基于Meta分析的中国西南喀斯特地区土壤动物群落特征研究

我国西南喀斯特地区环境容量小、生态系统变异敏感度高、灾变承受能力低,是典型的生态环境脆弱区。土壤动物是陆地生态系统的重要组成部分,对生态系统功能和稳定性具有重要的意义。通过Meta分析研究西南喀斯特地区土壤动物群落特征,得到如下结果:本区域土壤动物隶属于5门15纲31类;中小型土壤动物平均密度6.0×10~3—1.9×10~4m~(-2);中小型土壤动物密度和类群数表现为夏秋高、冬春低,土壤动物表聚性明显;喀斯特石漠化显著降低中小型土壤动物的密度和类群数量。本研究的结果表明,我国西南喀斯特地区土壤动物类群数量较为丰富,个体密度较低但可能被低估。在今后喀斯特地区生物多样性保护和脆弱生态系统的恢复工作中,应注重土壤动物群落的相关研究。     

Response of fine roots to precipitation change: A meta-analysis

细根对土壤水分含量变化十分敏感, 增加和减少降水直接影响土壤水分含量。为探索细根对降水变化的响应, 该文从48篇已发表的国内外研究论文中搜集到202组数据, 通过meta分析的方法揭示细根生物量、生产量、周转率、根长度密度、比根长及细根分解对增加和减少降水的一般响应规律, 用加权响应比评价降水对细根各指标的影响效应, 降水变化对细根分解的影响用土壤微生物生物量碳的响应比衡量。结果表明: 1)不同类型植物的细根对降水变化的响应程度不同, 灌木细根的响应强于乔木。2)细根各指标对降水变化的响应存在土层空间异质性, 并且降水变化量为50%时细根响应最显著。降水增加50%时, 显著增加20-40 cm土层的细根生物量和0-10 cm土层的细根比根长, 降水减少50%时, 显著减少20-40 cm土层的细根生产量和增加0-10 cm土层的细根根长度密度。3)降水变化实验持续时间的长短会影响细根的响应程度, 短期实验中细根通过形态适应对降水变化做出应对, 而长期实验中细根通过重新分配生物量对降水变化做出响应。4)增加降水促进了细根养分归还, 致使土壤微生物得到了充足的底物资源, 提高了自身活性, 使细根分解加快。     

Nitrogen isotopic fractionation as a biomarker for nitrogen use efficiency in ruminants: a meta-analysis

Animal proteins are naturally ¹⁵N enriched relative to the diet and the extent of this difference (Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet or N isotopic fractionation) has been correlated to N use efficiency (NUE; N gain or milk N yield/N intake) in some recent ruminant studies. The present study used meta-analysis to investigate whether Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet can be used as a predictor of NUE across a range of dietary conditions, particularly at the level of between-animal variation. An additional objective was to identify variables related to N partitioning explaining the link between NUE and Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet. Individual values from eight publications reporting both NUE and Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet for domestic ruminants were used to create a database comprising 11 experimental studies, 41 treatments and individual animal values for NUE (n=226) and Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet (n=291). Data were analyzed by mixed-effect regression analysis taking into account experimental factors as random effects on both the intercept and slope of the model. Diets were characterized according to the INRA feeding system in terms of N utilization at the rumen, digestive and metabolic levels. These variables were used in a partial least squares regression analysis to predict separately NUE and Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet variation, with the objective of identifying common variables linking NUE and Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet. For individuals reared under similar conditions (within-study) and at the same time (within-period), the variance of NUE and Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet not explained by dietary treatments (i.e. between-animal variation plus experimental error) was 35% and 55%, respectively. Mixed-effect regression analysis conducted with treatment means showed that Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet was significantly and negatively correlated to NUE variation across diets (NUE=0.415 −0.055×Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet). When using individual values and taking into account the random effects of study, period and diet, the relationship was also significant (NUE=0.358 −0.035×Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet). However, there may be a biased prediction for animals close to zero, or in negative, N balance. When using a novel statistical approach, attempting to regress between-animal variation in NUE on between-animal variation in Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet (without the influence of experimental factors), the negative relationship was still significant, highlighting the ability of Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet to capture individual variability. Among the studied variables related to N utilization, those concerning N efficiency use at the metabolic level contributed most to predict both Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet and NUE variation, with rumen fermentation and digestion contributing to a lesser extent. This study confirmed that on average Δ¹⁵N_animal-diet can predict NUE variation across diets and across individuals reared under similar conditions.     

Meta-analysis of the amino acid digestibility of oilseed meal in growing pigs

Oilseed meal is an important source of essential amino acids (EAA) for livestock production. It is the second most important ingredient in pig feed after grains. Optimal use of these ingredients requires precise knowledge of amino acid standardized ileal digestibility (SID), which may vary depending on several factors including botanical variety or processing treatments. A meta-analysis was performed in order to derive models for predicting the SID of soybean, cotton and rapeseed meal EAA, based on chemical composition data such as CP, total concentration of each EAA and fibre (crude fibre, ADF and NDF) content. A database of 47 references (224 experimental treatments) was built. A model incorporating processing method of the meals (e.g. cold pressed, expeller pressed, solvent extracted), experimental surgical procedure (T-cannula, re-entrant cannula, post valve T-cannula and ileo-rectal anastomosis) and pig growth stage (BW⩽ or ⩾25 kg) was tested. Results indicated that neither processing nor BW affected EAA SID. NDF was the best predictor of SID (R²=0.944, 0.836, 0.779, 0.899 and 0.814, respectively, for Lys, Met, Thr, Trp and Val). The total EAA content was the best predictor of digestible content (g/kg diet) for each EAA (R²=0.990, 0.985, 0.977, 0.985 and 0.978, respectively, for Lys, Met, Thr, Trp and Val). This study shows that routine chemical analyses may be used to predict EAA digestibility with satisfactory accuracy.     

