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BackgroundTraditional Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication therapies have shown efficacies below 80% in several studies, and their use has been accompanied by antibiotic-related side effects. Some recent studies have reported that supplementing standard therapies with probiotics can improve the efficacy and tolerability of Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy.ObjectiveTo assess the effects of probiotic supplementation on the eradication rates and therapy-related adverse event rates of anti-Helicobacter pylori regimens.MethodsWe searched PubMed, Medline, the Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials and the Chinese Biomedical Database for eligible randomized controlled trials published through July, 2015. Review Manager 5.3 was used for all statistical analyses.ResultsThirteen randomized controlled trials involving a total of 2306 patients were included in our analysis. Intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis performed using a fixed-effects model (test for heterogeneity I2 = 45%) showed that the pooled relative risk (RR) of eradication was significantly higher in the probiotic supplementation group than in the control group [RR 1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.10–1.20, P<0.00001]. The incidence of total antibiotic-related side effects was lower in the probiotic supplementation group than in the control group, and the pooled RR (studies n = 9) was 0.71 (95% CI: 0.54–0.94, P = 0.02), as determined using a random-effects model (heterogeneity test I2 = 59%). Certain adverse events, such as nausea and vomiting (RR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.35–0.95, P = 0.03), diarrhea (RR = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.31–0.84, P = 0.008) and constipation (RR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.28–0.80, P = 0.005), were reported at lower rates in the probiotic supplementation group than in the control group. Subgroup analysis showed that eradication rates were significantly improved in both adults (RR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.09–1.19, P<0.00001) and children (RR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.05–1.47, P = 0.01) in the probiotic supplementation group and that no regional differences between Europe (RR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.09–1.24, P<0.00001) and Asia were present (RR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.06–1.22, P = 0.0002). However, the total adverse event rate was not decreased in the adult group (RR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.61–1.04, P = 0.1) or the Asian group (RR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.39–1.18, P = 0.17). Subgroup analyses examining therapy regimens and treatment durations showed that probiotic supplementation increased eradication rates in the triple-therapy (RR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.12–1.25, P<0.00001), seven-day treatment (RR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.12–1.31, P<0.00001) and fourteen-day treatment (RR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.06–1.20, P = 0.0002) groups. The incidence of antibiotic-related side effects was significantly reduced in all groups, with the exception of the quadruple-therapy subgroup (RR = 1.13, 95% CI: 0.60–2.13, P = 0.07) and the fourteen-day therapy subgroup (RR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.61–1.51, P = 0.86). Supplementation with Lactobacillus alone (RR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.12–1.38, P<0.0001) or multi-strain probiotics (RR = 1.12...

Influenza viruses cause pandemics in humans. The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate filter/real-time qPCR to quickly and accurately determine and quantify the airborne influenza and avian influenza virus. In this study, the sampling stress of filtration to influenza virus and the storage effects for both the virus and extracted RNA were evaluated in the laboratory. Then, the collection efficiencies of open-face and closed-face filter cassettes were compared in a wet poultry market. From July 8 to August 19, 2006, a total of 36 air samples were quantified by filter/real-time qPCR.The recovery rate of the virus on a filter stored at 4• C reached 0.94 after 3-day storage, whereas the RNA stored at -80• C was 100% after 3-month storage. In terms of collection efficiency, the closed-face filter cassette was superior to the open-face filter cassette in the field study. In the wet poultry market, it was revealed that both the positive rate and concentration of influenza A virus in the chicken pen were higher than that in the duck pen, possibly due to differences in ventilation type, climate factors, and avian characteristics. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing the quantification of airborne influenza virus in field samples. This quantitative technique should provide more insight into influenza/avian influenza virus transmissibility and epidemiology of influenza/avian influenza, as well as infection control.

Purpose To compare functional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for language mapping (hereafter, language functional MR imaging) with direct cortical stimulation (DCS) in patients with brain tumors and to assess factors associated with its accuracy. Materials and Methods PubMed/MEDLINE and related databases were searched for research articles published between January 2000 and September 2016. Findings were pooled by using bivariate random-effects and hierarchic summary receiver operating characteristic curve models. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses were performed to evaluate whether publication year, functional MR imaging paradigm, magnetic field strength, statistical threshold, and analysis software affected classification accuracy. Results Ten articles with a total of 214 patients were included in the analysis. On a per-patient basis, the pooled sensitivity and specificity of functional MR imaging was 44% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 14%, 78%) and 80% (95% CI: 54%, 93%), respectively. On a per-tag basis (ie, each DCS stimulation site or "tag" was considered a separate data point across all patients), the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 67% (95% CI: 51%, 80%) and 55% (95% CI: 25%, 82%), respectively. The per-tag analysis showed significantly higher sensitivity for studies with shorter functional MR imaging session times (P = .03) and relaxed statistical threshold (P = .05). Significantly higher specificity was found when expressive language task (P = .02), longer functional MR imaging session times (P < .01), visual presentation of stimuli (P = .04), and stringent statistical threshold (P = .01) were used. Conclusion Results of this study showed moderate accuracy of language functional MR imaging when compared with intraoperative DCS, and the included studies displayed significant methodologic heterogeneity. RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

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