A meta-analysis of the milk-production response after anthelmintic treatment in naturally infected adult dairy cows

Meta-analysis was used to estimate the effects of anthelmintic treatment on milk production in dairy cows. The literature search included peer-reviewed journals (both full articles and abstracts), conference proceedings and theses and included documents written in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese or Italian. The study outcome was defined as the difference in milk production (kg/cow per day) between treated and untreated cows. Random effect meta-analyses were performed on 75 trials published between 1972 and 2002. The combined estimate after controlling for publication bias and/or small-study effect was of 0.35 kg/cow per day. Significant variation among studies was detected and although several variables were associated with the study outcome, they did not significantly reduce the unexplained variability among trials. Trials reporting the use of endectocides had higher milk-production response compared with trials using older anthelmintics. Similarly, whole-herd treatment trials or trials which applied the treatment in mid-lactation or strategically throughout the year had higher response compared with calving or dry-period treatment trials. Trials reporting the results as total 305-day milk production had lower response compared with trials which measured production as daily milk weight. Primiparous cows trials had lower responses compared with multiparous cows trials.     

Progress over 20 years of sunflower breeding in central Argentina

This paper applies linear mixed model analysis to 122 on-farm trials of commercial and near-commercial sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) hybrids grown over 15 years in 32 locations of central Argentina to quantify increases in oil yield and to determine the contributions of change in both biotic stress resistance and yielding ability in favourable environments. The best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs) from this analysis can be regarded as measures of ‘relative peak performance’ of hybrids in environments for which they were selected, and are a better measure of their adaptation compared to small trial sets of ‘historical’ hybrids. The BLUPs of 49 commercial hybrids released between 1983 and 2005 showed a genetic gain for oil yield of 11.9 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. Special purpose hybrids that were converted for single traits or that were developed for low-technology markets lagged by 5–15 years in terms of genetic gain. Genetic gains came about due to both an increase in the number of hybrids with resistance to the major biotic stress (Verticillium dahliae Klebahn) and a genetic gain in oil yield of 14.4 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ within these hybrids. Based on the data and the estimated time lag between commercial release and peak use, the improvement in oil and grain yield of conventional hybrids in central Argentina will be sustained until at least 2010, with evidence that the new germplasm pools still have substantial genetic variance to be exploited.     

New perspectives on Holocene flooding in Ireland using meta-analysis of fluvial radiocarbon dates

The last decade has seen advances in models of Holocene river flooding founded on meta-analysis of fluvial ¹⁴C databases allied to new multivariate environmental correlatives. This investigation presents application of these generic meta-analysis techniques to 33 stratigraphically significant ‘change after’ dates in a new fluvial ¹⁴C database for Ireland. Despite the relatively small number of ¹⁴C dates, the emerging pattern of Holocene flooding in Ireland corresponds closely to palaeoclimate proxies for regional temperature and precipitation, and to recently published results from a much larger British database. An underlying climate forcing of fluvial activity is proposed, although Irish ‘flooding episodes’ appear to lag those in Britain by ca. 100 to 300 years. This may be caused by ¹⁴C date precision and the embryonic nature of the Irish database, but could also reflect the respective effects of peatland cover and glacial inheritance on hydrological connectivity and sediment delivery resulting in a slower response of Irish rivers to climate events. These considerations, together with an increasing focus on regional variations in fluvial activity across the Holocene, will only be properly addressed with a more concerted and expanded programme of research in Ireland. Renewed research focus should seek to broaden the geographical coverage of ¹⁴C dated fluvial sites, with particular emphasis given to collaborative research of Irish lowland river catchments, especially where suitable palaeochannel and flood basin depositional contexts are present.     

