• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.2361-2368
• /
• 2015

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in differentiating between benign and malignant enlarged lymph nodes using meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: Pubmed, Embase, SCI and Cochrane databases were searched for studies (up to September 1, 2014) reporting the diagnostic performance of CEUS in discriminating between benign and malignant lymph nodes. Inclusion criteria were: prospective study; histopathology as the reference standard; and sufficient data to construct $2{\times}2$ contingency tables. Methodological quality was assessed using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2). Patient clinical characteristics, sensitivity and specificity were extracted. The summary receiver operating characteristic curve was used to examine the accuracy of CEUS. A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the clinical utility in identification of benign and malignant lymph nodes. Sensitivity analysis was performed after omitting outliers identified in a bivariate boxplot and publication bias was assessed with Egger testing. Results: The pooled sensitivity, specificity and AUROC were 0.92 (95%CI, 0.85-0.96), 0.91 (95%CI, 0.82-0.95) and 0.97 (95%CI, 0.95-0.98), respectively. After omitting 3 outlier studies, heterogeneity decreased. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated no disproportionate influences of individual studies. Publication bias was not significant. Conclusions: CEUS is a promising diagnostic modality in differentiating between benign and malignant lymph nodes and can potentially reduce unnecessary fine-needle aspiration biopsies of benign nodes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.6
• /
• pp.2687-2693
• /
• 2012

Objective: Passive smoking has been considered as a risk factor of many cancers. To examine whether it might also pose a risk for cervical cancer, we performed a meta-analysis based on published case-control studies. Methods: We searched the PubMed database and references of included studies up to February 10th, 2012 for relevant studies. After two authors independently assessed the methodological quality and extracted data, a meta-analysis was conducted using CMA v2 software. Publication bias was evaluated by funnel plot, using Egger's and Begg's tests. Results: Finally 11 eligible studies yielded, involving 3,230 cases and 2,982 controls. The results showed that women who never smoke but exposed to smoking experience a 73% increase in risk of cervical cancer compared with non-exposed women (OR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.35 - 2.21, p<0.001). Subgroup and sensitivity analyses indicated this result to be robust. Moderate publication bias was detected by visualing funnel plot, Egger's and Begg's tests. Conclusion: Based on currently available evidence, the findings of this meta-analysis suggests that passive smoking significantly and independently increases the risk of cervical cancer.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.687-710
• /
• 2016

This study aims to empirically estimate distributed lag effects of expenditure by type of R&D on scientific publication in the national R&D program. To analyze the lag structure between them, we used a dataset comprised of panel data from 104 technologies categorized by 6T (IT, BT, NT, ST, ET, CT) from 2007 to 2014, and employed multiple regression analysis based on the polynomial distributed lag model. This is because it is highly likely to emerge multicollinearity, if a distributed lag model without special restrictions is applied to multiple regression analysis. The main results are as follows. In the case of basic research, its lag effects are relatively evenly distributed during four years. On the other hand, the applied research and experimental development have distributed lag effects for three years and two years respectively. Therefore, when it comes to analyzing performance of scientific publication, it is necessary to be performed with characteristics of the time lag by type of R&D.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.7
• /
• pp.3253-3258
• /
• 2012

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) plus chemotherapy versus WBRT alone for treating brain metastases (BM) from lung cancer by performing a meta-analysis based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: The PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, ASCO, ESMO, CBM, CNKI, and VIP databases were searched for relevant RCTs performed between January 2000 and March 2012. After quality assessment and data extraction, the meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan 5.1 software, with funnel plot evaluation of publication bias. Results: 19 RCTs involving 1,343 patients were included. The meta-analyses demonstrated that compared to WBRT alone, WBRT plus chemotherapy was more effective with regard to the objective response rate (OR = 2.30, 95% CI = 1.79 - 2.98; P < 0.001); however, the incidences of gastrointestinal reactions (RR = 3.82, 95% CI = 2.33 - 6.28, P <0.001), bone marrow suppression (RR = 5.49, 95% CI = 3.65 - 8.25, P < 0.001), thrombocytopenia (RR = 5.83, 95% CI = 0.39 - 86.59; P = 0.20), leukopenia (RR = 3.13, 95% CI = 1.77 - 5.51; P < 0.001), and neutropenia (RR = 2.75, 95% CI = 1.61 - 4.68; P < 0.001) in patients treated with WBRT plus chemotherapy were higher than with WBRT alone. There was no obvious publication bias detected. Conclusion: WBRT plus chemotherapy can obviously improve total efficacy rate, butalso increases the incidence of adverse reactions compared to WBRT alone. From the limitations of this study, more large-scale, high-quality RCTs are suggested for further verification.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.8
• /
• pp.3233-3239
• /
• 2015

