In this note, we address the following question: Which 1-formal groups occur as fundamental groups of both quasi-Kähler manifolds and closed, connected, orientable 3-manifolds. We classify all such groups, at the level of Malcev completions, and compute their coranks. Dropping the assumption on realizability by 3-manifolds, we show that the corank equals the isotropy index of the cup-product ma...

z Evidence summary Studies without risk stratification find little benefit from beta-blockers A systematic review including 25 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluated perioperative beta-blocker therapy for noncardiac surgery in a total of 2722 patients who were not stratified according to cardiac risk status.1 Perioperative beta-blockers produced no significant effect on: • all-cause mort...

This paper presents a critical analysis of conventional operations on intuitionistic fuzzy values (IFVs), and some limitations of the conventional aggregation operator on IFVs are analyzed in detail. In order to overcome these limitations, according to new operation laws on IFVs based on Achimedean t-norm and t-conorm, we propose a new quasi-intuitionistic fuzzy OWA (QIFOWA) operator. Some corr...

BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown an association between the frequency of self-monitored blood glucose (SMBG) and hemoglobin A1c. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have shown this to be a causal correlation for insulin-using patients. Several studies have used linear regression, but a straight line will descend into negative hemoglobin A1c values (an impossibility). This study developed ...

Indeed, triangulating among different information sources and reviewing evidence systematically are the hallmarks of nuanced, ethically conducted, effective public health research. However, we take issue with Shelton’s opening statement that ‘‘randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have limited utility for public health’’ (p. 253). Rigorously designed randomized experiments and other impact evalua...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Stroke care is complex, requiring input from professionals, patients and carers. Identifying and developing appropriate intervention components to meet these complex needs is difficult. The Medical Research Council (MRC) Framework for developing and evaluating 'complex' (nonpharmacological) interventions aims to improve intervention development. This study uses the Framew...

BACKGROUND Long-term treatment with glucocorticoids (GCs) plays an important role in the management of arthritis patients, although the efficacy/safety balance is unfavorable. Alternatives with less (severe) adverse effects but with good efficacy are needed. Selective GC receptor modulators (SGRMs) are designed to engage the GC receptor with dissociative characteristics: transactivation of gene...

BACKGROUND There are two types of primary dysmenorrhea (spasmodic and congestive) which differ from each other in terms of the occurrence time in menstrual cycle, pain quality and other symptoms. The present study aimed to determine the effect of acupressure at the Sanyinjiao point (SP-6) on severity of menstrual symptoms (primary outcome) and the duration of resting time as well as the number ...

BACKGROUND Inadequate reporting of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is associated with biased estimates of treatment effects. The reporting quality of RCTs involving patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess the reporting quality of RCTs involving patients with PCOS using a standardized tool based on the Consolidated Standards of Repor...

BACKGROUND Incomplete reporting is a frequent waste in research. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of a writing aid tool (WAT) based on the CONSORT statement and its extension for non-pharmacologic treatments on the completeness of reporting of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). METHODS We performed a 'split-manuscript' RCT with blinded outcome assessment. Participants were masters and doc...