Quantifying the impacts of climatic trend and fluctuation on crop yields in northern China.

Climate change plays a critical role in crop yield variations, which has attracted a great deal of concern worldwide. However, the mechanisms of how climatic trend and fluctuations affect crop yields are not well understood and need to be further investigated. Thus, using the GIS-based Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model, we simulated the yields of major crops (i.e., wheat, maize, and rice) and evaluated the impacts of climatic factors on crop yields in the Agro-Pastoral Transitional Zone (APTZ) of northern China between 1980 and 2010. The partial least squares regression model was used to assess the contribution rates of climatic factors (i.e., precipitation, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), minimum temperature (T min), maximum temperature (T max)) to the variation of crop yields. The Breaks for Additive Season and Trend (BFAST) model was adopted to decompose the climate factors into trend and fluctuation components, and the relative contributions of climate trend and fluctuation were then evaluated. The results indicated that the contributions of climatic factors to yield variations of wheat, maize, and rice were 31.7, 37.7, and 23.1%, respectively. That is, climate change had larger impacts on maize than wheat and rice. More cultivated areas were significantly and positively correlated with precipitation than with other climatic factors due to the limited precipitation in the APTZ. Also, climatic trend component had positive impacts on crop yields in the whole region, whereas the climate fluctuation was associated mainly with the areas where the crop yields decreased. This study helps improve our understanding of the mechanisms of climate change impacts on crop yields, and provides useful scientific information for designing regional-scale strategies of adaptation to climate change.

Global daily mask use estimation in the pandemic and its post environmental health risks: Analysis based on a validated dynamic mathematical model.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a sharp increase in disposable surgical mask usage. Discarded masks can release microplastic and cause environmental pollution. Since masks have become a daily necessity for protection against virus infections, it is necessary to review the usage and disposal of masks during the pandemic for future management. In this study, we constructed a dynamic model by introducing related parameters to estimate daily mask usage in 214 countries from January 22, 2020 to July 31, 2022. And we validated the accuracy of our model by establishing a dataset based on published survey data. Our results show that the cumulative mask usage has reached 800 billion worldwide, and the microplastics released from discarded masks due to mismanagement account for 3.27% of global marine microplastic emissions in this period. Furthermore, we illustrated the response relationship between mask usage and the infection rates. We found a marginally significant negative correlation existing between the mean daily per capita mask usage and the rate of cumulative confirmed cases within the range of 25% to 50%. This indicates that if the rate reaches the specified threshold, the preventive effect of masks may become evident.

Impacts of Human Activities and Climate Change on Water Storage Changes in Shandong Province, China.

The over-exploitation of water resources causes water resource depletion, which threatens water security, human life, and social and economic development. Only by clarifying the spatial pattern, changing trends, and influencing factors of water storage can we promote the rational development of water resources and relieve the pressure on water resources. However, there is still a lack of research on these aspects. In this study, the water-scarce area in Shandong Province, China, was selected to quantify the spatial and temporal changes in the terrestrial water storage (TWS) and groundwater storage (GWS) over the past 30 years. Nighttime light data were used to characterize the urbanization level (UL) and explore the effects of human activities (i.e., UL) and climate change (temperature and precipitation) on the TWS and GWS. The results show that 1) from 1990 to 2018, the overall TWS exhibited a significant decreasing trend (- 0.084 cm yr-1). The change trend of the GWS was consistent with that of the TWS (- 0.516 m3 yr-1). Spatially, there was significant spatial heterogeneity in the trend of the TWS and GWS. At the grid and prefectural scales, the TWS mainly exhibited a downward trend in the central and western regions, and an upward trend in the eastern region of Shandong Province. For the GWS, all cities exhibited a decreasing trend at the prefectural scale, whereas 92% of the regions exhibited a decreasing trend with less spatial heterogeneity at the grid scale. 2) Precipitation was the mean factor controlling the total amount of TWS and GWS in Shandong Province. Precipitation and temperature positively affected water storage, and the UL negatively affected it. At the prefectural scale, except for a few cities which were greatly influenced by the UL, the dominant factor of the TWS and GWS was precipitation in the other cities. At the grid scale, for the TWS, precipitation was the predominant factor in 51.82% of the entire region, followed by the UL (44.14%) and temperature (4.04%). For the GWS, precipitation was the predominant factor in 55.73% of the area, and the other 44.27% of the area was mainly influenced by the UL. Overall, precipitation and the UL were the key factors affecting the TWS and GWS. The results of this study provide a theoretical and decision-making basis for the optimal allocation and sustainable use of regional water resources.

