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The utilization of biogas slurry is critical for the sustainable development of animal husbandry. Biomass carbon adsorption is a feasible method for the recycling of nutrients from biogas slurry. However, research on the co-adsorption of ammonia nitrogen and phosphate is scarce. Herein, soybean straw was utilized as the raw material to prepare Ca2+-modified biochar (CaSSB), which was investigated for its ammonia nitrogen and phosphate adsorption mechanisms. Compared with natural biochar (SSB), CaSSB possesses a high H/C ratio, larger surface area, high porosity and various functional groups. Ca2+-modified soybean straw biochar exhibited excellent adsorption performance for NH4+-N (103.18 mg/g) and PO43--P (9.75 mg/g) at pH = 6, using an adsorbent dosage of 2 g/L. The experimental adsorption data of ammonia nitrogen by CaSSB corresponded to pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir isotherm model, suggesting that the adsorption process was homogeneous and that electrostatic attraction might be the primary adsorption mechanism. Meanwhile, the adsorption of phosphate conformed to pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir-Freundlich model, whose mechanism might be attributed to ligand exchange and chemical precipitation. These results reveal the potential of CaSSBs as a cost-effective, efficient adsorbent for the recovery of ammonium and phosphate from biogas slurry.

Though a meta-analysis reported the effect of diabetes on colorectal prognosis in 2013, a series of large-scale long-term cohort studies has comprehensively reported the outcome effect estimates on the relationship between diabetes and colorectal prognosis, and their results were still consistent.We carried out an extensive search strategy in multiple databases and conducted a meta-analysis on the effect of diabetes on colorectal prognosis, based on the included 36 cohort studies, which contained 2,299,012 subjects. In order to collect more data, besides conventional methods, we used the professional software to extract survival data from the Kaplan-Meier curves, and analyzed both the 5-year survival rate and survival risk in overall survival, cancer-specific survival, cardiovascular disease-specific survival, disease-free survival, and recurrence-free survival, to comprehensively reflect the effect of diabetes on colorectal prognosis.The results found that compared to patients without diabetes, patients with diabetes will have a 5-year shorter survival in colorectal, colon and rectal cancer, with a 18%, 19% and 16% decreased in overall survival respectively. We also found similar results in cancer-specific survival, cardiovascular disease-specific survival, disease-free survival, and recurrence-free survival, but not all these results were significant. We performed the subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis to find the source of heterogeneity. Their results were similar to the overall results.Our meta-analysis suggested that diabetes had a negative effect on colorectal cancer in overall survival. More studies are still needed to confirm the relationship between diabetes and colorectal prognosis in cancer-specific survival, cardiovascular disease-specific survival, disease-free survival, and recurrence-free survival.

OBJECTIVES:Findings on the relationship between total bilirubin level (TBL) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) are inconsistent. Thus, we carried out a meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between TBL and the risk of DR. METHODS:Relevant studies were selected from six databases up to 31 May 2016 using a search strategy. The relevant data were extracted from the included studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the mean value with standard errors or odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. We compared TBL in patients with DR with that in patients with diabetes but without retinopathy (NDR), and analyzed the dose-response relationship between TBL and the risk of DR. RESULTS:Twenty-four studies were selected in this meta-analysis. Twenty studies were included to calculate the pooled SMD, and the results showed that TBL in the DR group was lower than that in the NDR group (SMD: -0.52, 95% CI: -0.67, -0.38). Nine studies were included to calculate the pooled ORs, and the results showed that there was a significant negative relationship between TBL and the risk of DR (OR: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.14, 0.25). Six studies were included to investigate the dose-response relationship between TBL and the risk of DR, and we found a nonlinear relationship between TBL and the risk of DR. The results of our meta-analysis were found to be reliable using subgroup and sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSIONS:The results of our meta-analysis indicate that higher TBL may be protective against DR in subjects with diabetes, and TBL could be used as a biomarker to predict the risk of DR.

