[Effects of seed size and drought stress on the growth and physiological characteristics of Quercus wutaishanica seedlings]. / ç§å­å¤§å°å’Œå¹²æ—±èƒè¿«å¯¹è¾½ä¸œæ Žå¹¼è‹—ç”Ÿé•¿å’Œç”Ÿç†ç‰¹æ€§çš„å½±å“.

The effects of seed size and drought stress on the growth and physiological characteristics of Quercus wutaishanica seedlings were investigated under shading conditions of a pot experiment in greenhouse. There were four treatments, including 80% field water content (FWC), 60% FWC, 40% FWC, and 20% FWC [CK, light drought stress (LDS), medium drought stress (MDS), and high drought stress (HDS), respectively]. The results showed that leaf area per plant, total dry mass, and root-shoot ratio of Q. wutaishanica seedlings regenerated from large seeds (3.05±0.38 g) were significantly higher than those from small seeds (1.46±0.27 g) in all four treatments. Shoot height, basal stem diameter, leaf number, specific leaf area, relative growth rate, and net assimilation rate of the seedlings from large seeds were higher than those of seedlings from small seeds under the treatments of LDS, MDS and HDS. Activities of peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in large-seeded seedlings were higher than those of small-seeded seedlings under all treatments, while the contents of MDA, soluble protein, free proline, and total chlorophyll of large-seeded seedlings were higher than those of small-seeded seedlings only under some drought stress treatments. All growth parameters except the root-shoot ratio decreased with the increases of drought stress. The HDS treatment resulted in 19.4% and 20.0% decline in total dry mass of large- and small-seeded seedlings respectively, compared with those of CK. With increasing drought stress, the activities of POD, CAT, and SOD decreased after an initial increase. POD activity of large- and small-seeded seedling under MDS treatment was 126.7% and 142.1% higher than CK, while CAT was 170.0% and 151.9% higher than CK, respectively. However, the MDA content of seedlings from large and small seeds under HDS treatment was 86.5% and 68.9% higher than that of CK, respectively. The contents of soluble protein, free proline, and total chlorophyll rose at first and then fell with increasing drought stress, and soluble protein content in large- and small-seeded seedlings experienced MDS enhanced 320.7% and 352.7%, respectively. Those results indicated that large-seeded seedlings of Q. wutaishanica had stronger drought tolerance than small-seeded seedlings due to their growth and physiology advantages. Large-seeded seedlings with stronger resistance to drought stress should be applied to artificial regeneration of the degraded secondary Q. wutaishanica plantations.

Short-term effect of a negative colonoscopy in patients with functional constipation.

The yield of colonoscopy for neoplasia among patients with chronic constipation is very low. However, a negative colonoscopy may benefit these patients by decreasing anxiety and thereby alleviating constipation symptoms. We performed a prospective study to characterize the effect of a negative colonoscopy in patients with functional constipation. Seventy-five patients with chronic constipation were enrolled, and 69 patients were diagnosed with functional constipation through the Rome III criteria. After excluding patients whose constipation symptoms were affected by medications (e.g., laxatives, prokinetics), 45 patients were included in the study. Among the 45 patients, the average health-related anxiety score decreased from 21.0 to 15.6 at 1 week after colonoscopy (P < 0.01). Sustained improvement was observed in anxiety scores at 1 month (14.0), 2 months (12.4), and 6 months (11.2). Mean constipation symptom score was also decreased at 1 week (8.7), 1 month (8.0), 2 months (7.6), and 6 months (6.8) compared with the precolonoscopy period (11.5; P < 0.01). These results suggest that a negative colonoscopy in patients with functional constipation is associated with a decline in health-related anxiety and constipation symptom scores. (Registration number: ChiCTR-OOh-16008488).

Effects of seed traits and seed production on the seed predation and dispersal behavior of rodents.

To deeply understand the foraging behavioral strategies of the rodents in response to seeds of different sizes and tannin contents under different seed densities and its relationship with plant regeneration, field experiments were conducted to explore the effects of artificial seeds of different sizes (large and small) and tannin (T) contents (0%T, 2%T, 8%T, and 15%T) on seed predation and dispersal behavior of rodents during simulated non-mast and mast seeding year in Larix principis-rupprechtii plantation of Liupan Mountains in Ningxia. The results showed that seeds were consumed rapidly by rodents in non-mast seeding year but relatively slow in mast seeding year. No significant difference of in situ predation rate (ISPR) was observed between non-mast and mast seeding year. The predation rates of seeds after dispersal (PRAD) by rodents in non-mast year were significantly higher than those in mast year, while the hoarding rate of seed after dispersal (HRAD) of the former was significantly lower than the latter. Both seed predation distance after dispersal (PDAD) and hoarding distance after dispersal (HDAD) by rodents in non-mast year were substantially higher than those in mast year. In non-mast year, both PDAD and HDAD of large seeds were longer than those of small seeds. Significant difference of the former was observed between large and small seeds for all tannin content seeds, but significant difference of the latter between large and small seeds was detected only for seeds of 2% and 15% tannin. In mast year, significant difference of PDADs and HDADs between large and small seeds was found in all other seeds of tannin contents except for 0% Tannin seeds. The ISPR maximized in medium tannin seeds and minimized in high tannin seeds. Maximums of PRAD were observed in high tannin seeds in non-mast year and 0% tannin seeds in mast year respectively. High tannin seeds had the highest HRAD while medium tannin seeds had the lowest HRAD in both mast and non-mast year. Our results suggested that mast seeding year could delay the seed consumption rate of rodents and increase the HRAD, but reduce the dispersal distance. Hoarding preference of the rodents on large seeds was demonstrated in both mast and non-mast years and the dispersal distance of large seeds was longer than those of small ones. It is probably that rodents prefer to predate in situ seeds of medium tannin and disperse high tannin seeds during both mast and non-mast years.

Landslides and dam damage resulting from the Jiuzhaigou earthquake (8 August 2017), Sichuan, China.

At 21.19 on 8 August 2017, an Ms 7.0 earthquake struck the Jiuzhaigou scenic spot in northwestern Sichuan Province, China. The Jiuzhaigou earthquake is a strike-slip earthquake with a focal depth of 20 km at 33.20° N and 103.82° E, and was caused by two concealed faults. According to emergency investigations and remote sensing interpretations, the Jiuzhaigou earthquake triggered 1780 landslides, damaged one dam (Nuorilang Waterfall) and broke one dam (Huohua Lake). The landslides mainly occurred in the Rize Valley and Shuzheng Valley and in Jiuzhai Paradise. The landslides involved hanging wall and back-slope effects, and the slope angle, slope aspect, seismic faults and valley trend were obviously related to the occurrence of the landslides. Specifically, most of the landslides were shallow landslides, rockfalls and rock avalanches and were small in scale. The failure modes of landslides mainly include wedge rock mass failure, residual deposit failure, relaxed rock mass failure and weathered rock mass failure. The initial low stability of the dam coupled with the topographic effect, back-slope effect and excess pore water pressure led to damage to the Nuorilang Waterfall dam.