Revealing Impacts of Human Activities and Natural Factors on Dynamic Changes of Relationships among Ecosystem Services: A Case Study in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, China.

Understanding the dynamic changes of relationships between ecosystem services (ESs) and their dominant factors can effectively adjust human activities to adapt proactively to global climate change. In this study, the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain (HHHP) was selected to assess the dynamics of four key ESs (NPP, net primary productivity; WY, water yield; SC, soil conservation; FP, food production) from 2000 to 2020. The constraint lines of interactions among ESs were extracted based on a segmented quantile regression model. On this basis, the effects of both human activities and natural factors on the key features of the interactions between ESs were quantified with the help of automatic linear model. The results indicated that two types of constraint relationships, including exponential and humped-shaped, existed among the six pairs of ESs. In the past two decades, small changes in NPP thresholds would lead to large variations in other ESs thresholds. Precipitation and normalized difference vegetation index were the key factors to determine the constraint strength of ESs in the HHHP. The potential maximum value of WY in the HHHP could be increased by adjusting landscape shape to make it more complicated. This study helps to improve the potential of target ESs and provides a decision-making basis for promoting regional sustainable development.

Multiscale analysis of factors affecting food security in China, 1980-2017.

Food security is an important issue affecting people's lives and social stability. Clarifying levels of food security and the factors affecting it (social, economic, agricultural, climatic) can help improve regional food security. The spatiotemporal patterns and driving factors of food security vary at different scales. There is, however, a lack of research that considers the various factors affecting food security at multiple scales. This study, therefore, analyzed dynamic spatiotemporal changes in food security at small (city), medium (province), and large (country) scales; identified hot and cold areas of food security; and revealed the main factors affecting food security at different scales. A food security index (FSI) was built based on the coupling of grain yield, population, and GDP, and spatial analysis was used to evaluate dynamic spatiotemporal changes in China's food security from 1980 to 2017. Further, the relationship between food security and its driving factors was quantitatively analyzed using stepwise regression. The results showed greater heterogeneity in food security at the smaller scale than at the larger scale. The key factors affecting food security varied substantially at different scales: the added value of tertiary industry dominated the prefecture level, and gross agricultural output value was the main factor at the provincial and national levels. Multiple-scale research can reveal the status and primary factors of food security and provide a decision-making basis for improving regional food security.

Impacts of meteorological factors and land use pattern on hydrological elements in a semi-arid basin.

The allocation of water resources to meet both human wellbeing and environmental requirements is a critical challenge in a semi-arid landscape. Hydrological models are widely used to understand the influence mechanism of hydrological elements, which is helpful for optimizing water resources management. However, the spatial heterogeneity of hydrological dynamics has been largely omitted in prior studies, partly because it's difficult to correctly simulate the spatial distributions of hydrological elements due to roughly representing the surface biophysical parameters in the hydrological model. In this study, the Distributed Hydrological Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM) was incorporated with the high-resolution remotely sensed leaf area index (LAI) data in a semiarid basin, located in the upstream of the Xar Moron River Basin, to explore the impacts of meteorological factors (i.e., air temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, shortwave radiation, and precipitation) and LAI on hydrological processes of forests, grasslands, and farmlands. Our results show that the spatial distribution of LAI slightly improves the accuracy of streamflow simulations and significantly promotes the model performance of spatial hydrological element simulations. For the area in study, precipitation, LAI, and relative humidity are the three major influential factors in the forest hydrological dynamics. The hydrological elements of grasslands and farmlands are mainly affected by shortwave radiation, relative humidity, air temperature, and LAI. Compared with grasslands and farmlands, LAI has greater negative influence on forest water availability. To mitigate the negative effects of drying and warming climate and promote ecosystems sustainability, the forest area should be converted into grassland while the native grassland should be maintained for soil water conservation.

Effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and ibuprofen for pain caused by necrosis of the femoral head: A retrospective study.

