Plos One
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Lack of transparency in clinical trial conduct, publication bias and selective reporting bias are still important problems in medical research. Through clinical trials registration, it should be possible to take steps towards resolving some of these problems. However, previous evaluations of registered records of clinical trials have shown that registered information is often incomplete and non-meaningful. If these studies are accurate, this negates the possible benefits of registration of clinical trials. ⋯ Clinical trials registration has the potential to contribute substantially to improving clinical trial transparency and reducing publication bias and selective reporting. These potential benefits are currently undermined by deficiencies in the provision of information in key areas of registered records.
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Previous expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) studies have performed genetic association studies for gene expression, but most of these studies examined lymphoblastoid cell lines from non-diseased individuals. We examined the genetics of gene expression in a relevant disease tissue from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients to identify functional effects of known susceptibility genes and to find novel disease genes. By combining gene expression profiling on induced sputum samples from 131 COPD cases from the ECLIPSE Study with genomewide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data, we found 4315 significant cis-eQTL SNP-probe set associations (3309 unique SNPs). ⋯ Seventy-four additional eQTL SNPs were associated with COPD at p<0.01. These were genotyped in two COPD populations, finding replicated associations with a SNP in PSORS1C1, in the HLA-C region on chromosome 6. Integrative analysis of GWAS and gene expression data from relevant tissue from diseased subjects has located potential functional variants in two known COPD genes and has identified a novel COPD susceptibility locus.
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Anti-tuberculosis drug induced liver injury (ATLI) is emerging as a significant threat to tuberculosis control in China, though limited data is available about the burden of ATLI at population level. This study aimed to estimate the incidence of ATLI, to better understand its clinical features, and to evaluate its impact on anti-tuberculosis (TB) treatment in China. ⋯ ATLI could considerably impact the outcomes of anti-TB treatment. Given the incidence of ATLI and the size of TB population in China, the negative impact is substantial. Therefore, more research and efforts are warranted in order to enhance the diagnosis and the prevention of ATLI.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy vs. cognitive behavioral group therapy for social anxiety disorder: a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial.
Cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT) is an effective, well-established, but not widely available treatment for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (ICBT) has the potential to increase availability and facilitate dissemination of therapeutic services for SAD. However, ICBT for SAD has not been directly compared with in-person treatments such as CBGT and few studies investigating ICBT have been conducted in clinical settings. Our aim was to investigate if ICBT is at least as effective as CBGT for SAD when treatments are delivered in a psychiatric setting. ⋯ ICBT delivered in a psychiatric setting can be as effective as CBGT in the treatment of SAD and could be used to increase availability to CBT.
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The pulvinar nucleus of the tree shrew receives both topographic (specific) and nontopographic (diffuse) projections from superior colliculus (SC), which form distinct synaptic arrangements. We characterized the physiological properties of these synapses and describe two distinct types of excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) that correlate with structural properties of the specific and diffuse terminals. Synapses formed by specific terminals were found to be significantly longer than those formed by diffuse terminals. ⋯ We found that retinogeniculate terminals do not contain either synapsin I or synapsin II, corticothalamic terminals in the dLGN and pulvinar contain synapsin I, but not synapsin II, whereas tectopulvinar terminals contain both synapsin I and synapsin II. Finally, both types of EPSPs showed a graded increase in amplitude with increasing stimulation intensity, suggesting convergence; this was confirmed using a combination of anterograde tract tracing and immunocytochemistry. We suggest that the convergent synaptic arrangements, as well as the unique synapsin content of tectopulvinar terminals, allow them to relay a dynamic range of visual signals from the SC.