ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the sole impact of blinding patients and outcome assessors in acupuncture randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on treatment effects while considering the type of outcome measures. METHODS: We searched databases for the meta-analyses on acupuncture with both blinded and non-blinded RCTs. Mixed-effects meta-regression models estimated the average ratio of odds ratios (ROR) and differences in standardized mean differences (dSMD) for non-blinded RCTs versus blinded mixed-effects meta-regression model. RESULTS: The study included 96 meta-analyses (1012 trials). The average ROR for lack of patient blinding was 1.08 (95% confidence intervals 0.79-1.49) in 18 meta-analyses with binary patient-reported outcomes. The average ROR for lack of outcome assessor blinding was 0.98 (0.77-1.24) in 43 meta-analyses with binary subjective outcomes. The average dSMD was -0.38 (-0.96 to 0.20) in 10 meta-analyses with continuous patient-reported outcomes. The average dSMD was -0.13 (-0.45 to 0.18) in 25 meta-analyses with continuous subjective outcomes. The results of the subgroup analysis were consistent with the primary analysis findings. CONCLUSIONS: Blinding of participants and outcome assessors does not significantly influence acupuncture treatment efficacy. It underscores the practical difficulties of blinding in acupuncture RCTs and the necessity to distinguish between trials with and without successful blinding to understand treatment expectations' effects. Enhancing blinding procedures' quality and assessment in future research is crucial for improving RCTs' internal validity and reliability.
Subject(s)
Acupuncture Therapy , Outcome Assessment, Health Care , Humans , Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic , Outcome Assessment, Health Care/methods , Treatment Outcome , Epidemiologic Studies , Acupuncture Therapy/methodsABSTRACT
Aluminum hydride (AlH3) is a binary metal hydride with a mass hydrogen density of more than 10% and bulk hydrogen density of 148 kg H2/m3. Pure aluminum hydride can easily release hydrogen when heated. Due to the high hydrogen density and low decomposition temperature, aluminum hydride has become one of the most promising hydrogen storage media for wide applications, including fuel cell, reducing agents, and rocket fuel additive. Compared with aluminum powder, AlH3 has a higher energy density, which can significantly reduce the ignition temperature and produce H2 fuel in the combustion process, thus reducing the relative mass of combustion products. In this paper, the research progress about the structure, synthesis, and stability of aluminum hydride in recent decades is reviewed. We also put forward the challenges for application of AlH3 and outlook the possible opportunity for AlH3 in the future.
ABSTRACT
In order to effectively relieve the large volume changes of silicon anodes during the cycling process in lithium ion batteries (LIBs), we developed a vinyltriethoxysilane crosslinked poly(acrylic acid sodium) polymeric binder (PVTES-NaPAA) for the Si anodes. The PVTES-NaPAA binder was synthesized by using a free radical co-polymerization method with VTES and NaPAA as precursors. In this binder, NaPAA with carboxyl groups can provide strong adhesion between Si particles and the current collector. Furthermore, VTES can be hydrolyzed and condense with each other to form a three-dimensional crosslinked network; the special network makes it possible to improve the Si electrode stability, resulting in an excellent cycling performance (78.2% capacity retention after 100 cycles) and high coulombic efficiency (99.9% after 100 cycles).
ABSTRACT
The development of simple and low-cost chemical sensors is critically important for improving human life. Many types of chemical sensors have been developed. Among them, the chemiresistive sensors receive particular attention because of their simple structure, the ease of high precise measurement and the low cost. This review mainly focuses on carbon nanotube (CNT)-based chemiresistive sensors. We first describe the properties of CNTs and the structure of CNT chemiresistive sensors. Next, the sensing mechanism and the performance parameters of the sensors are discussed. Then, we detail the status of the CNT chemiresistive sensors for detection of different analytes. Lastly, we put forward the remaining challenges for CNT chemiresistive sensors and outlook the possible opportunity for CNT chemiresistive sensors in the future.
