3.3 Data Extraction
and Quality
Assessment
From the full text and supplementary information of each included
expression profiling study, the following eligibility items (Fig.5) are
collected and recorded for subsequent analysis: first author, year of
publication, location of study, selection and characteristics of
recruited T2D patients or animal models of T2D, etc. Quality
assessment of arrays is performed according to the Minimum
Information About a Microarray Experiment (MIAME) guideline
[9] and the Minimum Information for Publication of
Quantitative Real-time PCR Experiments (MIQE) guideline [43]
(seeNote 5). Figure6 shows an example table for quality assess-
ment, and Fig.7 shows the results of the quality assessment of the
included studies.3.4 Statistical Meta-
analysis
Extracted data are transferred to the statistical software R [44] with
the packagemetafor[37] for meta-analysis under a random-effects
model. The outcomes are represented in terms of log 10 odds ratios
(logORs), based on the numbers of dysregulation events in both
T2D and nondiabetic control samples (seeNote 6), with their 95%Fig. 4Flow diagram of study selection. The process of study selection, including identification, screening,
eligibility, and inclusion stages, is depicted in the flow diagram
MicroRNA Meta-analysis 479