Existing explanation systems for deductive databases show forests of proof trees. Although proof trees are often useful, they are only one possible interesting representation. We argue that an explanation system for deductive databases must be able to generate explanations at several levels of abstraction. One possible and well known technique to achieve this exibility is to instrument meta-int...

BACKGROUND DNA promoter methylation can suppresses gene expression and shows an important role in the biological functions of Ras association domain family 1A (RASSF1A). Many studies have performed to elucidate the role of RASSF1A promoter methylation in thyroid carcinoma, while the results were conflicting and heterogeneous. Here, we analyzed the data of databases to determine the relationship...

BACKGROUND Owing to inconsistent and inconclusive results, we performed a meta-analysis to derive a more precise estimation of the association between miR-499 rs3746444 polymorphism and cancer risk. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS A systematic search of the Pubmed, Excerpta Medica Database (Embase) and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) databases was performed with the last search up...

BACKGROUND Numerous studies have attempted to determine the prognostic role of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression in patients with osteosarcoma with no consistent conclusion. We performed this meta-analysis to systematically elucidate the association in a more precise manner.The purpose of this meta-analysis is to determine the prognostic role of PCNA in patients with osteosar...

This meta-analysis and systematic review aimed to attain specific data on the effect of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) administration on muscle injuries and the indices of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) after exercise. Literature search was performed in databases such as Scopus, ISI, Web of Science, Scientific Information Database (SID), Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials (CENTRAL...

INTRODUCTION Randomised clinical trials (RCTs) have been used to compare and evaluate different types of mesh fixation usually employed to repair open inguinal hernia. However, there is no consensus among surgeons on the best type of mesh fixation method to obtain optimal results. The choice often depends on surgeons' personal preference. This study aims to compare different types of mesh fixat...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the replication validity of biomedical association studies covered by newspapers. METHODS We used a database of 4723 primary studies included in 306 meta-analysis articles. These studies associated a risk factor with a disease in three biomedical domains, psychiatry, neurology and four somatic diseases. They were classified into a lifestyle category (e.g. smoking) and...

BACKGROUND This meta-analysis investigates the associations of adiponectin (ADIPOQ) genetic polymorphisms with the susceptibility to colorectal cancer (CRC). MATERIAL AND METHODS 2 reviewers independently searched 6 databases - PubMed, Cochrane Library, Ovid, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang databases - to identify published studies relevant to adiponectin ge...

Purpose The hippocampus plays a central role in cognitive and affective processes and is commonly implicated in neurodegenerative diseases. Our study aimed to identify and describe a hippocampal network model (HNM) using trans-diagnostic MRI data from the BrainMap® database. We used meta-analysis to test the network degeneration hypothesis (NDH) (Seeley et al., 2009) by identifying structural a...