Recent work has shown that outcomes in clinical trials can be affected by which treatment the trial participants would select if they were allowed to do so, and if they do or do not actually receive that treatment. These influences are known as selection and preference effects, respectively. Unfortunately, they cannot be evaluated in conventional, parallel group trials because patient preferences remain unknown. However, several alternative designs have been proposed, to measure and take account of patient preferences. In this paper, we discuss three preference-based designs (the two-stage, fully randomised, and partially randomised designs). In conventional trials, only the treatment effect is estimable, while the preference-based designs have the potential to estimate some or all of the selection and preference effects. The relative efficiency of these designs is affected by several factors, including the proportion of participants who are undecided about treatments, or who are unable or unwilling to state a preference; the relative preference rate between the treatments being compared, among patients who do have a preference; and the ratio of patients randomised to each treatment. We also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these designs under different scenarios.

This study investigated the efficiency of peanut hull (PBC), bush branch (BBC), Spartina alterniflora (SBC), and rape straw (RBC) in removing 2,4-dichlorophen (2,4-DCP) from an aqueous solution. The 2,4-DCP removal efficiency of the four kinds of biochars (BCs) increased in the order BBC > PBC > SBC > RBC. The adsorption process was affected by the pH, contact time, temperature, BC's particle size, and dosage. Based on the results of Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), the adsorption mechanism of 2,4-DCP was associated with the functional groups and the microtissue and structure of BCs. Furthermore, the organic components of the BCs played an essential role during the adsorption process of the 2,4-DCP. The remediation of organic pollutants by BCs is a complicated process that is characterized by the physical-chemical reaction between the two components (organic pollutants and BCs).

BackgroundAcupuncture therapy has been widely used to treat post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI). However, acupuncture therapy includes multiple forms. Which acupuncture therapy provides the best treatment outcome for patients with PSCI remains controversial.ObjectiveWe aimed to compare and evaluate the efficacy and safety of different acupuncture-related therapies for PSCI in an attempt to identify the best acupuncture therapies that can improve cognitive function and self-care in daily life for patients with PSCI, and bring new insights to clinical practice.MethodWe searched eight databases including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China Science and Technology Journal (VIP) database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database, and Wan fang database to find randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture-related therapies for PSCI from the inception of the database to January 2023. Two researchers independently assessed the risk of bias in the included studies and extracted the study data. Pairwise meta-analyzes for direct comparisons were performed using Rev. Man 5.4 software. Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) was performed using STATA 17.0 and R4.2.4 software. The quality of evidence from the included studies was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system. Adverse effects (AEs) associated with acupuncture therapy were collected by reading the full text of the included studies to assess the safety of acupuncture therapy.ResultsA total of 62 RCTs (3 three-arm trials and 59 two-arm trials) involving 5,073 participants were included in this study. In the paired meta-analysis, most acupuncture-related therapies had a positive effect on cognitive function and self-care of daily living in patients with PSCI compared with cognitive training. Bayesian NMA results suggested that ophthalmic acupuncture plus cognitive training (79.7%) was the best acupuncture therapy for improving MMSE scores, with scalp acupuncture plus cognitive training ranking as the second (73.7%). The MoCA results suggested that warm acupuncture plus cognitive training (86.5%) was the best acupuncture therapy. In terms of improvement in daily living self-care, scalp acupuncture plus body acupuncture (87.5%) was the best acupuncture therapy for improving MBI scores. The most common minor AEs included subcutaneous hematoma, dizziness, sleepiness, and pallor.ConclusionAccording to our Bayesian NMA results, ophthalmic acupuncture plus cognitive training and warm acupuncture plus cognitive training were the most effective acupuncture treatments for improving cognitive function, while scalp acupuncture plus body acupuncture was the best acupuncture treatment for improving the performance of self-care in daily life in patients with PSCI. No serious adverse effects were found in the included studies, and acupuncture treatment appears to be safe and reliable. However, due to the low methodological quality of the included studies, our findings need to be treated with caution. High-quality studies are urgently needed to validate our findings.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/#recordDetails, identifier: CRD42022378353.

In this work, we incorporate matrix projections into the reduced rank regression method, and then develop reduced rank regression estimators based on random projection and orthogonal projection in highdimensional multivariate linear regression model. We propose a consistent estimator of the rank of the coefficient matrix and achieve prediction performance bounds for the proposed estimators based on mean squared errors. Finally, some simulation studies and a real data analysis are carried out to demonstrate that the proposed methods possess good stability, prediction performance and rank consistency compared to some other existing methods.