This retrospective study analyzed the effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) for pain relief caused by necrosis of femoral head (NFH).Totally, 80 cases of patients with NFH were analyzed and then were assigned to a treatment group or a control group in this study. Of these, 40 cases in the treatment group received ibuprofen and NMES therapy. The other 40 cases in the control group received ibuprofen alone. Cases in both groups were treated for a total of 6 weeks. The primary outcome of pain intensity was measured by a visual analog scale (VAS). The secondary outcome was assessed by Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). In addition, adverse events (AEs) were also recorded in each case. All outcomes were evaluated before and after the treatment.After treatment, patients in the treatment group showed more effectiveness in pain relief, as measured by VAS (P < .01) and WOMAC sub-pain scale (P < .01), except stiffness, as evaluated by WOMAC sub-stiffness scale (P = .07), and function, as assessed by WOMAC sub-function scale (P = .09), than patients in the control group. Additionally, no significant differences in AEs were detected between 2 groups.This study found that NMES may be helpful for pain relief in patients with NFH.

Therapeutic efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave combined with hyaluronic acid on knee osteoarthritis.

This retrospective study investigated the efficacy and safety of extracorporeal shock wave (EPSW) combined with hyaluronic acid (HA) for patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA).This retrospective study included 70 patients with KOA. Of those subjects, 35 of them received EPSW combined HA, and were allocated to a treatment group, while the other 35 participants received HA alone and were allocated to a control group. Patients in both groups were treated for a total of 8 weeks. The primary outcome was measured by visual analog scale (VAS). The secondary outcomes were measured by Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), and knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score (KOOS). In addition, adverse events (AEs) were also evaluated. All outcomes were measured before and after the treatment.After the treatment, patients in the treatment group exhibited better efficacy in VAS (P < .01), WOMAC scale (pain, P < .01; function, P < .01; and stiffness, P < .01), and KOOS scores (pain, P < .01; function in daily living, P < .01; symptoms, P < .01; sport and recreation, P < .01; and quality of life, P < .01), than patients in the control group. In addition, no significant differences regarding the AEs were found between 2 groups.The findings of this study demonstrated that the efficacy of EPSW combined with HA is superior to the HA alone for patients with KOA.

A retrospective study of acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy to topical ibuprofen for chronic knee pain due to osteoarthritis.

This retrospective study investigated the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy to topical ibuprofen (TIP) for patients with chronic knee pain (CKP) due to osteoarthritis.This retrospective study analyzed medical records of 84 patients with CKP due to osteoarthritis. These patients were divided into a treatment group (n = 42) and a control group (n = 42). The patients in the treatment group were treated with acupuncture plus TIP, while the subjects in the control group received TIP monotherapy. The primary effectiveness endpoint was assessed by Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis index (WOMAC). The secondary effectiveness endpoints were evaluated by the numeric rating scale (NRS), 12-item Short FormHealth Survey (SF-12, mainly including mental component summary [MCS], and physical component summary [PCS]), and adverse events. All patients received an 8-week treatment. All endpoints were measured pre-treatment and posttreatment.The patients who received acupuncture plus TIP showed better effectiveness in both primary endpoint of WOMAC scale (pain, P < .01; function, P < .01; and stiffness, P < .01) and secondary endpoints of NRS (P < .01), and SF-12 (MCS, P < .01; and PCS, P < .01), than patients who received TIP monotherapy. In addition, both groups had similar safety profile.The results of this study showed that the effectiveness of acupuncture plus TIP may be better than TIP monotherapy for patients with CKP due to osteoarthritis.

How do climatic and management factors affect agricultural ecosystem services? A case study in the agro-pastoral transitional zone of northern China.

Agricultural ecosystem management needs to ensure food production and minimize soil erosion and nitrogen (N) leaching under climate change and increasingly intensive human activity. Thus, the mechanisms through which climatic and management factors affect crop production, soil erosion, and N leaching must be understood in order to ensure food security and sustainable agricultural development. In this study, we adopted the GIS-based Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model to simulate crop production, soil erosion, and N leaching, and used a partial least squares regression model to evaluate the contributions of climate variables (solar radiation, precipitation, wind speed, relative humidity, and maximum and minimum temperature) and management factors (irrigation, fertilization, and crop cultivation area) on agricultural ecosystem services (AES) in the agro-pastoral transitional zone (APTZ) of northern China. The results indicated that crop production and N leaching markedly increased, whereas soil erosion declined from 1980 to 2010 in the APTZ. Management factors had larger effects on the AES than climate change. Among the climatic variables, daily minimum temperature was the most important contributor to the variations in ecosystem services of wheat, maize, and rice. Spatial changes in the cultivated area most affected crop production, soil erosion, and N leaching for majority of the cultivated areas of the three crops, except for the wheat-cultivated area, where the dominant factor for N leaching was fertilization. Although a tradeoff existed between crop production and negative environmental effects, compromises were possible. These findings provide new insights into the effects of climatic and management factors on AES, and have practical implications for improving crop production while minimizing negative environmental impacts.

