[Effect of seasonal distribution in precipitation on soil nitrogen mineralization in a subtropical forest]

Soil N mineralization is a key process of nutrient cycling in ecosystems. The mechanism of the seasonal distribution of precipitation on soil N mineralization remains unclear. We conducted a precipitation manipulation experiment in a subtropical forest in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China from 2020 to 2022, with three treatments, including control (CK), decreased precipitation in the dry season with extremely increased precipitation in the wet season (T1), and decreased precipitation in the dry season with proportionally increased precipitation in the wet season (T2). With in situ resin core method, we explored the effect of seasonal distribution of precipitation on soil N mineralization. The results showed that T1 and T2 significantly decreased dry season net nitrification rate by 57.9% and 72.5% and the net N mineralization rate by 82.5% and 89.6%, respectively, and significantly increased wet season net nitrification rate by 64.3% and 79.5% and net N mineralization rate by 64.2% and 81.1%, respectively. Proportionally increased precipitation in the wet season was more conducive to soil N mine-ralization process than extremely increased precipitation in the wet season. Results of the structural equation model showed that change in seasonal distribution of precipitation could significantly affect soil N mineralization processes in the subtropical forest by changing soil water content, ammonium nitrogen, microbial biomass nitrogen, and soil C:N. Our results had important reference for understanding soil nitrogen cycling and other ecological processes, and were conducive to more accurate assessment on the impacts of future changes in seasonal precipitation pattern on subtropical forest ecosystems.

Physiological responses of typical subtropical landscape shrubs to artificial light at night

Artificial light at night is rapidly spreading and has become an important component of global change. Although numerous studies have focused on its potential ecological impacts, the physiological response mechanisms of landscape plants to artificial light at night have rarely been quantified. With common landscape shrubs in subtropical regions of China, Hydrangea paniculata, Photinia fraseri and Ligustrum japonicum, as test materials, we exa-mined the responses of antioxidant enzyme system and biomass in the light environment at night under different light quality (yellow light, white light) with different light intensities (20, 40, 60 lx) . The results showed that artificial light at night significantly increased the membrane peroxidation, stimulated plant antioxidant protection systems and raised the antioxidant enzyme activities of the three species. The effects of light quality on plant antioxidant enzymes varied across dspecies. The peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) activities of H. paniculata under white light were 1.5 and 1.3 times as that under yellow light, respectively. Both enzyme activities of P. fraseri were 1.1 times as that under white light than under yellow light. The activities of two enzymes in L. japonicum under white light were 88.6% and 99.5% of those under yellow light, respectively. The antioxidant enzyme activities of the three species increased with increasing light intensity at night, whereas the contents of malondialdehyde increased rapidly and the antioxidant enzyme activities decreased when beyond a certain light intensity threshold (at 120 d, the threshold was about 40 lx). The protective enzymes that played the major role under nighttime light stress were different among the three species. For H. paniculata, POD and CAT complemented each other to resist stress-induced oxidative damage, while the main enzyme of L. japonicum was POD. The biomass of the three species increased significantly under artificial light at night. H. paniculata was the most sensitive to nighttime light stress, while L. japonicum had the strongest resistance to the stress. The deciduous shrub H. paniculata could tolerate the white night light lower than 40 lx, while the evergreen shrubs P. fraseri and L. japonicum could tolerate the yellow night light lower than 40 lx.

[The preliminary study of Neuroform EZ stent in the treatment of severe intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis]

Objective: To evaluate the safety and clinical efficacy of Neuroform EZ stent in the treatment of severe intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS). Methods: A total of 36 patients with severe ICAS receiving Neuroform EZ stent angioplasty were retrospectively analyzed at Beijing Anzhen Hospital from July 2018 to January 2020. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) before endovascular intervention confirmed the diagnosis. Follow-up information was reviewed by neurologists at 30 days and 6 months after the procedure. The primary endpoints were transient ischemic attack (TIA), ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke and death caused by any reason within 30 days. Results: The overall technical success rate was 100%. The median stenosis rate was reduced from 93.6%±4.5% to 18.8%±11.2% (t=37.36,P<0.001).Primary endpoint event was not reported. During follow-up, one patient developed TIA and no death or ischemic stroke was observed. No in-stent restenosis at six months occurred. Conclusion: Neuroform EZ stent is safe and effective in patients with severe ICAS. However, perspective studies need to be operated for further validation via long-term follow-up.