Genetic analysis and validation of quantitative trait loci associated with reproductive-growth traits and grain yield under drought stress in a doubled haploid line population of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Drought is a major constraint for rice production and yield stability in rainfed ecosystems, especially when it occurs during the reproductive stage. Combined genetic and physiological analysis of reproductive-growth traits and their effects on yield and yield components under drought stress is important for dissecting the biological bases of drought resistance and for rice yield improvement in water-limited environments. A subset of a doubled haploid (DH) line population of CT9993-5-10-1-M/IR62266-42-6-2 was evaluated for variation in plant water status, phenology, reproductive-growth traits, yield and yield components under reproductive-stage drought stress and irrigated (non-stress) conditions in the field. Since this DH line population was previously used in extensive quantitative trait loci (QTLs) mapping of various drought resistance component traits, we aimed at identifying QTLs for specific reproductive-growth and yield traits and also to validate the consensus QTLs identified earlier in these DH lines using meta-analysis. DH lines showed significant variation for plant water status, reproductive-growth traits, yield and yield components under drought stress. Total dry matter, number of panicles per plant, harvest index, panicle harvest index, panicle fertility, pollen fertility, spikelet fertility and hundred grain weight had significant positive correlations with grain yield under drought stress. A total of 46 QTLs were identified for the various traits under stress and non-stress conditions with phenotypic effect ranging from 9.5 to 35.6% in this study. QTLs for panicle exsertion, peduncle length and pollen fertility, identified for the first time in this study, could be useful in marker-assisted breeding (MAB) for drought resistance in rice. A total of 97 QTLs linked to plant growth, phenology, reproductive-growth traits, yield and its components under non-stress and drought stress, identified in this study as well as from earlier published information, were subjected to meta-analysis. Meta-analysis identified 23 MQTLs linked to plant phenology and production traits under stress conditions. Among them, four MQTLs viz., 1.3 for plant height, 3.1 for days to flowering, 8.1 for days to flowering or delay in flowering and 9.1 for days to flowering are true QTLs. Consensus QTLs for reproductive-growth traits and grain yield under drought stress have been identified on chromosomes 1 and 9 using meta-QTL analysis in these DH lines. These MQTLs associated with reproductive-growth, grain yield and its component traits under drought stress could be useful targets for drought resistance improvement in rice through MAB and/or map-based positional analysis of candidate genes.     

基于生物信息学的玉米抗病QTL比较定位

以玉米遗传连锁图谱IBM2 2008 Neighbors为参考图谱,利用BioMercator 2.1软件,通过映射来自不同实验中的340个玉米抗病QTL,构建出玉米抗病QTL的整合图谱。采用元分析技术,在1、3、6、10号染色体上发掘5个"一致性抗病QTL"区间,图距分别为5.14cM、9.00cM、28.50cM、1.73cM和33.34cM。从MaizeGDB网站下载"一致性抗病QTL"区间内的基因和标记原始序列,采用NCBI网站在线软件BlastX通过同源比对,在5个"一致性抗病QTL"区间内初步确定8个抗病基因同源序列。借助比较基因电子定位策略,将54个水稻和44个玉米抗性基因转定于玉米IBM2 2008 Neighbors遗传连锁图谱上。本文研究结果为玉米抗病QTL精细定位和克隆奠定了基础。     

桂枝茯苓丸佐治急性缺血性脑卒中临床疗效及安全性的Meta分析

目的 系统评价桂枝茯苓丸治疗急性缺血性脑卒中的临床疗效及安全性。方法 计算机检索中国科技期刊全文数据库（VIP）、中国期刊全文数据库（CNKI）、中国生物医学文献数据库（CBM）和万方数据库（wanfang）、Web of Science、Medline及PubMed。检索时间均为从该数据库最早收录时间至2017年2月,手工检索作为辅助,收集桂枝茯苓丸治疗急性缺血性脑卒中的临床随机对照试验（RCT）和半随机对照试验（quasi-RCT）,依据Cochrane协作网系统评价方法进行评价,使用Revman 5.3进行Meta分析。结果 经筛选纳入6篇文献,共451例。Meta分析结果显示：桂枝茯苓丸组临床有效率[RR=1.16,95% CI（1.06,1.26）,P=0.000 7],2个采用NIHSS评估神经功能缺损试验（107例）结果显示[WMD=0.55,95% Cl（-0.69,1.79）,P=0.39]。描述性分析结果显示不良反应发生率低,复发率低。结论 桂枝茯苓丸联合常规治疗具有一定疗效,且不良反应少,安全性较高,然而对神经功能缺损症状改善未见显著疗效。但由于现有研究数量和质量限制,今后仍需要进行更多高质量的随机对照试验研究以提供更可靠的循证医学证据。     

基于元分析和生物信息学分析的玉米抗旱相关性状QTL一致性区间定位

定位玉米基因组中一致的抗旱性区段是玉米抗旱分子育种的重要基础。本研究对至今发表的在干旱条件下定位的相关性状QTL信息搜集整理,以IBM2 2008 Neighbors为参考图谱,利用overview分析和元分析方法进行Meta-QTL (MQTL)检测,共发掘79个MQTL,生物信息学分析结果显示,有43个区间内包含抗旱相关基因信息,占检出MQTL总数的54.43%。基于MaizeGDB网站的Genome Browser中的遗传图谱与物理图谱的整合信息,进行MQTL物理距离的估算,根据maizesequence网站的玉米基因组序列信息,进行初步的抗旱基因预测表明,这些区段中包含丰富的MYB、bZIP以及DREB转录因子序列信息以及大量的LEA基因家族成员。     

