Ecological drought monitoring of Inner Mongolia vegetation growing season based on kernel temperature vegetation drought index (kTVDI).

Ecological drought monitoring is important for regional status assessment and protection of water resources. In this study, we constructed a new ecological drought index, the kernel temperature vegetation drought index (kTVDI), by using the kernel normalized vegetation index (kNDVI) to improve the temperature vegetation drought index (TVDI) in Inner Mongolia. We further analyzed the spatial and temporal distribution of ecological drought in Inner Mongolia during 2000-2022 and the future trend of ecological drought by using segmented linear regression model, Theil-Sen median, Mann-Kendall test, and Hurst index. The results showed that kTVDI performed better in monitoring ecological drought than TVDI. From 2000 to 2022, kTVDI showed a decreasing trend in the growing season in Inner Mongolia, but the change was not significant, and a sudden change occurred in 2016, and the wetting trend after the sudden change was more obvious. During the study period, ecological drought in 23.6% of the areas of Inner Mongolia showed an aggravating trend, and ecological drought was alleviated in 46.5% of the area. In the future, ecological drought would be exacerbated in the eastern part but alleviated in the central and western parts of Inner Mongolia.

Factors Influencing Disabled Stroke Survivors' Quality of Life in Rural China: Based on the Structural Characteristics and Psychometric Properties of the SF-36 Assessment.

Many stroke survivors' quality of life is impaired. Few studies of factors influencing their quality of life have been based on the factors tested by the short form 36 instrument. This study did so with 308 physically disabled stroke survivors in rural China. Principal components analysis was applied to refine the dimension structure of the short form 36 assessment, followed by backward multiple linear regression analysis to determine the independent factors influencing quality of life. The structure revealed differed from the generic structure in showing that the mental health and vitality dimensions are not unidimensional. Subjects who reported access to the outdoors as convenient demonstrated better quality of life in all dimensions. Those who exercised regularly achieved better social functioning and negative mental health scores. Other factors influencing a better quality of life in terms of physical functioning were younger age and not being married. Being older and better educated predicted better role-emotion scores. Being female correlated with better social functioning scores, while men scored better on bodily pain. Being less educated predicted higher negative mental health, while being less disabled predicted better physical and social functioning. The results suggest that the SF-36's dimension structure should be re-evaluated before using it to assess stroke survivors.

Activation of the RMTg Nucleus by Chemogenetic Techniques Alleviates the Learning and Memory Impairment in APP/PS1 Mice.

Objective: There is a relationship between non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) is activated can enhance NREM. Therefore, our experiment was designed to investigate the effects of activation of RMTg by chemical genetic techniques on APP/PS1 mice learning and memory. Materials and Methods: After the AAV-hSyn-hM3Dq-mCherry virus was injected into the RMTg nucleus, CNO solution was intraperitoneally injected to activate RMTg. The new object test and Morris water maze were used to determine the learning and memory level; T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) scanning was performed to analyze the volume of hippocampus and entorhinal cortex of each group; The virus transfection status was determined by laser confocal microscope and use immunohistochemical detection to observe the deposition of Beta Amyloid 1-42 (Aß42). Results: Activation of RMTg by chemical genetic techniques can reduce the escape latency and increase discrimination index (RI) and the number of crossing platform; Activation of RMTg by chemical genetic techniques reduced the atrophy of the entorhinal cortex. Aß42 deposition in the brain was decreased after activation of RMTg. Conclusion: Activation of the RMTg nucleus by chemogenetic techniques can improve the learning and memory impairment in APP/PS1 mice.

Electroacupuncture promotes axonal regeneration in rats with focal cerebral ischemia through the downregulation of Nogo-A/NgR/RhoA/ROCK signaling.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on the axonal regeneration environment following cerebral ischemia injury and to investigate whether it was associated with Nogo-A/Nogo receptor (NgR)/RhoA/Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) signaling. Using a rat model of focal cerebral ischemia, the effects of EA at the Quchi (LI11) and Zusanli (ST36) acupoints on axonal growth inhibitory protein and axonal growth factors were assessed and the underlying molecular mechanisms were investigated. It was found that EA at the Quchi and Zusanli acupoints significantly improved neurological deficit scores following ischemia (P<0.05), and reduced the cerebral infarct volume. Moreover, it was demonstrated that crucial signaling molecules in the Nogo-A signaling pathway were regulated by EA. These results suggest that EA provides a less inhibitory environment for axonal regeneration following cerebral ischemia through inhibition of Nogo-A/NgR/RhoA/ROCK signaling.

Serum miR-132 is a risk marker of post-stroke cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Recently, it has been reported that the microRNA-132(miR-132) is linked with synaptic plasticity and cognitive impairment. The present study investigates that whether miR-132 is altered in circulating blood serum samples of post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) patients. METHODS: We collected samples from 39 subjects with PSCI, 37 subjects with post-stroke cognitive normality (PSCN), and 38 age-matched controls (AMC) for which ages, gender and education level were matched. MiR-132 was detected using a quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) method. To test the predictive value of miR-132 for PSCI, prediction capabilities were compared using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under curve (AUC) analysis. RESULTS: The level of miR-132 in PSCI patient serum was significantly elevated compared to that of PSCN and AMC subjects. The ROC curve showed that miR-132 achieved an AUC of 0.961 (p<0.0001). Importantly, the miR-132 level was correlated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score in PSCI patients. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that there was a substantial correlation between serum miR-132 expression and post-stroke cognitive functionality, suggesting that miR-132 may be a risk marker for PSCI. Because of the limitations of this study, the results should be treated with caution.