BACKGROUND: Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), a key enzyme in folate metabolism, had significant effects on the homocysteine levels. The common functional MTHFR C677T polymorphism had been extensively researched. Several studies had evaluated the relationship between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but the results were still controversial in the Chinese Han population. This meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and T2DM in the Chinese Han population. METHODS: We searched the relevant studies in multiple electronic databases, which published up to December 2013. We reviewed and extracted data from all the included studies on the relationship between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and T2DM in the Chinese Han population. The odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were used to evaluate the relationship. Fixed-effects and random-effects meta-analysis were used to pool ORs by the heterogeneity. Publication bias and sensitivity analysis were also examined. RESULTS: 29 studies were finally included in our meta-analysis, which contained 4656 individuals with T2DM and 2127 healthy controls. There was a significant relationship between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and T2DM under dominant (OR: 1.70, 95% CI: 1.42-2.02), recessive (OR: 1.48, 95% CI: 1.21-1.80), homozygous (OR: 1.89, 95% CI: 1.47-2.42), heterozygous (OR: 1.58, 95% CI: 1.33-1.87), and additive (OR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.28-1.68) genetic model in a random-effects model. Subgroup analysis also reached similar results. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the overall result were dependable. CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant relationship between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and T2DM in the Chinese Han population. The results of our meta-analysis suggested that MTHFR 677T allele might be a risk genetic factor of T2DM in the Chinese Han population.

Background and objectiveConflicting results were found between the I-gel™ and the LMA-Supreme™ during anesthesia, so we conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to compare the effectiveness and safety of the I-gel™ vs. the LMA-Supreme™during anesthesia.MethodsA comprehensive search was conducted using Pubmed, EMbase, ISI Web of Knowledge, the Cochrane Library, China Journal Full-text Database, Chinese Biomedical Database, Chinese Scientific Journals Full-text Database, CMA Digital Periodicals, and Google scholar to find RCTs that compare the LMA-S™ with the i-gel™during anesthesia. Two reviewers independently selected trials, extracted data, and assessed the methodological qualities and evidence levels. Data were analyzed by RevMan 5.0 and comprehensive meta-analysis software.ResultsTen RCTs were included. There were no significant differences in oropharyngeal leak pressures (mean difference [MD] 0.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] -1.10 2.53), device placement time (MD -1.3, 95%CI -4.07 1.44), first attempt insertion success (risk ratio [RR] 1.01, 95% CI 0.9 1.14), grade 3 and 4 fiberoptic view (RR 0.89, 95%CI 0.65 1.21), and blood on removal (RR 0.62, 95%CI 0.32 1.22) between the i-gel™ and the LMA-Supreme™, respectively. However, the LMA-Supreme™was associated with easier gastric tube insertion (RR 1.17, 95%CI 1.07 1.29), and more sore throat (RR 2.56, 95%CI 1.60 4.12) than the i-gel™ group.ConclusionsThe LMA-Supreme™ and i-gel™ were similarly successful and rapidly inserted. However, the LMA-Supreme™ was shown to be easier for gastric tube insertion and associated with more sore throat compared with the i-gel™.

BackgroundIn China, there are 2.5 million new stroke cases each year and 7.5 million stroke survivors. However, stroke incidence in some island populations is obviously lower compared with inland regions, perhaps due to differences in diet and lifestyle. As the lifestyle in China has changed significantly, along with dramatic transformations in social, economic and environmental conditions, such changes have also been seen in island regions. Thus, we analyzed stroke in the Chinese island regions over the past 30 years.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review to identify reliable and comparable epidemiologic evidence about stroke in the Chinese island regions between 1980 and 2013. Two authors independently assessed the eligibility and the quality of the articles and disagreement was resolved by discussion. Owing to the great heterogeneity among individual study estimates, a random-effects or fixed-effects model was used to incorporate the heterogeneity among records into a pooled estimate for age-standardized rates. Age-standardized rates were calculated by the direct method with the 2000 world population if included records provided the necessary information.ResultsDuring the past three decades, the overall pooled age-standardized prevalence of stroke is 6.17 per 1000 (95% CI 4.56-7.78), an increase from 5.54 per 1000 (95% CI 3.88-7.20) prior to 2000 to 8.34 per 1000 (95% CI 5.98-10.69) after 2000. However, this difference was not found to be statistically significant. The overall pooled age-standardized incidence of stroke is 120.42 per 100,000 person years (95% CI 26.17-214.67). Between 1982 and 2008, the incidence of stroke increased and mortality declined over time.ConclusionsEffective intervention and specific policy recommendations on stroke prevention should be required, and formulated in a timely fashion to effectively curb the increased trend of stroke in Chinese island regions.

