A Field Study on Effects of Nitrogen Fertilization Modes on Nutrient Uptake,Crop Yield and Soil Biological Properties in Rice-Wheat Rotation System

Rational application of nitrogen （N） fertilizers is an important measure to raise N fertilizer recovery rate and reduce N loss.A two-year field experiment of rice-wheat rotation was employed to study the effects of N fertilization modes including a N fertilizer reduction and an organic manure replacement on crop yield,nutrient uptake,soil enzyme activity,and number of microbes as well as diversity of microbes.The result showed that 20% reduction of traditional N fertilizer dose of local farmers did not significantly change crop yield,N uptake,soil enzyme activity,and the number of microbes （bacteria,actinomycetes,and fungi）.On the basis of 20% reduction of N fertilizer,50% replacement of N fertilizer by organic manure increased the activity of sucrose,protease,urease,and phosphatase by 46-62,27-89,33-46,and 35-74%,respectively,and the number of microbes,i.e.,bacteria,actinomycetes,and fungi by 36-150,11-153,and 43-56%,respectively.Further,organic fertilizer replacement had a Shannon＇s diversity index （H） of 2.18,which was higher than that of other modes of single N fertilizer application.The results suggested that reducing N fertilizer by 20% and applying organic manure in the experimental areas could effectively lower the production costs and significantly improve soil fertility and biological properties.

Assessing the prognosis of cirrhotic patients in the intensive care unit:What we know and what we need to know better

Critically ill cirrhotic patients have high in-hospital mortality and utilize significant health care resources as a consequence of the need for multiorgan support.Despite this fact,their mortality has decreased in recent decades due to improved care of critically ill patients.Acute-on-chronic liver failure(ACLF),sepsis and elevated hepatic scores are associated with increased mortality in this population,especially among those not eligible for liver transplantation.No score is superior to another in the prognostic assessment of these patients,and both liver-specific and intensive care unit-specific scores have satisfactory predictive accuracy.The sequential assessment of the scores,especially the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment(SOFA)and Chronic Liver Failure Consortium(CLIF)-SOFA scores,may be useful as an auxiliary tool in the decision-making process regarding the benefits of maintaining supportive therapies in this population.A CLIF-ACLF>70 at admission or at day 3 was associated with a poor prognosis,as well as SOFA score>19 at baseline or increasing SOFA score>72.Additional studies addressing the prognostic assessment of these patients are necessary.

MULTIPLE ORGAN DYSFUNCTION AFTER HEART VALVE REPLACEMENT

Multiple organ dysfunction (MOD) after valve replacement was studied in a period of 1980-1991. The incidences of MOD involving 2, 3 and 4 organs were 17.1%, 5.6% and 4.3% with corresponding mortalities of 12%, 18.5% and 76.2%. We focused on dysfunction of more than 3 organs, the dreadful complication, which can be divided clinically into three types: acute (type I), deteriorating (type II), and pulmonary infection (type III). In MOD, the function of heart and lung is primarily depressed after surgery. So the predisposing factors of MOD are acute pump failure and hypoxemia, and the possible triggering factor is infection, especially pulmonary infection, which re-endangers the organs recovering from the primary blows. Thus prevention of pulmonary infection is of same importance as treatment of pump failure and hypoxemia.