelihood ratios of 6.53 (95% CI: 2.74-15.52) and 3.60 (95% CI: 1.89-6.85), pooled negative likelihood ratios of 0.26 (95% CI: 0.13-0.54) and 0.21 (95% CI: 0.02-2.63), and pooled diagnostic odds ratios of 27.50 (95% CI: 7.99-94.72) and 25.74 (95% CI: 5.30-125.04), respectively. The area under the curve of the summary receiving operating characteristic (SROC) of CEUS based on Sonovue was 0.9252 and the Q* index was 0.8595. CEUS is a valuable diagnostic tool for small HCC in cirrhotic patients.

The research collaboration in Chinese cardiology and cardiovasology field

BackgroundChina has become the world's second-largest economy after the United States since 2010. The cardiovascular diseases in have deteriorated significantly in resent 20years. There is few published report about collaboration in Chinese Cardiology and Cardiovasology (C&C) field so far. The current study reveals the status of the collaboration activities in Chinese C&C field. MethodsArticles published in 5 journals related to C&C from 2000 to 2010 were retrieved from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and VIP Journal Integration Platform(VJIP). Methods such as co-authorship, co-word analysis, centrality, k-core, m-slice were used in this study. ResultsAlthough the percentage of co-authored papers and the average number of authors per paper in Chinese C&C field were generally increasing, the geographic distribution of the research collaboration activitities was extremely uneven. There were 87 authors and 5 institutions ranking in top 1% of all the three centralities but 92.8% authors belonged to 10-Core and below. 90.93% authors are among 1-slice, 2-slice and 3-slice. We found 63 cohesive research groups in the focuses of research collaboration for Coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction, etc. ConclusionThe government should provide important role in supporting or encouraging the research collaboration among different regional areas. Based on the author ranking in the centralities, we will be able to select academic leaders more easily. The research studies in the field of collaboration network will provide important role to assist researchers to master the forefront research subjects, and to help research scientists to apply for scientific project funding.