[Long-term mesh-related complications after total pelvic reconstruction surgery with tension-free transvaginal mesh]

Objective: To investigate the long-term mesh-related complications and treatment outcome of total pelvic reconstruction surgery with tension-free transvaginal mesh (PROSIMA^TM pelvic floor repair system). Methods: From July 2010 to June 2012, 48 patients with severe pelvic organ prolapse(POP)who underwent PROSIMA^TM were enrolled and treated in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. 29 patients (60.4%) were followed up periodically for at least 3 years to observe the occurrence of long-term mesh-related complications, and the clinical characteristics, classification of complications and treatment outcome of these cases were summarized. Results: The 29 cases with an average age of (65.1±5.2) years were followed up for an average of (71.6±21.2) months. The last follow-up was 36-105 months after treatment. The long-term success rate of the treatment was 79.3% (n=23). There were 18 cases of mesh exposure (18/48, 37.5%), of which 10 cases (55.6%) were new and persistent. 4 cases (4/18) had symptoms; the rest were found by pelvic examination. Ten patients (10/18) were positive for vaginal swab culture. As for treatment outcome, one case suffered from mesh erosion into the bladder. 4 patients (6.9%) complained of postoperative pain. Twenty-nine patients were divided into the exposure group (n=18) and the non-exposure group (n=11) according to mesh exposure occurrence. There was a significant difference in the proportion of positive swab culture results between the two groups (P=0.019), but no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative pain (P=0.566). Conclusion: The incidence of long-term mesh exposure in PROSIMA^TM is not low, and most of patients with which had no symptoms.

[Effect of the pessary treatment on anxiety disorder in patients with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse]

Objective: To evaluate the effect of the pessary treatment on general anxiety disorder in patients with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Methods: Between December 2018 and January 2020, 213 patients who received the pessary treatment for symptomatic POP in the Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) were enrolled in this prospective observational study. Accepting the pessary successfully means that the patient keeping the pessary for 2 weeks were satisfied with it and willing to use it afterwards, or means that the patient having changed a new pessary and keeping it for 2 weeks were satisfied with it and willing to use it afterwards. The questionnaire General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) was used to assess the anxiety state of POP patients, including 163 patients who accepted the pessary treatment successfully and 50 patients who failed, before and after the pessary treatment. A score of 10 or more was considered as the moderate or severe anxiety and defined as the anxiety disorder. Patients who accepted the pessary treatment successfully were followed up for 3 months. Results: Before the treatment, the prevalence of anxiety disorders was 20.9% (34 out of 163) for those patients accepting the pessary and that was 20.0% (10 out of 50) for those patients who failed in keeping the pessary, the difference of which were not statistically significant (P=0.896). The difference of demographic data and clinical characteristics between the anxiety disorder group and the non-anxiety disorder group were not statistically significant (P>0.05). After 3 months of the pessary treatment for those patients using the pessary treatment, the prevalence of anxiety disorders dropped to 3.7% (6/163) from 20.9% (P<0.001). The GAD-7 score of patients with anxiety disorders decreased from a median of 16.0 (12.5, 21.0) before the treatment to 1.0 (0, 4.0) after the treatment, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.001). Conclusion: Around 20% POP patients receiving pessary treatment had the moderate or severe general anxiety disorder. After 3 months of using the pessary treatment, the prevalence of anxiety disorders in POP patients had dropped significantly.