Background: Whether depression causes increased risk of the development of breast cancer has long been debated. We conducted an updated meta-analysis of cohort studies to assess the association between depression and risk of breast cancer. Materials and Methods: Relevant literature was searched from Medline, Embase, Web of Science (up to April 2014) as well as manual searches of reference lists of selected publications. Cohort studies on the association between depression and breast cancer were included. Data abstraction and quality assessment were conducted independently by two authors. Random-effect model was used to compute the pooled risk estimate. Visual inspection of a funnel plot, Begg rank correlation test and Egger linear regression test were used to evaluate the publication bias. Results: We identified eleven cohort studies (182,241 participants, 2,353 cases) with a follow-up duration ranging from 5 to 38 years. The pooled adjusted RR was 1.13(95% CI: 0.94 to 1.36; $I^2=67.2%$, p=0.001). The association between the risk of breast cancer and depression was consistent across subgroups. Visual inspection of funnel plot and Begg's and Egger's tests indicated no evidence of publication bias. Regarding limitations, a one-time assessment of depression with no measure of duration weakens the test of hypothesis. In addition, 8 different scales were used for the measurement of depression, potentially adding to the multiple conceptual problems concerned with the definition of depression. Conclusions: Available epidemiological evidence is insufficient to support a positive association between depression and breast cancer.

• Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.21-29
• /
• 2016

Given the difference in research performance in various scientific fields, this study aims to weight and valuate current indicators used for evaluation of scientific productions (publications), in order to adjust these indicators in comparison to each other and make possible a more precise evaluation of scientific productions. This is a scientometrics study using documentary, evaluative, and survey techniques. The statistical population consisted of 106 top Iranian researchers, scientists, and scientific and research managers. Then their research résumé information was gathered and analyzed based on research questions. In order to compare values, the data gathered from research production performance of the population was weighted using Shannon entropy method. Also, the weights of each scientific production importance according to expert opinions (extracted from other works) was analyzed and after adjustment the final weight of each scientific production was determined. A pairwise matrix was used in order to determine the ratios. According to the results, in the area of engineering sciences, patents (0.142) in the area of science, international articles (0.074) in the area of humanities and social sciences, books (0.174), and in the area of medical sciences, international articles (0.111) had the highest weight compared to other information formats. By dividing the weights for each type of publication, the value of each scientific production compared to other scientific productions in the same field and productions of other fields was calculated. Validation of the results in the studied population resulted in very high credibility for all investigated indicators in all four fields. By using these values and normalized ratios of publication indicators it is possible to achieve precise and adjusted results, making it possible to feasibly use these results in realistic policy making.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.161-170
• /
• 2008

The aim of this meta-analysis was to systematically investigate the anti-hepatotoxic effect of ginseng in rats induced toxicity which damage to liver. Primary researches were gained on the ScienceDirect database, the DBpia, and the KISS, and the data about the effect factors in plasma and in enzyme were listed as many as possible. The effect factors were alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), liver aminopyrine N-demethylase (AD), liver aniline hydroxylase (AH), liver 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine (liver MDA), cytochrome P450 (P450), serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), cytochrome b5 (Cyto b5), glutathione reductase (GR), Liver glutathione S-transferase (GST), liver glutamyltransferase (GT), Liver (${\gamma}-GCS$), serum liver 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine (serum MDA), serum sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH), serum total protein (TP), serum ${\gamma}-glutamyltransferase$ (${\gamma}-GT$). To investigate the effect of ginseng, the mean difference (MD) between the group of rats induced by toxicity (RH) and the group of rats induced by toxicity with ginseng (RHG) were combined, and the significance of MDs were tested. The combined MDs were checked the biases caused by heterogeneity among studies and the publication biases, and adjusted by using random effect model and trim and fill method, respectively. The effect about ALT, AST, ALP, LDH, SDH, TP and ${\gamma}-GT$ in plasma factors were significant, and about AD, liver MDA, P450, Cyto b5, GR, GST, GT and ${\gamma}-GCS$ in enzyme factors were significant. The treatment with ginseng supplementation was significantly effected on plasma and enzyme factors of damaged-rats.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.269-279
• /
• 2020

