Spatial heterogeneity of soil water content in the reversion process of desertification in arid areas

Sandy soils in arid,rain-fed environments have low and limited water content,which is a principal factor limiting vegetation development,and a key constraint controlling the structure and functions of the ecological systems in arid areas.The spatial heterogeneity of soil water content is a major soil property,and a focus of soil science and hydrology.On the southern edge of the Tengger Desert,sample plots were selected from mobile sand dunes in desertified lands that had been enclosed for 5,15 and 25 years,respectively.This study explored the dynamic and spatial heterogeneity of soil water content in these different layers of soil that were also in the reversion process of desertification.The results showed that the soil water content of the mobile sand dunes was highest when in the initial stages of the reversion process of desertification,while the soil water content in the 0-20 cm,20-40 cm and 40-60 cm layers of soil was 1.769%,3.011%,and 2.967% respectively,presenting a restoring tendency after 25 years of enclosure.There were significant differences,as a whole,in the soil water content among different restoration stages and different soil layers,respectively.Changes in soil water content,in different soil layers,at different restoration stages,exhibited exponential or spherical patterns.The spatial distribution of soil water content exhibited a mosaic patch pattern with obvious spatial heterogeneity.The ratio of the heterogeneity of spatial autocorrelation to gross spatial heterogeneity was greater than 50%.The gross spatial heterogeneity of the 0-20 cm layer of soil improved gradually,while those of the 20-40 cm and 40-60 cm layers improved initially,then weakened in the reversion process of desertification.This study revealed that restoration with sand-binding vegetation reduced soil water content,and increased its spatial heterogeneity in arid areas.However,after 25 years of vegetation-soil system restoration,the soil water content started to increase and its spatial heterogeneity started to weaken.These results will further benefit the understanding of the ecological mechanism between soil water and sand-binding vegetation.

The Study of the Graft Hemodynamics with Different Instant Patency in Coronary Artery Bypassing Grafting

In coronary artery bypass grafting(CABG),graft’s poor instant patency may lead to an abnormal hemodynamic environment in anastomosis,which could further cause graft failure after the surgery.This paper investigates the graft hemodynamics with different instant patency,and explores its effect on graft postoperative efficiency.Six CABG 0D/3D coupling multi-scale models which used left internal mammary artery(LIMA)and saphenous vein(SVG)as grafts were constructed.Different types of grafts were examined in the models,including normal grafts,grafts with competitive flow and grafts with anastomotic stenosis.Simulation results indicated that comparing with SVG grafts,there was a greater difference between normal LIMA graft and non-patent LIMA graft.Also,the backflow occurred even in LIMA systolic flow.The wall shear stress(WSS)in the graft of the competitive flow LIMA model had an appreciable decrease comparing with the normal graft.In addition,the WSS in the stenosis region of the anastomotic stenosis LIMA model was much higher than its adjacent regions.In contrast,the WSS distributions in the SVG models were much smoother than in the LIMA models.For oscillatory shear index(OSI),there was little difference between normal LIMA and SVG.But when the graft had competitive flow or anastomotic stenosis,much higher OSI occurred in some regions in LIMA than SVG.There are significant differences in hemodynamics between normal grafts and non-patent grafts both in LIMA and SVG.The hemodynamic environment in a normal LIMA is better than that in a normal SVG.However,in the situation of the two types of non-patent grafts,the hemodynamics of SVG is better than LIMA.

A Fast-Fractional Flow Reserve Simulation Method in A Patient with Coronary Stenosis Based on Resistance Boundary Conditions

Fractional flow reserve(FFR)is the gold standard to identify individual stenosis causing myocardial ischemia in catheter laboratory.The purpose of this study is to present a fast simulation method to estimate FFR value of a coronary artery,which can evaluate the performance of vascular stenosis,based on resistance boundary conditions.A patient-specific 3-dimensional(3D)model of the left coronary system with intermediate diameter stenosis was reconstructed based on the CTA images.The resistance boundary conditions used to simulate the coronary microcirculation were computed based on anatomical reconstruction of coronary 3D model.This study was performed by coupling the 3D coronary tree model with the lumped parameter model(0D model).The flow rate and pressure of coronary tree were calculated in twenty minutes.In addition,the effect of inlet pressure and myocardial mass on FFRss values has been investigated.The results showed that the effect of myocardial mass was greater than the effect of inlet pressure on FFRss.This FFRss simulation method can quickly and accurately assess the influence of coronary stenosis in aid clinical diagnosis.

A New Species of Nidirana(Anura,Ranidae)from Southern Guangxi,China

A new music frog,Nidirana shiwandashanensis sp.nov.,is described from Shiwandashan National Nature Reserve,Shangsi County,Guangxi,China.Phylogenetic analysis based on mtDNA sequences indica tes tha t the new species is closest to N.guangxiensis.However,N.shiwandashanensis sp.nov.differs from its congeners based on morphological characters,molecular data,and bioacoustics.The advertisement calls are comprised of 6–8 double notes,which are distinct from its sister taxon,N.guangxiensis.Currently,the new species occurs in the evergreen forest at Shiwandashan National Nature Reserve between 500–600 m a.s.l.