BACKGROUND: Explicit comparisons based on the semantic similarity of Gene Ontology terms provide a quantitative way to measure the functional similarity between gene products and are widely applied in large-scale genomic research via integration with other models. Previously, we presented an edge-based method, Relative Specificity Similarity (RSS), which takes the global position of relevant terms into account. However, edge-based semantic similarity metrics are sensitive to the intrinsic structure of GO and simply consider terms at the same level in the ontology to be equally specific nodes, revealing the weaknesses that could be complemented using information content (IC). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Here, we used the IC-based nodes to improve RSS and proposed a new method, Hybrid Relative Specificity Similarity (HRSS). HRSS outperformed other methods in distinguishing true protein-protein interactions from false. HRSS values were divided into four different levels of confidence for protein interactions. In addition, HRSS was statistically the best at obtaining the highest average functional similarity among human-mouse orthologs. Both HRSS and the groupwise measure, simGIC, are superior in correlation with sequence and Pfam similarities. Because different measures are best suited for different circumstances, we compared two pairwise strategies, the maximum and the best-match average, in the evaluation. The former was more effective at inferring physical protein-protein interactions, and the latter at estimating the functional conservation of orthologs and analyzing the CESSM datasets. In conclusion, HRSS can be applied to different biological problems by quantifying the functional similarity between gene products. The algorithm HRSS was implemented in the C programming language, which is freely available from http://cmb.bnu.edu.cn/hrss.

BACKGROUND: To quantify the effect of a combination treatment of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA) injection, panretinal photocoagulation (PRP), and macular photocoagulation (MPC) in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and diabetic macular edema (DME). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted a meta-analysis and searched for reports concerning IVTA injection combined with PRP for the treatment of PDR and DME using Medline, EMbase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and Google according to Cochrane evaluation guidelines. The quality of the reports was evaluated using the Jadad score. Only four studies were ultimately included in this meta-analysis and the fixed-effects model was used. Treatment with IVTA injection combined with PRP and MPC significantly improved BCVA (p

BACKGROUND: Although diabetic retinopathy (DR) is considered to be a major cause of blindness, this is the first meta-analysis to investigate the pooled prevalence of DR in mainland China. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted a search of all English reports on population-based studies for the prevalence of DR using Medline, EMbase, Web of Science, Google (scholar), and all Chinese reports were identified manually and on-line using CBMDisc, Chongqing VIP database, and CNKI database. A meta-analysis was carried out. The fixed effects model or random effects model was used as a statistical test for homogeneity. Nineteen studies were included. The prevalence of DR, non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) in the pooled general population was 1.3% (95%CI: 0.5%-3.2%), 1.1% (95%CI: 0.6%-2.1%), and 0.1% (95%CI: 0.1%-0.3%), respectively, but was 23% (95%CI: 17.8%-29.2%), 19.1% (95%CI: 13.6%-26.3%), and 2.8% (95%CI: 1.9%-4.2%) in the diabetic group. The prevalence rate of DR in the pooled rural population was higher than that in the urban population, 1.6% (95%CI: 1.3%-2%), and the diabetic population, 29.1% (95%CI: 20.9%-38.9%). The prevalence of DR was higher in the Northern region compared with the Southern region. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The prevalence of DR in mainland China appeared a little high, and varied according to area. NPDR was more common. This study highlights the necessity for DR screening in the rural areas of China.