OBJECTIVE To assess the therapeutic effect of acupuncture on depression. METHODS A systematic evaluation of all relevant randomized controlled trials (RCT) about acupuncture and moxibustion treatment of depression was carried out by the study methods of evidence-based medicine. The data were statistically analyzed with a special analysis software RevMan 4.2. RESULTS Fourteen papers of RCT m...

Molodtsov introduced the concept of soft set theory, which can be seen and used as a new mathematical tool for dealing with uncertainly. In this paper we introduce and initiate the study of soft m-ary semihypergroups by using the soft set theory. The notions of soft m-ary semihypergroups, soft m-ary subsemihypergroups, soft j-hyperideals, soft hyperideals, soft quasi-hyperideals and soft bi-hyp...

OBJECTIVE To assess if commercially sponsored trials are associated with higher success rates than publicly-sponsored trials. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTINGS We undertook a systematic review of all consecutive, published and unpublished phase III cancer randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and the NCIC Clinical Trials Group (CTG). We included all phase III cancer R...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the quality of reports of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the pediatric population. We also examined whether there was a change in the quality of reporting over time. METHODS We used a systematic sample of 251 reports of RCTs that used a CAM intervention. The quality of each report was assessed using the number of CONSO...

An astonishing volume and diversity of evidence is available for many hypotheses in the biomedical and social sciences. Some of this evidence-usually from randomized controlled trials (RCTs)-is amalgamated by meta-analysis. Despite the ongoing debate regarding whether or not RCTs are the 'gold-standard' of evidence, it is usually meta-analysis which is considered the best source of evidence: me...

Pneumonia is the greatest contributor to childhood mortality and morbidity in resource-poor regions, while in high-income countries it is one of the most common reasons for clinic attendance and hospitalization in this age group. Furthermore, pneumonia in children increases the risk of developing chronic pulmonary disorders in later adult life. While substantial advances in managing childhood p...

BACKGROUND. Children may experience two very different forms of reading problem: decoding difficulties (dyslexia) and reading comprehension difficulties. Decoding difficulties appear to be caused by problems with phonological (speech sound) processing. Reading comprehension difficulties in contrast appear to be caused by problems with 'higher level' language difficulties including problems with...

Objective. We compared the precision of a search strategy designed specifically to retrieve randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews of RCTs with search strategies designed for broader purposes. Methods. We designed an experimental search strategy that automatically revised searches up to five times by using increasingly restrictive queries as long at least 50 citations were r...

To evaluate the intervention effects of randomized controlled trials (RCT) involved in theoretical efficacy and actual clinical outcome (effectiveness). Pragmatic-Explanatory Continuum Indicator Summary (PRECIS) is a tool to help researchers make decisions in study design which is consistent with the intended purpose of their trial which can be used in the design of RCT to balance the internal ...

BACKGROUND The conduct of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in low-resource settings may present unique financial, logistic, and process-related challenges. Middle-income countries that have comparable disease burdens to low-income countries, but greater availability of resources, may be conducive settings for RCTs. Indeed, the country of Botswana is experiencing a rapid increase in the condu...