Influence of ecological function protection zone on the water conservation in Gansu-Qinghai Contiguous Region of the upper Yellow River

The implementation of Ecological Function Protection Zone(EFPZ)policy is significant for the ecological restoration and conservation of soil and water in the territory space.This manuscript analyzed and quantified the impact of EFPZ on the regional water conservation function,based on land use data from 2005,2008,2010,2015 and 2020,by conducting a counterfactual simulation along with the GeoSOS-FLUS model and the InVEST model.The results demonstrate that the delineation of EFPZ can significantly influence the water conservation.(1)From 2010 to 2020,as the EFPZ was implemented,the water conservation in the study area was increasing year by year,with a growth rate of 0.03×10^(8) m^(3)∙a^(-1).On the other hand,the simulated water conservation capacity without the implementation of EFPZ decreased year by year,with a decrease rate of 0.01×10^(8) m^(3)∙a^(-1).(2)The EFPZ accounts for only 23%of the total area,but the contribution rate of water conservation reaches 80%.The actual values of water conservation and average water yield per unit pixel in the EFPZ show an increasing trend both internally and externally,while the counterfactual simulation values exhibit a decreasing trend.(3)The water conservation is much higher within the EFPZ than without EFPZ.The implementation of EFPZ has a significant effect on the improvement of the water conservation capacity in Maqu EFPZ and Yellow River Source EFPZ.The protection effectiveness should be enhanced in Qilian Mountain EFPZ and afforestation activities need to be carefully considered in Loess Plateau EFPZ.

Olfactory ensheathing cell transplantation alters the expression of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans and promotes axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury

Cell transplantation is a potential treatment for spinal cord injury. Olfactory ensheathing cells(OECs) play an active role in the repair of spinal cord injury as a result of the dual characteristics of astrocytes and Schwann cells. However, the specific mechanisms of repair remain poorly understood. In the present study, a rat model of spinal cord injury was established by transection of T10. OECs were injected into the site, 1 mm from the spinal cord stump. To a certain extent, OEC transplantation restored locomotor function in the hindlimbs of rats with spinal cord injury, but had no effect on the formation or volume of glial scars. In addition, OEC transplantation reduced the immunopositivity of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans(neural/glial antigen 2 and neurocan) and glial fibrillary acidic protein at the injury site, and increased the immunopositivity of growth-associated protein 43 and neurofilament. These findings suggest that OEC transplantation can regulate the expression of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans in the spinal cord, inhibit scar formation caused by the excessive proliferation of glial cells, and increase the numbers of regenerated nerve fibers, thus promoting axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury. The study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of the Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, China(approval No. 2018-2048) on September 9, 2018.

Metallothionein:An overview

Metallothioneins （MTs） were discovered in 1957 by Margoshes and Vallee and identified as low-molecular weight and sulphydryl rich proteins. It is not surprising that most mammalian tissues contain age related basal levels of MTs since they are involved in metalloregulatory processes that include cell growth and multiplication. In an effort to understand the biology of this intriguing tumor, various biomarkers such as oncogenes, p53 tumor suppressor gene, war 1 protein, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, telomerase, microsatellite markers and cytogenetic changes have been examined. One biomarker which has recently shown to be expressed in various human tumors but still less reported in carcinoma is MT. Immunohistochemical detection of MT proteins in cold acetone-fixed paraffin embedded liver sections was performed by the streptavidin-avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase complex method.

Evaluation of the Effects of Cypermethrin on Female Reproductive Function by Using Rabbit Model and of the Protective Role of Chinese Propolis

The prophylactic effects of Chinese propolis against cypermethrin toxicity were evaluated by performing ovary and uterus histopathology, as well as by characterizing ovarian function, embryos, and litters. Cypermethrin induced atypia in the ovary and uterus, and decreased the ovulation sites and the number of embryos. Cypermethrin-induced oxidative stress during pregnancy, decreased the parturition rate as well as the number and weight of offspring and increased the incidence of morphological malformations in the offspring. Administration of propolis to cypermethrin-treated animals mitigated cypermethrin-induced reproductive toxicity.