Objectives: Previous studies have reported inconsistent findings in the association between dental diagnostic X-ray exposure and thyroid cancer. This study was a meta-analysis of case-control studies evaluating the association between exposure to dental radiation and the thyroid cancer risk. Methods: We searched the PubMed and EMBASE databases to identify studies on dental radiation and thyroid cancer risks that were published up to September 2018. Quality of studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. A fixed-effects model was used to estimate pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using STATA 14.0. Potential publication biases were evaluated using Egger's test and Begg's funnel plot. Results: From the literature search, we included six case-control studies in this meta-analysis. The meta-analysis using the fixed-effects model found that dental X-ray exposure was associated with 2.34 times increased risk for thyroid cancer (OR=2.34, 95% CI=1.79-3.21). There was no heterogeneity in the data (p=0.662, I² =0%). Egger's test showed that there was no publication bias (p=0.532). Conclusions: This meta-analysis confirmed the association of dental X-ray exposure and thyroid cancer risk. The current results underscore the importance of applying safety regulations at dental clinics to protect thyroid glands during dental radiography examinations.

• Journal of Research and Publication Ethics
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.19-24
• /
• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to check the direction of KODISA's pursuit of complex and convergence studies by confirming the research trends of KODISA's direct academic journals such as JDS, JIDB, JBEES and JAFEB. To this end, we tried to compare and confirm the research trends of the papers in four academic journals targeting keywords. Research Design, data and methodology: The analysis was conducted from 2014 to 2020 on 867 papers from JDS, 315 papers from JIDB, 120 papers from JBEES, and 867 papers based on the publication year of the most recently published journal from JAFEB. For the analysis, frequency analysis, word crowding, topic modeling, and frequency analysis by applying weights for each year group were performed on the keywords crawled using Python. Results: The results of frequency analysis showed that each journal is properly oriented toward its target direction. In addition, it was confirmed that the results of topic modeling significantly reflected the results of frequency analysis. Finally, it could be concluded that the results of frequency analysis using the weights of keywords by year group were also developing in the direction the target journals were analyzed. Specifically, in the case of JDS, 20 keywords such as Service Quality, Distribution were found to increase continuously according to the year group. Meanwhile, the keywords that continued to increase according to JIDB's year group were India, Social Capital, and Job Stress. The keywords that continued to increase according to the year group of JBEES were Micro Finance Institutions and Microfinance, and the keywords that of JAFEB were confirmed to be Vietnam and Service Quality. Conclusion: It was confirmed that KODISA's direct management journals responded appropriately to convergence issues. In particular, it was confirmed that researches in various fields of JDS are continuously increasing. However, it seems that JIDB needs to deal with various issues additionally in the service industry field and JBEES in the environment field. Finally, it was found that JAFEB needs to be wary of the relatively low level of interest in some countries such as Kazakhstan and India in recent years.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.43 no.2
• /
• pp.282-304
• /
• 2023

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of carotenoid supplementation on the performance, egg quality, and immunity of laying hens using a meta-analysis approach. The database was searched using Google Scholar and Scopus, from 2012 to 2022. The literature was published in English. 47 Articles were selected for meta-analysis. Analyses were performed using the Open Meta-analyst for Ecology and Evolution (OpenMEE) software. The heterogeneity and data validation against publication bias were analyzed using JASP 0.16.2 software. Overall, the results showed that carotenoid supplementation improved feed intake by 0.32 g/day/hen [95% confidence interval (CI)=0.02 to 0.61], final body weight by 0.33 g/hen (95% CI=0.05 to 0.60), egg production by 0.38% (95% CI=0.14 to 0.63), egg weight by 0.29 g (95% CI=0.09 to 0.5), yolk colour by 2.11 (95% CI=1.71 to 2.51), Haugh unit (HU) by 0.26 (95% CI=0.11 to 0.42), yolk carotenoids by 1.17 ㎍/kg (95% CI=0.59 to 1.75), immunoglobulin A (IgA) by 0.74 mg/L (95% CI=0.18 to 1.29), and lower yolk cholesterol by -0.38 mg/g (95% CI=-0.59 to -0.16). Feed conversion ratio (FCR), eggshell thickness, and white blood cells were unaffected by the application of carotenoids. The heterogeneity analysis showed variability in all studies (<0.05). In conclusion, carotenoid supplementation can elevate productivity, enhance egg quality, and improve immunity. However, based on Kendall's test, there was a publication bias in several parameters, namely FCR, egg weight, HU, yolk carotenoids, and IgA.