•The overall plant and soil factors after long-term revegetation (30–40 years) are surveyed.•The biological and soil properties of natural forest is the first-class.•Herb synusia has the most ...correlation and contribution to soil qualities.•This study provides guide for selection of reasonable revegetation mode in practices.
Large-scale vegetation restoration has been performed to improve the fragile ecological environment of the Loess Plateau in the last decades. At present, the effects and mechanism of long-term vegetation restoration on soil properties in ecosystems require further exploration to provide a reference for rational ecological construction. Hence, we investigated the differences in vegetation attributes and soil properties between three typical vegetation types (Pinus tabulaeformis plantation forest, PTPF; Robinia pseudoacacia plantation forest, RPPF; natural secondary forest, NSF) after long-term (30–40 years) vegetation restoration in the western Loess Region, China. Our results showed that (1) the arborous synusia biomass of the plantation forests was twice that of NSF, whereas NSF had almost 50% higher near-surface synusia biomass than the plantation forests; (2) the soil nutrient contents of the plantation forests were lower (30%) than those of NSF; (3) the soil bulk density, organic matter, total nitrogen, and phosphorus were positively related to arborous and shrub synusia biomass; (4) the coupling effects of four biological synusiae (with the contribution of 47.67%) were the dominant factors affecting soil physicochemical properties. Natural forests have the better vegetation attributes and soil properties than plantation forests, indicating that the close-to-nature restoration should be considered in ecological restoration. These findings can provide scientific support and theoretical basis for reforestation and ecological restoration in the Loess Plateau region and similar areas in the future.
Display omitted
•An indoor artificial simulated wind-driven rain simulator was constructed.•Soil erosion and nitrogen loss are significantly influenced by wind-driven rain.•Effect of wind direction ...on soil and nitrogen loss may be positive or negative.•Changes of hydrological characteristics are the main reasons for the loss processes.
“Wind-driven rain” is the main form of natural rainfall. Wind affects runoff, soil, and nutrient loss processes on slopes by changing rainfall characteristics. Wind direction is one of the main factors affecting the falling trajectory of raindrops, raindrop splash angle, and direction of the rainfall erosivity force. However, existing research on soil displacement and nitrogen loss driven by different wind directions and rainfall is still lacking. Based on a simulated wind-driven rain experiment, this study explored the influence of different wind directions (leeward, windward, and crosswind) on runoff, sediment yield, and nitrogen loss on slopes. The results showed that wind direction had a significant influence on runoff, sediment yield, and nitrogen loss in both runoff and sediment. The influence of wind direction on the slope runoff and sediment yield rates was leeward > crosswind > windless > windward. Compared with windless rainfall, the average runoff rate and sediment yield rate under leeward rainfall and crosswind rainfall increased by 6.17%–11.56% and 37.75%–41.58%, and 1.80%–2.40% and 13.31%–18.12%, respectively, while under windward rainfall, they decreased by 5.13%–7.38% and 7.86%–13.02%, respectively. Hydrodynamic parameters are physical parameters that characterize the process of sand-bearing shallow flow acting on surface soil particles. The mean flow velocity and unit stream power affected by the wind direction were ranked: leeward > windless > crosswind > windward. The mean flow velocity and unit stream power under leeward conditions were both 1.31 times those under windless conditions, indicating that leeward wind strengthened the erosion effect of the slope flow on the soil. The mean flow velocity and unit stream power caused by different wind directions may be the main reasons for soil erosion processes. The average nitrogen loss rate in runoff was ranked: windward > crosswind > windless > leeward. The law of nitrogen loss rate in the sediment is consistent with the regularity of the sediment yield rate in all wind directions, which increased respectively by 60.18%–163.86% and 19.39%–69.57% under leeward and crosswind conditions, respectively, and decreased by 10.23%–25.15% under windward conditions when compared to windless treatment. Therefore, when the intensity of wind-driven rain is constant, the impact of wind direction on slope runoff, sediment yield, and nitrogen loss is uncertain and may be either positive or negative. The angle between the raindrop movement direction and the runoff flow direction on the slope changes owing to the influence of different wind directions. This leads to changes in the slope infiltration rate, hydrological characteristics, and soil crusting process, and is one of the main reasons for the difference in soil erosion and nutrient loss rates.
Abstract This study explored the efficacy and safety of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (t-VNS) in patients with pharmacoresistant epilepsy. A total of 60 patients were randomly divided into ...two groups based on the stimulation zone: the Ramsay-Hunt zone (treatment group) and the earlobe (control group). Before and after the 12-month treatment period, all patients completed the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), the Liverpool Seizure Severity Scale (LSSS), and the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory (QOLIE-31). Seizure frequency was determined according to the patient's seizure diary. During our study, the antiepileptic drugs were maintained at a constant level in all subjects. After 12 months, the monthly seizure frequency was lower in the treatment group than in the control group (8.0 to 4.0; P = 0.003). This reduction in seizure frequency was correlated with seizure frequency at baseline and duration of epilepsy (both P > 0.05). Additionally, all patients showed improved SAS, SDS, LSSS, and QOLIE-31 scores that were not correlated with a reduction in seizure frequency. The side effects in the treatment group were dizziness (1 case) and daytime drowsiness (3 cases), which could be relieved by reducing the stimulation intensity. In the control group, compared with baseline, there were no significant changes in seizure frequency ( P = 0.397), SAS, SDS, LESS, or QOLIE-31. There were also no complications in this group.