Hemodynamics of Enhanced External Counterpulsation with Different Coronary Stenosis

Enhanced external counterpulsation(EECP)is able to treat myocardial ischemia,which is usually caused by coronary artery stenosis.However,the underlying mechanisms regarding why this technique is effective in treating myocardial ischemia remains unclear and there is no patient-specific counterpulsation mode for different rates of coronary artery stenosis in clinic.This study sought to investigate the hemodynamic effect of varied coronary artery stenosis rates when using EECP and the necessity of adopting targeted counterpulsation mode to consider different rates of coronary artery stenosis.Three 3-dimensional(3D)coronary models with different stenosis rates,including 55%(Model 1),65%(Model 2),and 75%(Model 3),were generated,then coupled with a 0-dimensional(0D)lumped parametric model of the blood circulatory system.EECP was applied to the 0D/3D coupled models to study the hemodynamic response of the coronary artery.Under the same counterpulsation mode,the ratio of diastolic blood pressure to systolic blood pressure of 3 models during counterpulsation was 1.4,and the cardiac output and coronary artery flow rate increased significantly.The low wall shear stress(WSS)and high oscillatory shear index(OSI)areas were mainly located at the posterior end of the stenosis and coronary artery bifurcation.Moreover,with an increase in the rate of coronary artery stenosis,the increased percentage of flow rate through the coronary artery stenosis and area-averaged WSS decreased.The geometric multiscale model in this study can be used to effectively simulate the hemodynamic characteristics of cardiovascular system following the application of EECP.Local precise hemodynamic effect of the coronary artery stenosis can be observed.It was found from the hemodynamic factors that the coronary artery with lower stenosis rate more likely led to better vascular endothelial remodeling.Thus,it is necessary to adopt patient-specific counterpulsation mode accounting for different condition of coronary artery stenosis.

Mechanical regulation of bone regeneration during distraction osteogenesis

Distraction osteogenesis(DO)is a mechanobiological process of regenerating bone tissue by tension stress.DO is used clinically to lengthen bones or to treat critical size bone defects.Although DO provides satisfactory results in many cases,the prolonged period of treatment remains a major challenge that needs to be overcome.Various attempts have been devoted to accelerating bone regeneration during DO.One common approach is manipulation of the applied mechanical loading by altering distraction strategies.In this article,we reviewed relevant in vivo animal studies exploring the effects of changing mechanical environments,by varying distraction parameters(e.g.,rate and frequency)or adding compression loading,on bone regeneration in DO.We further presented how the mechanically-regulated bone regeneration process during DO could be simulated by in silico models incorporating mechano-regulatory tissue differentiation rules.A comprehensive review of those in vivo and in silico studies may not solely provide important references for development of improved DO protocols in clinic,but also promote a deeper understanding of the mechanobiological mechanism of bone regeneration.

Effects of tissue heterogeneity on trabecular micromechanics examined by microCT-based finite element analysis and digital volume correlation

Trabecular bone is natural material with heterogeneous tissue properties.The effect of tissue heterogeneity on the micromechanical behavior of trabecular bone is commonly evaluated by microCT-based finite element(microFE)analysis.Results from prior work remain inconclusive and lack of experimental validation.To address these issues,we combined microFE analysis with mechanical testing and microCT-based digital volume correlation(DVC),as a validation for the microFE approach.Porcine trabecular specimens were tested in compression as sequential microCT scans were taken.DVC was performed to extract“realistic”boundary conditions that were applied to microFE models,and to measure microstructural deformation and strain of the trabecular specimens.Heterogeneous and homogeneous microFE models of each trabecular specimen were created and compared with the experimentally measured microstructural displacement and strains.Results showed strong correlations between DVC-measured and microFE-predicted trabecular displacement and strain fields(R^(2)>0.9,p<0.05),regardless of heterogeneous or homogeneous material assignments.The heterogeneous and homogeneous models predicted similar magnitudes for maximum or minimum principal strains(R^(2)=1,p<0.05).However,incorporation of tissue heterogeneity decreased more than 16.5%in the overall stress level of the trabecular tissues.Regardless,very strong correlations were found between the heterogeneous and homogeneous model-predicted principal strains or stresses.These results together suggest that tissue heterogeneity may have little effect on microFE modeling of typical elastic displacement and strains in the trabecular bone,suggesting that homogeneous material models might be sufficient to predict general trabecular micromechanics.

Lumped parameter model based surgical planning for CABG

The current 3D CABG model is time consuming,a lumped parameter CABG model may solve this problem.A coronary lumped parameter model without stenosis and graft was constructed.The stenosis resistance was calculated and graft model was constructed.After calculation,the graft flow results of CABG lumped parameter model fit well with 3D CABG model results.