Polysaccharides from Angelica sinensis alleviate neuronal cell injury caused by oxidative stress

Angelica sinensis has antioxidative and neuroprotective effects. In the present study, we aimed to determine the neuroprotective effect of polysaccharides isolated from Angelica sinensis. In a pre-liminary experiment, Angelica sinensis polysaccharides not only protected PC12 neuronal cells from H202-induced cytotoxicity, but also reduced apoptosis and intracellular reactive oxygen species levels, and increased the mitochondrial membrane potential induced by H202 treatment. In a rat model of local cerebral ischemia, we further demonstrated that Angelica sinensis poly-saccharides enhanced the antioxidant activity in cerebral cortical neurons, increased the number of microvessels, and improved blood flow after ischemia. Our findings highlight the protective role of polysaccharides isolated from Angelica sinensis against nerve cell injury and impairment caused by oxidative stress.

Assessing site-safeguard effectiveness and habitat preferences of Bar-headed Geese (Anser indicus) at their stopover sites within the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau using GPS/ GSM telemetry

Background:The Bar-headed Goose(Anser indicus)breeds across the high plains and plateau of Central Asia and winters in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(QTP),the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the Indian sub-continent.Of the two recognized discrete flyways of the Bar-headed Goose,the Eastern Tibetan Flyway(ETF)is the larger,comprising at least six migration routes.However,we remain ignorant about their migratory connectivity,habitat use and effectiveness of site-safeguard mechanisms set in place for the species.Methods:We tracked 30 ETF Bar-headed Geese from Chinese and Mongolian breeding areas to their wintering grounds using GPS/GSM transmitters,to determine their migration routes and stopover staging patterns within the QTP,overlaying these upon GIS layers of protected area status and habitat type,to model their habitat selection.Results:In total,14 tagged Bar-headed Geese provided information on their entire autumn migration and 4 geese on their entire spring migration.Qinghai Lake marked birds overwintered in the QTP(n=2),geese tagged in Mongolia wintered either in the QTP(n=3)or in India/Bangladesh(n=9),representing three of the migration routes within the ETF.In total,tagged birds staged at 79 different stopover sites within QTP in autumn and 23 in spring,of which 65%(autumn)and 59%(spring)of all fixes fell within the boundaries of either National Nature Reserves(NNRs)or Important Birds Areas(IBAs)in the QTP.Bar-headed Geese predominantly occurred on four land-cover types:grassland(mostly by day),water bodies(at night),wetlands and bare substrates(salt flats,dry lake/river substrates and plough)with little change in proportion.Generalized linear mixed models comparing presence with pseudo-absence data suggested geese strongly selected for wetlands as staging habitat,avoiding bare substrates in spring.Conclusions:Based on our limited observations of these tagged geese,this study is the first to show that the current designated National Nature Reserves in place in the staging areas within the QTP appear adequate to protect this increasing population.In addition,Hala Lake in Qinghai Province and adjacent areas used as initial QTP staging during autumn migration(currently outside of designated as NNRs/IBAs)are recommended for protection,based on their use by tagged birds from this study.Habitat modelling confirmed the importance of natural wetlands as feeding areas and safe areas of open water as roosting places.

Contrasting habitat use and conservation status of Chinese-wintering and other Eurasian Greater White-fronted Goose(Anser albifrons)populations