Protective effects of sodium ferulate in vascular endothelial function during cardiopulmonary bypass

Objective Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and its related ischemia reperfusion injury may cause endothelial cell injury. To study the protective effects of sodium ferulate in vascular endothelial function during CPB by testing the changes of vascular endothelial cell(CEC) ,nitric oxide(NO) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) in children with congenital heart disease. Methods Sixty patients

Study and Application of New Polyamine Polymer Drilling Fluid

Adding the polyamine inhibitor into drilling fluid can effectively strengthen the rejection capability and improve the rheological behavior of drilling fluid system. According to the analysis of the comparison of the physiochemical properties of the polyamine inhibitor, a polyamine polymer drilling fluid system was established by means of adding UAE polyamine into traditional polymer drilling fluid. Conventional properties and environmental influence of this system have been evaluated in this paper. The result indicates that the polymer drilling fluid system optimized by polyamine shows a high-performance, such as excellent rejection performance, better rheological and filtration properties, better environmental protection functions. Thus it can be used in high water-sensitive, high temperature, high pressure or vulnerable formation drilling operations.

Acupuncture Mechanisms: Anesthesia, Analgesia and Protection on Organ Functions

Acupuncture, as a healing art in traditional Chinese medicine, has been widely used to treat various diseases. In the history of acupuncture anesthesia, in the past decades, mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia has been widely investigated, and in recent years, acupuncture protection on organ functions has attracted great interest. This review summarized the research progress on mechanisms of acupuncture for analgesia and its protection against organ function injury in anesthesia, and its perspective of analgesia, immunomodulation, neuroendocrine regulation and multiple organ protection. The current evidence supports that acupuncture analgesia and its organ protection in anesthesia is associated with the integration of neuroendocrine-immune networks in the level of neurotransmitters, cytokines, hormones, neuronal ensembles,lymphocytes, and endocrine cells. Although the mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia and its organ protection are still not completely understood, basic as well as clinic researches on the mechanisms and applications of acupuncture and related techniques are being carried out.

Ecosystem assessment and protection effectiveness of a tropical rainforest region in Hainan Island, China

Ecosystem services have become one of the core elements of ecosystem management and evaluation. As a key area of ecosystem services and for maintaining national ecological security, ecosystem changes and implementation effect evaluation are important in national key ecological function zones, for promoting the main function zone strategy and for improving the construction of an ecological civilization. This article studies the ecological zone of a tropical rainforest region in the central mountain area of Hainan Island, China. Multi-source satellite data and ground observation statistics are analyzed with geo-statistics method and ecological assessment model. The core analysis of this paper includes ecosystem patterns, quality and services. By means of spatial and temporal scale expansion and multidimensional space-time correlation analysis, the trends and stability characteristics of ecosystem changes are analyzed, and implementation effect evaluation is discussed. The analysis shows a variety of results. The proportion of forest area inside the ecological zone was significantly higher than the average level in Hainan Island. During 1990–2013, settlement gradually increased inside the ecological zone. After implementation of the zone in 2010, human activity intensity increased, with the main land use being urban construction and land reclamation. Water conservation in the ecological function zone was higher than that outside the zone. In general, it increased slightly, but had obvious fluctuations. Soil conservation inside the zone was also better than that outside. However, it demonstrated dramatic fluctuations and relatively poor stability during 1990–2013. The human disturbance index inside the zone was significantly lower than that outside, and had a lower biodiversity threat level. Especially in 2010–2013, the increased range of the human disturbance index inside the zone was significantly less than that outside.

Towards a standardisation for digital inputs and outputs of protection functions in IEC 60255 series

Fully digitalized substations using IEC 61850 process bus are being introduced all over the world.Numerous utilities have featured pilot projects,demonstrators or even industrial scale deployment of these Fully Digital Protection,Auto-mation and Control Systems(FD-PACS).Product standards such as profiles for Instrument Transformers have been developed and published(IEC 61869-6 and IEC 61869-9 by TC 38-Instrument Transformers).This raises the question about the standards for digitally interfaced protection functions.In 2016,IEC TC 95(Measuring relays and protection equipment)charged a working group to investigate this subject and to elaborate recommendations concerning requirements and testing of protection IED with digital inputs and outputs for protection standards(IEC 60255-1xx series).For protection functions,publisher/subscriber based data streams are supposed to comply with IEC 61850 and IEC 61869 standards.This holds in particular for Sampled Values(SV)representing energising inputs of the protection function,and is also applicable to Generic Object Oriented Substation Event(GOOSE)which can be used for input or output of protection functions.Quality attributes of published data depend on the operational and connection status of the function and the hosting IED.In addition,protection functions have to take into account the information regarding the time synchronisation of the received SV and other parameters.This paper gives an overview of these features and the proposed way to take them into account in the IEC 60255 standard series.It describes the progress of WG 2 and relates it to existing standardization documents.