Does intercropping enhance yield stability in arable crop production? A meta-analysis

The adverse effects of climate change are significantly decreasing yield levels and yield stability over time in current monocropping systems. Intercropping (IC), i.e. growing more than one species simultaneously in the same field, often increases resource use efficiency and agricultural productivity compared with growing the component crops solely and can enhance yield stability. This meta-analysis of published IC literature quantified and analysed yield stability in IC compared with the respective sole crops, focusing on the effect of intercrop components (e.g. cereal-grain legume, non-cereal-grain legume), experimental patterns (e.g. experiment over years, experiment over locations), IC design (e.g. additive and replacement) and climatic zone (e.g. tropical, subtropical, and temperate). In total, 33 articles were analysed. The coefficient of variation (%CV) of yields was used for assessing yield stability, with lower CV value indicating higher yield stability. The analysis showed that cereal-grain legume IC (CV = 22.1) significantly increased yield stability compared with the respective grain legume sole crops (CV = 31.7). Moreover, compared with the respective cereal and legume sole crops, IC in the cereal-grain legume systems gave higher yield stability than IC in the non-cereal-grain legume systems. Compared with the respective cereal (CV = 25.3) and legume (CV = 30.3) sole crops, IC (CV = 19.1) in a replacement design had significantly (P < 0.05) higher yield stability. Also intercropping in replacement design gave more stable yields than IC in an additive design. In tropical regions, cereal sole crops (CV = 26.3) showed lower yield stability than IC (CV = 17.7) and legume sole crops (CV = 21.7). However, IC in all climatic zones showed higher yield stability than both sole crops. Moreover in our analysis, it was found that a higher yield level provided higher yield stability in crop production. Thus, increasing crop diversification through IC of cereals and grain legumes can enhance yield stability and food security, making an important contribution to eco-functional, ecological or sustainable intensification of global food production.     

长期施肥对中国农田土壤溶解性有机碳氮含量影响的整合分析

【目的】施肥是影响农田土壤溶解性有机碳、氮的重要因子。探讨在不同利用方式、熟制、土壤pH等条件下长期施肥对土壤溶解性有机碳（DOC）、溶解性有机氮（DON）含量的影响,为农田土壤碳氮管理提供指导。【方法】收集2000—2019年已发表文献72篇,获得相对独立数据（510组DOC和208组DON）,采用整合分析（Meta-analysis）方法定量分析不同利用方式、熟制和土壤pH下施肥对DOC和DON含量的影响。【结果】与不施肥相比,施肥均能显著提高土壤DOC和DON含量,其中施有机肥（单施或配施）的提高幅度（60%和93%）是化肥（13%和29%）的4.6倍和3.2倍。不同利用方式下,施肥能显著提高旱地土壤DOC和DON含量,且旱地施用有机肥提升土壤DOC和DON的幅度显著高于水旱轮作。不同熟制比较,一年一熟下施用有机肥后DOC含量提高85 %,显著高于一年两熟（38%）;不同pH土壤比较,碱性土壤（pH>7.5）上施用有机肥后DOC和DON含量分别提高了85%和162%,显著高于6.5＜pH＜7.5的中性土壤（48%和70%）和pH＜6.5 的酸性土壤（32%和61%）。【结论】施用有机肥（单施或配施）可显著提高DOC和DON含量,但其效果会因利用方式、熟制、土壤pH等的不同有较大差异,因此,有机肥的施用应综合考虑相应的土壤和环境条件。     

影响牧民收入的关键因素研究—基于Meta分析与累积Meta分析

草原牧区的发展对于我国畜牧业而言具有非常重要的战略意义,为了促进牧区的可持续发展和牧民增收,我国政府于2011年开始实施草原生态补偿政策,在此政策背景下,基于16篇实证研究的3099个样本,运用Meta分析和累积Meta分析方法,探讨了政策实施以来影响牧民收入的重要因素,并分析了这些因素的影响作用随时间的变化趋势。研究结果表明,显著促进牧民收入的因素有牧民受教育程度、家庭劳动力数量、牲畜养殖规模、草场承包面积;其中牧户最为关注的因素有草场承包面积和牲畜养殖规模;而随着政策实施,牲畜数量的影响作用明显增加,其他因素都在减弱;很多变量都存在异质性,其中家庭劳动力数量和草场面积的异质性来源主要是地区因素,除此之外还有政策实施时间和抽样方式的影响。