Plos One
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Coral reef ecosystems are under increasing pressure from local and regional stressors and a changing climate. Current management focuses on reducing stressors to allow for natural recovery, but in many areas where coral reefs are damaged, natural recovery can be restricted, delayed or interrupted because of unstable, unconsolidated coral fragments, or rubble. Rubble fields are a natural component of coral reefs, but repeated or high-magnitude disturbances can prevent natural cementation and consolidation processes, so that coral recruits fail to survive. ⋯ Any restoration intervention needs to be underpinned by risk assessment, and the decision to repair rubble fields must arise from an understanding of when and where unconsolidated substrate and lack of structure impair natural reef recovery and ecological function. Monitoring is necessary to ascertain the success or failure of the intervention and impacts of potential risks, but there is a strong need to specify desired outcomes, the spatial and temporal context and indicators to be measured. With a focus on the Great Barrier Reef, we synthesise the techniques, successes and failures associated with rubble stabilisation and the use of small structures, review monitoring methods and indicators, and provide recommendations to ensure that we learn from past projects.
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Fourteen previous meta-analyses have been published to analyze the polymorphisms of individual GSTM1 present/null, GSTT1 present/null, and GSTP1 IIe105Val on breast cancer (BC) risk. However, their meta-analyses did not explore the combined effects of the three genetic polymorphisms on BC risk. In addition, they did not evaluate the credibility of statistically significant associations. Furthermore, a multitude of new articles have been published on these themes, and therefore a meta-analysis and re-analysis of systematic previous meta-analyses were performed to further explore these issues. ⋯ This meta-analysis indicates that the individual and combined effects of GSTM1, GSTT1 and GSTP1 polymorphisms may be not associated with increased BC risk.
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Premenstrual syndrome is a clinical condition characterised by the cyclic occurrence of physical and emotional symptoms, which can interfere with normal activity. It significantly affects the health-related quality of life and can result in decreased work productivity. The prevalence of premenstrual syndrome varies widely in different countries and different regions of the same country. Thus, this study was aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of premenstrual syndrome and its associated factors among women in Ethiopia. ⋯ More than half of the women under reproductive age group were experiencing premenstrual syndrome in Ethiopia.
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Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Yoga compared to non-exercise or physical therapy exercise on pain, disability, and quality of life for patients with chronic low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a common and often disabling musculoskeletal condition. Yoga has been proven to be an effective therapy for chronic low back pain. However, there are still controversies about the effects of yoga at different follow-up periods and compared with other physical therapy exercises. ⋯ This meta-analysis provided evidence from very low to moderate investigating the effectiveness of yoga for chronic low back pain patients at different time points. Yoga might decrease pain from short term to intermediate term and improve functional disability status from short term to long term compared with non-exercise (e.g. usual care, education). Yoga had the same effect on pain and disability as any other exercise or physical therapy. Yoga might not improve the physical and mental quality of life based on the result of a merging.
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Estimating the risk of pre-existing comorbidities on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mortality may promote the importance of targeting populations at risk to improve survival. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the association of pre-existing comorbidities with COVID-19 mortality. ⋯ Patients with COVID-19 with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease and cancer have a greater risk of mortality compared to patients with COVID-19 without these comorbidities. Tailored infection prevention and treatment strategies targeting this high-risk population might improve survival.