Soil, water and nutrient losses are major causes of environmental pollution, with runoff accompanied by nutrient transport and sediment loss. The existing runoff and erosion models focus on ...estimating the total amount of pollutants in the long term. There are few studies on the process of nutrient transport during individual rainfall events, and there are still some shortcomings in the mathematical models that describe the nutrient transport process on slopes with consideration of both the dissolved and adsorbed solute in the runoff. In this study, a mathematical model was constructed for describing the nutrient transport process during individual rainfall events by combining a dissolved solute transport model and an adsorbed solute transport model. After adding the nutrient model to the runoff and erosion model KINEROS2, the runoff, sediment yield, and total nitrogen loss on slopes during individual rainfall events were simulated, and the simulation results were verified using a field experiment with different rainfall intensities and different slope lengths. The results showed that the behaviour of the total nitrogen loss was consistent with the runoff and the sediment yield. The values all first increased and then gradually stabilized, and the time to reach steady state was shortened with the increase in rainfall intensity. The runoff and sediment yield simulated by KINEROS2 were consistent with the measured data, indicating that KINEROS2 could successfully simulate the processes of runoff and erosion in runoff plots (NSE > 0.22; R2 > 0.35). Likewise, the amount of total nitrogen loss at different time points was simulated well (NSE > 0.36; R2 > 0.54). Therefore, KINEROS2 shows potential for simulating nutrients and has good applicability on the runoff plot scale in the arid and semi-arid regions of China.
Display omitted
•Loss trend of total nitrogen is consistent with that of runoff and sediment yield.•Soil detachability was increased with the increase in slope length.•A new method was proposed to simulate the loss process of total nitrogen.•KINEROS2 model has good applicability on the runoff plot scale.
The ecological restoration projects in the Loess Plateau (LP) has significantly altered the underlying surface conditions, coupled with a warming–wetting climate, which has profoundly affected the ...regional water cycle. Evaluating the response of runoff to external environmental change and quantitatively identifying the contribution of anthropogenic interference and climate change are prerequisites for efficient utilization of water resources in arid/semi-arid regions. Daily recorded data of hydrological and meteorological elements between 1969 and 2019 and the elasticity coefficient method based on Budyko hypothesis were used for attribution analysis of runoff change in the Yanhe River basin. The results show the following: (1) the measured runoff decreased significantly (p < 0.05, –0.2845 mm year−1), and suggested substantial difference before and after 2000; (2) the area of woodland and grassland had a sharp increase from 2000, while the elasticity of runoff to precipitation, potential evapotranspiration (ET0), and vegetation all decreased; (3) the improvement of underlying surface conditions has become the leading factor of runoff reduction with a contribution of 96.78%; (4) the impact of vegetation restoration on runoff reduction is effective within a certain threshold. We consider that more attention should be paid to the afforestation scale and its possible negative eco-hydrological effects in future ecological restoration.
Biological soil crusts serve as a vanguard for improving the ecological environment in arid, semi-arid desertification areas. It is a good indicator of the level of improvement which the local ...ecological environment is undertaking. In desert areas, water condition is a key factor of improving the ecological environment. As a first layer protection, biological crusts play an important role in local vegetation succession due to their abilities to conserve and maintain moisture. Using Maowusu desert in Yanchi of Ningxia province as an example, after three years of research, this paper chooses three kinds of biological crusts including lichen, moss and cyanobacterial which are under the cover of Artemisia ordosica as research objects. The results of this study indicate that, the closer biological crusts are to Artemisia ordosica vegetation, the thicker they become. In the same position of Artemisia ordosica vegetation, the thickness of moss crusts is the highest, followed by lichen crusts, and the thickness of cyanobacterial crusts is the lowest. Biological soil crusts coverage protects the natural water content of soil layers from 0 to 5 cm. Also, it effects falling water to infiltrate deeper, and cannot prevent the surface water content from evaporating effectively. The effect of biological crusts blocking water infiltration decreases with the increase of rainfall. At the same rainfall level, moss crusts provide the strongest water infiltration blockage, followed by lichen crusts and cyanobacterial crusts. With the increase of rainfall, the depth of water infiltration increases. At the same rainfall level, the relationship of water infiltration depth is as follows： cyanobacterial crusts 〉 lichen crusts 〉 moss crusts. With the increase of biological crusts thickness, they blocking water infiltration capacity is stronger, and the depth of water infiltration is smaller. Analysis on the characteristic of simulated rainfall process on biological crusts shows that sandy land can be fixed by applying appropriate artificial biological crusts to build a sustainable forest pro- tection system and to create a stable ecosystem in desertification area.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a global public health issue, of which the prevalence is about 25% worldwide. The incidence of NAFLD is increasing in patients with obesity, type 2 ...diabetes (T2DM) and the metabolic syndrome. The crosstalk between gut microbiota and metabolism-related diseases has been raised great concern. Patients with NAPLD were observed with disruption of gut microbiota. Several researches showed that gut microbiota was the determination in the progression of NAFLD by the experiments using fecal microbiota transplants. The application of probiotics, as one of the most important strategies for the regulation of gut microbiota disorder, have been explored whether it is beneficial to gut-related diseases of intestine-distal organs. Some probiotics were showed to improve the liver parameters and phenotype in patients with NAFLD. The oral intake of them might become the effective management for the prevention and treatment of NAFLD. In this review, we summarized the human clinical trials focusing on the effects of probiotics on NAFLD to give some evidential reference for the administration of NAFLD.
