This systematic review and meta-analysis were undertaken to determine whether reduction mammaplasty improves measurable outcomes in women with breast hypertrophy. A systematic review of the literature in 5 languages from 1985 until March 1999 was performed, and data were compared for meta-analysis. Eligible studies were both experimental and observational and involved women with preoperative physical and/or psychosocial signs and symptoms who underwent reduction mammaplasty for breast hypertrophy. Outcomes assessed were postoperative physical signs and symptoms such as shoulder pain, shoulder (bra strap) grooving, and quality-of-life domains, such as physical and psychological functioning, and were expressed primarily as risk differences (RDs). Twenty-nine studies of 4173 patients met all eligibility criteria. Reduction mammaplasty was associated with a statistically significant improvement in physical signs and symptoms involving shoulder pain (RD, 0.71 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.62-0.80]); shoulder grooving (RD, 0.69 [95% CI, 0.60-0.78]); upper/lower back pain (RD, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.48-0.70]); neck pain (RD, 0.50 [95% CI, 0.37-0.64]); intertrigo (RD, 0.44 [95% CI, 0.34-0.54]); breast pain (RD, 0.36 [95% CI, 0.17-0.55]); headache (RD, 0.28 [95% CI, 0.11-0.46]); and pain/numbness in the hands (RD, 0.11 [95% CI, 0.04-0.18]). The quality-of-life parameter of physical functioning was also statistically significant (RD, 0.58 [95% CI, 0.44-0.71]), while psychological functioning was not significant (RD, 0.46 [95% CI, 0.00-1.00]). The evidence suggests that women undergoing reduction mammaplasty for breast hypertrophy have significant postoperative improvement in preoperative signs and symptoms, quality of life, or both.

flower and pod abscission, resulting in reduced pod number and yield. They also found canopy photosynthe-Solar radiation is an important environmental factor influencing sis during flowering and pod set to be an important seed yield in soybean [Glycine max (L). Merr.]. Our objective was to analyze the response of soybean seed yield components to light determinant of seeds m Ϫ2 , and that the impact of shading enrichment initiated at different growth stages. Light enrichment was on seeds m Ϫ2 depends on duration of shading (Jiang imposed on the indeterminate soybean cultivars Altona and Evans and Egli, 1995). Sharma et al. (1996) observed anthesis by installing wire mesh fencing on either side of the center row to to be the most critical stage during which low light push the adjacent rows aside at different growth stages. Fences preintensity can cause severe yield reduction in soybean. vented plants in the neighboring rows from encroaching on the grow- Board et al. (1992) and Board and Harville (1996) ing space of the center row plants. Pod number per plant and to a suggested that the increased seed yield of soybean from lesser extent seed size accounted for variation in seed yield. Light planting in narrow rows (Ͻ50 cm) reported by many enrichment initiated at late vegetative or early flowering stages inresearchers (Lehman and Lambert, 1960;Costa et al., creased seed yield 144 to 252%, mainly by increasing pod number, Herbert and Litchfield, 1982;Willcott et al., 1984), while light enrichment beginning at early pod formation increased seed size 8 to 23%, resulting in a 32 to 115% increase in seed yield.

BackgroundThe Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) is endangered through anthropogenic activities including over-fishing, damming, shipping, and pollution. Controlled reproduction has been adopted and successfully conducted for conservation. However, little information is available on the reproductive regulation of the species. In this study, we conducted de novo transcriptome assembly of the gonad tissue to create a comprehensive dataset for A. sinensis.ResultsThe Illumina sequencing platform was adopted to obtain 47,333,701 and 47,229,705 high quality reads from testis and ovary cDNA libraries generated from three-year-old A. sinensis. We identified 86,027 unigenes of which 30,268 were annotated in the NCBI non-redundant protein database and 28,281 were annotated in the Swiss-prot database. Among the annotated unigenes, 26,152 and 7,734 unigenes, respectively, were assigned to gene ontology categories and clusters of orthologous groups. In addition, 12,557 unigenes were mapped to 231 pathways in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes Pathway database. A total of 1,896 unigenes, potentially differentially expressed between the two gonad types, were found, with 1,894 predicted to be up-regulated in ovary and only two in testis. Fifty-five potential gametogenesis-related genes were screened in the transcriptome and 34 genes with significant matches were found. Besides, more paralogs of 11 genes in three gene families (sox, apolipoprotein and cyclin) were found in A. sinensis compared to their orthologs in the diploid Danio rerio. In addition, 12,151 putative simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were detected.ConclusionsThis study provides the first de novo transcriptome analysis currently available for A. sinensis. The transcriptomic data represents the fundamental resource for future research on the mechanism of early gametogenesis in sturgeons. The SSRs identified in this work will be valuable for assessment of genetic diversity of wild fish and genealogy management of cultured fish.

We conducted a systematic review of randomized, controlled, monotherapy trials since 1990 of oral antihypertensive agents in patients with essential hypertension. Our objective was to quantify the frequency of discontinuation of antihypertensive agents due to adverse events from a meta-analysis of the studies. A total of 190 studies met inclusion criteria. The highest frequency of discontinuations due to adverse events (DAEs) occurred with calcium channel blockers (6.7%) and alpha-adrenergic blockers (6.0%); the lowest with diuretics and angiotensin receptor blockers (each 3.1%). Only in calcium channel blocker studies was the frequency of DAEs greater in treated patients than in patients receiving placebo, but the difference was not significant. This systematic review suggests that the frequency of DAEs in monotherapy antihypertensive trials varies across drug classes and should be considered when choosing drugs for patients with essential hypertension.

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Understanding genetic diversity patterns of endangered species is an important premise for biodiversity conservation. The critically endangered salamander Andrias davidianus , endemic to central and southern mainland in China, has suffered from sharp range and population size declines over the past three decades. However, the levels and patterns of genetic diversity of A. davidianus populations in wild remain poorly understood. Herein, we explore the levels and phylogeographic patterns of genetic diversity of wild‐caught A. davidianus using larvae and adult collection with the aid of sequence variation in (a) the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) fragments ( n = 320 individuals; 33 localities), (b) 19 whole mtDNA genomes, and (c) nuclear recombinase activating gene 2 ( RAG2 ; n = 88 individuals; 19 localities). Phylogenetic analyses based on mtDNA datasets uncovered seven divergent mitochondrial clades (A–G), which likely originated in association with the uplifting of mountains during the Late Miocene, specific habitat requirements, barriers including mountains and drainages and lower dispersal ability. The distributions of clades were geographic partitioned and confined in neighboring regions. Furthermore, we discovered some mountains, rivers, and provinces harbored more than one clades. RAG2 analyses revealed no obvious geographic patterns among the five alleles detected. Our study depicts a relatively intact distribution map of A. davidianus clades in natural species range and provides important knowledge that can be used to improve monitoring programs and develop a conservation strategy for this critically endangered organism.