[Verification of skin paste electrodes used in wireless polysomnography]

OBJECTIVE

To explore an electrode suitable for wireless portable sleep monitoring equipment and analyze the result of the signals of electrooculogram (EOG) and electroencephalography (EEG) collected by this kind of flexible electrodes.

METHODS

The flexible electrodes were prepared by microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. This kind of electrodes consisted parylene, chromium, and gold. Parylene, the flexible substrate of this kind of flexible electrodes, was of biocompatibility. Between parylene and gold there was an adhesion layer of chromium, which connected parylene and gold tightly. Then the flexible electrodes were stuck to medical adhesive tape. The electrodes were designed and made into a grid to make sure that the medical adhesive tape could tape on the skin tightly, so that the contact impedance between the electrodes and the skin would be reduced. Then the alternating current impedance of the electrode were tested by the CHI660E electrochemical workstation after the electrode was achieved. To make sure that this kind of electrodes could be used in EOG monitoring, the electrodes were connected to a wireless signal acquisition suite containing special biological signal acquisition and digital processing chip to gather different sites around the eyes and the electrical signals of different directions of the eye movements, then analyzed the signal-to-noise ratio of the EOG. At the end, the Philips A6 polysomnography was used to compare the noise amplitude of the EEG signals collected by the flexible electrode and the gold cup electrode.

RESULTS

The electrodes stuck to the skin tightly, and these electrodes could collect signals that we wanted while the experiment was performed. The alternating current impedance of the flexible electrode was between 4 kΩ and 13 kΩ while with the frequency of alternating current under 100 Hz, most EEG signal frequencies were at this range. The EOG signals collected by the flexible electrodes were in line with the clinical requirements. The noise amplitude of EEG signals collected by the flexible electrodes was lower than that of the electrical signals collected by the gold cup electrodes.

CONCLUSION

The flexible electrode could be taken into consideration as an alternative electrode for monitoring EOG and EEG signals, and the wireless portable sleep monitoring devices are to be further developed in the future.

[A brief introduction to the disease-syndrome names in bamboo slips of Qin Dynasty]

There are plenty of names of disease-syndrome from the four kinds of unearthed Qin bamboo slips, namely Fangmatan, Shuihudi, Zhoujiatai, and Liye. Altogether, these names number to 85. According to statistics, nomenclature of 34 disease-syndromes are derived from the location of the lesion, 8 from symptoms, 1 from etiology, 12 from location of lesion plus symptom, 3 from location plus etiology, and 25 are for special diseases. Through comparison of these names, with those from oracle bones and Han bamboo slips, Prescriptions for Hundred Kinds of Disease, it is summarized that, as time passes, nomenclature simply named by the location of the lesion was gradually reduced, and named by etiology and special diseases gradually increased. To some extent, it reflects the historical process of knowledge of the disease gradually deepened in ancient times.

[Observation on the efficacy and experimental study of compound suanzaoren ansen capsules in insomnia]

374 patients suffering from insomnia were divided into three groups by random: 202 cases in group I were treated with compound Suanzaoren Ansen capsules (SAC); 85 cases in group II were treated with Zhusha Ansen pills (ZAP) as control; 87 cases in group III were treated with Methaqualone (Hyminal) also as control. The therapeutic results were as follows: Groups I, II and III showed significant effective rates of 49.50%, 18.82% and 32.18% respectively; moderate effective rates of 34.65%, 48.24% and 49.43% respectively; and total rates of effectiveness of 84.15, 67.06% and 81.61% respectively. The authors found significant statistical difference between group I and II (P less than 0.005) and of no statistical difference between group I and III (P greater than 0.05). The results showed that the effects of compound SAC were better than ZAP, and similar to that of methaqualone. EEG analysis carried out while sleeping confirmed the effects mentioned above. Low toxicity (LD50 10.7 g/kg) of compound SAC was found through animal experimentations. No towards reactions were revealed in clinical trials except nausea in 3 cases. Heart rate and blood pressure changed lightly in a few cases.