Background:GPS/GSM tracking data were used to contrast use of(i)habitats and(ii)protected areas between three Arctic-nesting Greater White-fronted Geese(Anser albifrons,GWFG)populations throughout the annual cycle.We wished to demonstrate that the East Asian Continental Population(which winters on natural wetlands in the Chinese Yangtze River floodplain and is currently declining)avoids using farmland at multiple wintering sites.We also gath-ered tracking evidence to support general observations from two increasing population of GWFG,the North Sea-Baltic(which winters in Europe)and the West Pacific(which winter in Korea and Japan)winter mostly within farmland landscapes,using wetlands only for safe night roosts.Methods:We tracked 156 GWFG throughout their annual cycle using GPS/GSM transmitters from these three popu-lations to determine migration routes and stopover staging patterns.We used Brownian Bridge Movement Models to generate summer,winter and migration stopover home ranges which we then overlaid in GIS with land cover and protected area boundary at national level to determine habitat use and degree of protection from nature conserva-tion designated areas.Results:Data confirmed that 73%of European wintering GWFG homes ranges were from within farmland,com-pared to 59%in Japan and Korea,but just 5%in China,confirming the heavy winter use of agricultural landscapes by GWFG away from China,and avoidance of farmland at multiple sites within the Yangtze River floodplain.The same GWFG used farmland in northeast China in spring and autumn,confirming their experience of exploiting such habi-tats at other stages of their annual cycle.Chinese wintering birds showed the greatest overlap with protected areas of all three populations,showing current levels of site safeguard are failing to protect this population.Conclusions:Results confirm the need for strategic planning to protect the East Asian Continental GWFG popu-lation.While the site protection network in place to protect the species seems adequate,it has failed to stop the declines.Buffalo grazing could serve as one simple strategy to improve the condition of feeding habitats at Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake in the Yangtze,where vast Carex meadows exist.In addition,while we warn against pushing GWFG to winter farmland feeding in China because of the long-term potential to conflict with agricultural interests,we recommend experimental sacrificial,disturbance-free farmland within designated refuge areas adjacent to the Yangtze River floodplain wetland reserves as a manipulative experiment to improve the conservation status of this population in years when natural food sources are limited.

Seasonal and regional differences in migration patterns and conservation status of Swan Geese(Anser cygnoides)in the East Asian Flyway

Background:The Swan Goose(Anser cygnoides)breeds across Mongolia and adjacent China and Russia and winters exclusively in China.It is globally threatened,showing long-term major range contractions and declining abundance,linked to habitat loss and degradation.We remain ignorant about the biogeographical subpopulation structure of the species and potential differences in their migration timing,stopovers and schedules,information that could be vital to effective conservation of different elements of the species population,which we address here with results from a telemetry study.Methods:In 2017-2018,we attached GPS/GSM telemetry devices to 238 Swan Geese on moulting sites in three discrete parts of their summering area(Dauria International Protected Area,Central Mongolia and Western Mongolia),generating 104 complete spring and autumn migration episodes to compare migration speed and nature between birds of different summer provenances.Results:Birds from all three breeding areas used almost completely separate migration routes to winter sympatrically in the Yangtze River floodplain.Although many features of the spring and autumn migrations of the three groups were similar,despite the significantly longer migration routes taken by Western Mongolian tagged birds,birds from Dauria Region arrived significantly later in winter due to prolonged staging in coastal areas and took longer to reach their breeding areas in spring.Among birds of all breeding provenances,spring migration was approximately twice as fast as autumn migration.Areas used by staging Swan Geese(mainly wetlands)in autumn and spring almost never fell within national level protected areas,suggesting major site safeguard is necessary to protect these critical areas.Conclusions:This study showed the discreteness of migration routes taken by birds of different summer provenances and differences in their migratory patterns,highlighting key staging areas(Yalu River Estuary in China/North Korea for Dauria Region breeding birds,Daihai Lake for Central Mongolian and Ordos Basin for Western Mongolian birds).Based on this new knowledge of the biogeographical subpopulation structure of the Swan Goose,we need to combine data on subpopulation size,their distribution throughout the annual life cycle and conservation status,to develop more effective conservation strategies and measures to reverse population decline throughout the range.

Characteristics and classification of paleozoic tight reservoirs in the central uplift of the South Yellow Sea Basin

Several sets of Paleozoic tight reservoirs are developed in the Central Uplift of the South Yellow Sea Basin.A qualitative analysis of the microscopic pore structure of the tight reservoir rocks was carried out through cast thin slice and scanning electron microscopic image observation.Based on reservoir pet-rophysical properties,thirty core samples in the Central Uplift of the South Yellow Sea Basin were selected for high-pressure mercury intrusion(HPMI)analysis,which was then combined with fractal calculation to classify and evaluate the tight reservoirs.The analysis of the HPMI curves and related parameters shows that the Paleozoic tight reservoirs can be divided into three types:Type-A,Type-B and Type-C.Type-A sandstone reservoirs contain pores with size mostly ranging between 0.01 and 0.1 mm,followed by pores with size range of 0.001-0.01 m m,and relatively fewer pores larger than 0.1 m m.The Type-B reservoirs are carbonate rocks with extremely heterogeneous pore size distribution,which is closely related to the development of dissolution pores and microfractures.Type-C sandstone reservoirs are dominated by nanopores and submicron pores that distribute more heterogeneously than pores in Type-A reservoirs.The pore distribution in sandstone reservoirs shows significant fractal characteristics and is closely related to the pore size.The heterogeneity of nanopore distribution has a negative cor-relation with porosity and median pressure and a relatively weak correlation with permeability.Our study has important implications for petroleum exploration in the South Yellow Sea Basin.