Triage of women with equivocal or low-grade cervical cytology results: a meta-analysis of the HPV test positivity rate

Consistent evidence underlines the utility of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing in the management of women with equivocal cervical cytological abnormalities, but not in case of low-grade lesions. We performed a meta-analysis including studies where the high-risk probe of the Hybrid Capture-II is used to triage these two cytological categories. The triage test-positivity rate reflects the colposcopy referral workload.Data were pooled on the HPV test positivity rate in women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS/ASC-US) or low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), derived from different cytological classification systems. The meta-analysis was restricted to studies, published between 1991 and 2007. A random-effect model was applied for meta-analytical pooling and the influence of covariates on the HPV positivity rate was analyzed by meta-regression. The variation by age was assessed within individual studies since age strata were not defined uniformly. On an average, 43% (95% CI: 40–46%) of women with ASCUS/ASC-US were high-risk HPV positive (range 23–74%). In women with LSIL, the pooled positivity rate was 76% (95% CI: 71–81%; range 55–89%). In spite of considerable inter-study heterogeneity, the difference in HPV positivity between the two triage groups was large and highly significant: 32% (95% CI: 27–38%). HPV rates dropped tremendously as age and cutoffs of test positivity increased. Other factors (cytological classification system, country, continent, collection method and year of publication) had no statistically significant impact, except in LSIL triage where HPV positivity was significantly lower in European compared to American studies. Women with LSIL, especially younger women, have high HPV positivity rates suggesting limited utility of reflex HPV triaging these cases. Research is needed to identify more specific methods to triage women with low-grade squamous cervical lesions.     

Birth sex ratio and social rank: consistency and variability within and between primate groups

Variations in birth sex ratios in primates are notoriously inconsistentand have been repeatedly suggested to be mainly owing to stochasticprocesses. An examination of temporal consistency within primatepopulations revealed that the effect of dominance rank on birthsex ratio tends to remains stable over time. Furthermore, ameta-analysis of published data on sex ratio variations in primatesshows that although no overall effect was detectable, the relationbetween birth sex ratio and dominance rank was affected by levelof resource availability and degree of sexual dimorphism. Theseresults suggest that purely stochastic processes are unlikelyto explain observed variations in primate birth sex ratios,and may explain why adaptive sex ratio variations in primateshave been so difficult to demonstrate.     

Circulating visfatin levels and cancers risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Visfatin levels have been reported to be abnormal in many types of cancers. However, epidemiological studies yielded inconsistent results. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed to assess the association between circulating visfatin levels and cancer risk. A systematic search was conducted for relevant studies in health-related electronic databases up to March 2018. Data related to standard mean difference (SMD) and overall odds ratio (ORS) were collected and analyzed. Summary SMD and pooled OR with 95% CIs were calculated using a random-effect model. Funnel plot and Egger's linear regression test were conducted to examine the risk of publication bias. A total of 27 studies with 2,693 cases and 3,040 healthy controls were included in meta-analysis for pooling SMD analysis. The results of the meta-analysis showed a significant higher visfatin levels in patients with various cancers than in controls, with a pooled SMD of 0.88, 95% CI = 0.56–1.20, p = 0.000. In subgroup, metaregression, Galbraith plot, and sensitivity analysis showed no substantial difference among all the analyzed factors. Data from 14 studies were also used for pooling ORs analysis. Metaresults revealed that high visfatin levels were associated with cancer risk (OR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.14–1.34, p = 0.000). No evidence of publication bias was observed for pooling ORs and SMD analysis. This meta-analysis indicated a significant association between high circulating visfatin levels and increased risk of various cancers. Visfatin may represent a potential biomarker for early detection of cancers who may benefit from preventive treatment.Note.     

应用CiteSpace对生态学科meta分析的文献计量学和可视化分析

Meta分析是针对一系列独立研究结果进行定量综合分析的方法。从20世纪90年代初开始被应用于生态学的研究中,已经对这一学科的数据汇总方式产生重大影响。为了探究meta分析方法在生态学领域的研究现状及热点,以Web of Science论文核心合集为检索数据库,通过输入关键词检索了1992至2018年之间的论文,并利用Web of Science自带的文献分析工具和Histcite对检索的文献信息进行统计分析,分析了不同年份、国家、期刊、学科基础知识论文的发表和被引情况,用CiteSpace软件对其进行热点分析并绘制了知识图谱。研究发现,我国生态学研究在meta分析方法的改进和利用方面与美国、英国等国家相比尚有差距;使用meta分析方法开展研究越来越多,但研究方向上出现了一些转变,越来越多的研究关注全球变化背景下植物光合作用、物种入侵的机理以及模拟氮循环过程对物候和植被生产力的影响及价值评估的研究,并成为本领域的研究前沿。