Tongxinluo Improves Apolipoprotein E-Deficient Mouse Heart Function

Background： Our previous studies have shown that Tongxinluo （TXL）, a compound Chinese medicine, can decrease myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, protect capillary endothelium function, and lessen cardiac ventricle reconstitution in animal models. The aim of this study was to illuminate whether TXL can improve hypercholesterolemia-impaired heart function by protecting artery endothelial function and increasing microvascular density （MVD） in heart. Furthermore, we will explore the underlying molecular mechanism of TXL cardiovascular protection. Methods： After intragastric administration of TXL （0.1 ml/10 g body weight） to C57BL/6J wild-type mice （n = 8） and ApoE-/- mice （n=8）, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, very-low-density lipoprotein （VLDL）-cholesterol, triglyceride, and blood glucose levels in serum were measured. The parameters of heart rate （HR）, lelt ventricular diastolic end diameter, and left ventricular systolic end diameter were harvested by ultrasonic cardiogram. The left ventricular ejection fraction, stroke volume, cardiac output, and let1 ventricular fractional shortening were calculated. Meanwhile, aorta peak systolic flow velocity （PSV）, end diastolic flow velocity, and mean flow velocity （MFV） were measured. The pulsatility index （PI） and resistant index were calculated in order to evaluate the vascular elasticity and resistance. Tile endothelium-dependent vasodilatation was evaluated by relaxation of aortic rings in response to acetylcholine. Western blotting and real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction were performed for protein and gene analyses of vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF）. lnamunohistochenaical detection was perlbrmed for myocardial CD34 expression. Data in this study were compared by one-way analysis of variance between groups. A value of P 〈 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results： Although there was no significant decrease of cholesterol level （F = 2.300, P = 0.240）, TXL inhibited the level of triglyceride and VLDL （F- 9.209, P- 0.024 and F = 9.786, P ： 0.020, respectively） in ApoE-/- mice. TXL improved heart function of ApoE-/- mice owing to the elevations of LVEF, SV, CO, and LVFS （all P 〈 0.05）. TXL enhanced aortic PSV and MFV （F = 10.774, P = 0.024 and F = 11.354, P - 0.020, respectively） and reduced PI of ApoE-/- mice （1.41 ± 0.17 vs. 1.60 ± 0.17; P= 0.037）. After incubation with 10μmol/L acetylcholine, the ApoE-/- mice treated with TXL aortic segment relaxed by 44% - 3%, significantly higher than control group mice （F = 9.280, P = 0.040）. TXL also restrain the angiogenesis of ApoE-/- mice aorta （F = 21.223, P = 0.010）. Compared with C57BL/6J mice, the MVD was decreased in heart tissue of untreated ApoE-/- mice （54.0 ± 3.0/mm2 vs. 75.0 ± 2.0/mm2; F = 16.054, P - 0.010）. However, TXL could significantly enhance MVD （65.0 ± 5.0/mm2 vs. 54.0 ±3.0/mm2; F- 11.929, P = 0.020） in treated ApoE-/- mice. In addition, TXL obviously increased the expression of VEGF protein determined by Western blot （F = 20.247, P = 0.004）. Conclusions： TXL obviously improves the ApoE-/- mouse heart function from different pathways, including reduces blood fat tolessen atherosclerosis; enhances aortic impulsivity, blood supply capacity, and vessel elasticity： improves endothelium-dependent vasodilatation： restraines angiogenesis of aorta-contained plaque; and enhances MVD of heart. The molecular mechanism of MVD enhancement maybe relate with increased VEGF expression.

Stress reaction in freshwater fish in response to extreme impacts and during the reproduction period

The original and published data on the physiological and biochemical reactions in fish in response to stress impact and during the reproduction period are presented.It is shown that at the initial period of stress and before spawning the protective functions in fish are enhanced which relates to the adaptation syndrome.However,during the initial period of stress the damaging effects prevail over the adaptive processes resulting in the decrease in the level of resistance(“alarm reaction”according to Selye).In contrary,during pre-spawning period protective systems dominate along with enhancement of general adaptation syndromes.This facilitates the increase in the level of resistance in the parental fish(“resistance stage”according to Selye).Before the spawning the alarm stage is not manifested.The state comparable to strong stress occurs in the parental fish only during the spawning.This state is accompanied by decrease in the resistance of organism in spawner evidencing exhaustion of protective functions(“exhaustion stage”according to Selye).With time,both at stress and after spawning,within two to three weeks period,the physiological-biochemical parameters recover and stabilize with the normal limits.