To address the challenge of predicting distributed photovoltaic (PV) power output for improved system integration and stability, this study proposes a novel method. Given the expanding scale of ...distributed PV systems and their economic constraints, accurate power output prediction becomes pivotal. Conventional prediction methods are hindered by the lack of meteorological stations at most distributed PV stations. In response, we present a dynamic convolutional generative adversarial network (DC-GAN) approach coupled with satellite cloud map video frames. By extracting shading features from satellite cloud images and utilizing DC-GAN, our method forecasts short-term cloud shading effects on future radiation. We further integrate radiation data from centralized PV stations, spatial correlations of distributed PV stations, and cloud shading characteristics. This information is used to construct a predictive model combining Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Long short-term memory (LSTM), enhancing prediction accuracy. Comparative experiments confirm the superiority of our proposed method over traditional approaches, substantiating its effectiveness and practicality. Our method achieves notable accuracy improvements, establishing its value in predicting distributed PV power output. This research’s findings offer a valuable contribution to the field of renewable energy integration. In numerical assessments, our method demonstrates a significant increase in prediction accuracy, outperforming conventional techniques by 3.3%. This underscores the practical relevance and efficiency of our proposed approach in enhancing distributed PV power output prediction.
Objectives:
The impact of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) on the ...outcomes of mild-moderate COVID-19 in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of NSAIDs, csDMARDs, and TNFi on AS patients with mild-moderate COVID-19.
Methods:
This cohort study utilized patient-reported PCR/antigen tests to determine the occurrence of COVID-19 and assessed clinical manifestations to determine its severity. The study focused on two primary outcomes: an increased number of COVID-19 symptoms and a prolonged disease course (longer than 10 or 28 days). Modified Poisson regression was performed to analyze the association between exposures and outcomes.
Results:
A total of 521 patients were included in the analysis. The median age was 34.8 (inter-quartile range: 27.2–46.7), with 420 (80.6%) being men. Among the patients, 52 (10.0%) had comorbidities and 443 (85%) had been vaccinated. After adjusting for confounding factors, there was no significant association between csDMARDs or TNFi and the presence of more than 5 symptoms in mild-moderate COVID-19 (adjusted relative risk (RRa) 1.08, 95% CI: 0.84–1.40 or 1.09, 0.92–1.29 for csDMARDs or TNFi, respectively), whereas the prevalence of experiencing more than 5 symptoms increased in patients with NSAID monotherapy (RRa 1.22, 95% CI: 1.01–1.46). Similarly, there was no significant association with having more than 10 symptoms (RRa 0.65, 95% CI: 0.26–1.64; 0.95, 0.36–2.54; and 1.01, 0.53–1.91 for NSAIDs, csDMARDs, and TNFi, respectively). Patients who had pre-existing use of NSAIDs, csDMARDs and TNFi had similar odds of experiencing a disease course longer than 10 days (RRa 1.17, 95% CI: 0.82–1.66; 1.18, 0.78–1.77; and 1.22, 0.92–1.63 for NSAIDs, csDMARDs, and TNFi, respectively) and longer than 28 days (RRa 0.94, 95% CI: 0.31–2.81; 0.97, 0.25–3.74 and 1.05, 0.44–2.49, respectively) compared to those not using medication.
Conclusion:
AS patients treated with csDMARDs or TNFi did not show inferior outcomes in terms of symptom burden or recovery compared to those not using medication in mild-moderate COVID-19. The observed inverse association between pre-existing NSAIDs use and COVID-19 symptom burden in AS deserves further investigation.
NO is a major environmental pollutant. MnO2 is often used as a denitrification catalyst with poor N2 selectivity and weak SO2 resistance. Kiwi twig biochar was chosen to modify MnO2 samples by using ...the hydrothermal method. The NO conversion rates of the biochar-modified samples were >90% at 125–225 °C. Kiwi twig biochar made the C2MnO2 sample with a larger specific surface area, a higher number of acidic sites and Oβ/Oα molar ratio, leading to more favorable activity at high temperatures and better SO2 resistance. Moreover, the inhibition of the NH3 oxidation reaction and the Mn3+ → Mn4+ process played a crucial role in the redox cycle. What was more, Brønsted acidic sites present on the C1MnO2 sample participate in the reaction more rapidly. This study identified the role of biochar in the reaction process and provides a reference for the wide application of biochar.
PDF
