An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of Clinical Studies of Acupuncture for Cancer Pain.

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) for the use of acupuncture for cancer pain have been increasing, but the evidence has not been systematically and comprehensively assessed. We aimed to perform an overview of the evidence quality of SRs/MAs of acupuncture for improving cancer pain. METHODS: 8 databases were systematically searched to identify SRs/MAs of acupuncture for improving cancer pain. The A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR-2), Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews (ROBIS), Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), and Grades of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE), respectively, were applied by 2 independent reviewers to evaluate the methodological quality, risk of bias, reporting quality, and evidence quality. RESULTS: A total of 14 SRs/MAs were included in the present study. By AMSTAR-2, two reviews were rated as having high methodological quality, while 12 were given a critically low rating. All SRs/MAs in Phase 1, Domain 1, and Domain 4, according to ROBIS, were at low risk. Furthermore, 4 reviews in Domain 2, twelve reviews in Domain 3, and ten SRs/MAs in Phase 3, were rated as having low risk of bias. With reporting quality, some reporting flaws were identified in the topic of protocol and registration, additional analyses, and search strategy. According to GRADE, the level of evidence quality was "critically low" to "moderate," and risk of bias was the most common downgraded factor. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture may be beneficial in improving cancer pain. However, due to the identified limitations and inconsistent findings, we recommend further rigorous, and more standardized SRs/MAs to provide strong evidence for definitive conclusions.

Scientific Evidence of Acupuncture for Post-Stroke Cognitive Impairment: An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.

Background: Acupuncture may be effective to treat post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI). We aimed to evaluate the reliability of the systematic reviews/meta-analyses (SRs/MAs) evidence regarding acupuncture treatment of PSCI. Methods: The methodological quality was appraised with Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR-2). We evaluated reporting quality with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and evidence quality with Grade of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system. Results: The inclusion criteria were met by fifteen reviews. All studies assessed by AMSTAR-2 had critically poor methodological quality due to the limitations on the lack of the provision of the list of excluded trails, screening of duplicate study, and protocol registration. For reporting quality, response rate of "yes" was less than 50% in Q5 (protocol and registration topic), Q8 (Search) and Q23 (Additional analysis). Evidence quality of outcome measures was low or worse with GRADE because when the data was qualitatively synthesized, low quality and small sample size trials provided the data. Conclusion: Acupuncture may be beneficial for PSCI. Because of limitations and inconsistent conclusions, further research is needed to provide higher evidence for acupuncture on PSCI.

Artificial intelligence in acupuncture: A bibliometric study.

This study aimed to provide a panorama of artificial intelligence (AI) in acupuncture by characterizing and visualizing the knowledge structure, hotspots and trends in global scientific publications. Publications were extracted from the Web of Science. Analyses on the number of publications, countries, institutions, authors, co-authorship, co-citation and co-occurrence were conducted. The USA had the highest volume of publications. Harvard University had the most publications among institutions. Dey P was the most productive author, while lczkowski KA was the most referenced author. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine was the most active journal. The primary topics in this field concerned the use of AI in various aspects of acupuncture. "Machine learning" and "deep learning" were speculated to be potential hotspots in acupuncture-related AI research. In conclusion, research on AI in acupuncture has advanced significantly over the last two decades. The USA and China both contribute significantly to this field. Current research efforts are concentrated on the application of AI in acupuncture. Our findings imply that the use of deep learning and machine learning in acupuncture will remain a focus of research in the coming years.

Experimental investigation into the oxidation reactivity, morphology and graphitization of soot particles from diesel/n-octanol mixtures.

Aiming to investigate the impacts of n-octanol addition on the oxidation reactivity, morphology and graphitization of diesel exhaust particles, soot samples were collected from a four-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine fueled with D100 (neat diesel fuel), DO15 (85% diesel and 15% n-octanol, V/V) and DO30 (70% diesel and 30% n-octanol, V/V). All tests were conducted at two engine speeds of 1370 and 2150 r/min under a fixed torque of 125 N·m. The soot properties were characterized by thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy (RS). The higher volatile organic fraction content, lower soot oxidation temperatures and lower activation energy from TGA results indicated that both the increasing n-octanol concentration and engine speed enhanced the soot oxidation reactivity. Additionally, quantitative analysis of TEM images showed that the soot derived from DO30 had the smallest primary particle diameters and fractal dimension, followed by those of soot produced by DO15 and D100. The RS results demonstrated that the n-octanol addition and higher engine speed led to a larger D1-FWHM (D1-full width at half maximum), AD1/AT (area ratio of D1 band and the total spectral) and AD3/AT (area ratio of D3 band and the total spectral) as well as a smaller La (crystallite width), revealing a lower degree of graphitization. Furthermore, the correlations between characterization parameters of soot properties and reactivity were nonlinear.