Design and identification of a double-acting piezoelectric-hydraulic hybrid actuator

Traditional single-acting piezoelectric-hydraulic hybrid actuators usually have the problem of inertial force caused by flow pulsation of the liquid,which degrades their output performance.To suppress or solve the associated inertial force and enhance its output capabilities,this paper proposes a new type of double-acting piezoelectric-hydraulic hybrid actuator with four check valves acting as mechanical diodes.The new hybrid actuator was fabricated and its output performance was tested.When the voltage is 700 Vp-pand the bias pressure is 2 MPa,the pulsation ratesδof the new actuator at 400 Hz,500 Hz and 600 Hz are 2.29,2.08 and 1.78,respectively,whileδof the single-acting hybrid actuator under the same conditions are 10.98,11.05 and 17.12.Therefore,the liquid pulsation rate of the new hybrid actuator is significantly reduced,which is beneficial for improving the flow uniformity and weakening the influence of inertial force on the hybrid actuator.This strategy ultimately leads to a maximum no-load velocity of 168.1 mm/s at 600 Hz and a maximum blocking force of 141 N at 450 Hz for the new hybrid actuator.In addition,this strategy has the potential to be used in other electrohydrostatic actuators to improve their performance.

Comprehensive Management of Daily Living Activities,behavioral and Psychological Symptoms,and Cognitive Function in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease:A Chinese Consensus on Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease(AD)is the most common cognitive disorder in the elderly.Its main clinical manifestations are cognitive decline(C),behavioral and psychological symptoms(B),and a decline in the activities of daily living(A),also known as ABC symptoms.Early identification and evaluation of ABC symptoms are helpful for establishing the accurate diagnosis,comprehensive treatment,and prognosis of AD.To guide Chinese clinical practice for optimization of the comprehensive management of AD,in 2018,The Academy of Cognitive Disorder of China gathered 22 neurologists and gerontologists in China to build a consensus on the comprehensive management of AD.Based on a review of the evidence,the consensus summarizes the pathogenesis,pathological changes,clinical manifestations,evaluation,diagnosis,drug and non-drug treatment,and patient care for AD.Focus group discussion was used to establish a flowchart of comprehensive ABC management for AD patients.The new consensus provides a feasible AD management process for clinicians.

INTEGRAL-TYPE TESTS FOR GOODNESS-OF-FIT

A family of integral-type goodness-of-fit tests is investigated.This family includes someexisting tests,such as the Cramér-von Mises test and Anderson-Darling test,etc.The asymptoticdistributions of the tests in the family under the null and local alternative hypotheses are established.The almost sure convergence under a fixed underlying distribution is obtained.Furthermore,simulationsare conducted to compare the powers of the tests in the family.Simulation results show that fordifferent alternatives,the more powerful tests are different,and the parameter λ has great influence onthe tests in small sample cases.

Correction to:Comprehensive Management of Daily Living Activities,behavioral and Psychological Symptoms,and Cognitive Function in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease:A Chinese Consensus on the Comprehensive Management of Alzheimer’s Disease

The article‘Comprehensive Management of Daily Living Activities,behavioral and Psychological Symptoms,and Cognitive Function in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease:A Chinese Consensus on the Comprehensive Management of Alzheimer’s Disease’,written by Jun Xu,Jun Liu,Yongjun Wang,Yanjiang Wang,Yunpeng Cao,Qihao Guo,Qiuming Qu,Cuibai Wei,Wenshi Wei,Junjian Zhang&Enyan Yu,was originally published electronically on the publisher’s internet portal on 29th May 2021 without open access.With the author(s)’decision to opt for Open Choice the copyright of the article changed on 11th June 2021 to©The Author(s)2021 and the article is forthwith distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,which permits use,sharing,adaptation,distribution and reproduction in any medium or format,as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s)and the source,provide a link to the Creative Commons licence,and indicate if changes were made.The original article has been corrected.