Genomic Variations in Probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum P-8 in the Human and Rat Gut.

The effects of probiotics on host gastrointestinal health have become an area of particular interest in the field of probiotic research. However, the impact of the host intestinal environment on genomic changes in probiotic organisms remains largely unknown. To investigate, Lactobacillus plantarum P-8, a well-studied probiotic bacterium, was consumed by healthy human volunteers and rats. Then, the persistence and genomic stability of P-8 in the host gut were surveyed. qPCR results revealed that after the consumption of one dose, P-8 could be detected in the host gastrointestinal tract for 4-5 weeks. By contrast, after 4 successive weeks of consumption, P-8 could be detected for up to 17 weeks after consumption ceased. In total, 92 P-8 derived strains were isolated from fecal samples and their genomes were sequenced and analyzed. Comparative genomic analysis detected 19 SNPs, which showed the characteristics of neutral evolution in the core genome. In nearly half of samples (n = 39, 42%), the loss of one to three plasmids was observed. The frequent loss of plasmids indicated reductive evolution in the accessory genome under selection pressure within the gastrointestinal tract. We also observed a 609-bp 23S rRNA homologous fragment that may have been acquired from other species after intake. Our findings offer insight into the complex reactions of probiotics to the gut environment during survival in the host. The in vivo genomic dynamics of L. plantarum P-8 observed in this study will aid the commercial development of probiotics with more stable characteristics.

Impacts of changes in climate and landscape pattern on ecosystem services.

The restoration of degraded vegetation can effectively improve ecosystem services, increase human well-being, and promote regional sustainable development. Understanding the changing trends in ecosystem services and their drivers is an important step in informing decision makers for the development of reasonable landscape management measures. From 2001 to 2014, we analyzed the changing trends in five critical ecosystem services in the Xilingol Grassland, which is typical of grasslands in North China, including net primary productivity (NPP), soil conservation (SC), soil loss due to wind (SL), water yield (WY) and water retention (WR). Additionally, we quantified how climatic factors and landscape patterns affect the five ecosystem services on both annual and seasonal time scales. Overall, the results indicated that vegetation restoration can effectively improve the five grassland ecosystem services, and precipitation (PPT) is the most critical climatic factor. The impact of changes in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was most readily detectable on the annual time scale, whereas the impact of changes in landscape pattern was most readily detectable on the seasonal time scale. A win-win situation in terms of grassland ecosystem services (e.g., vegetation productivity, SC, WR and reduced SL) can be achieved by increasing grassland aggregation, partitioning the largest grasslands, dividing larger areas of farmland into smaller patches, and increasing the area of appropriate forest stands. Our work may aid policymakers in developing regional landscape management schemes.

Intestinal Microbiota Distinguish Gout Patients from Healthy Humans.

Current blood-based approach for gout diagnosis can be of low sensitivity and hysteretic. Here via a 68-member cohort of 33 healthy and 35 diseased individuals, we reported that the intestinal microbiota of gout patients are highly distinct from healthy individuals in both organismal and functional structures. In gout, Bacteroides caccae and Bacteroides xylanisolvens are enriched yet Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum depleted. The established reference microbial gene catalogue for gout revealed disorder in purine degradation and butyric acid biosynthesis in gout patients. In an additional 15-member validation-group, a diagnosis model via 17 gout-associated bacteria reached 88.9% accuracy, higher than the blood-uric-acid based approach. Intestinal microbiota of gout are more similar to those of type-2 diabetes than to liver cirrhosis, whereas depletion of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and reduced butyrate biosynthesis are shared in each of the metabolic syndromes. Thus the Microbial Index of Gout was proposed as a novel, sensitive and non-invasive strategy for diagnosing gout via fecal microbiota.

Characterization of fecal microbiota across seven Chinese ethnic groups by quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

The human gut microbiota consists of complex microbial communities, which possibly play crucial roles in physiological functioning and health maintenance. China has evolved into a multicultural society consisting of the major ethnic group, Han, and 55 official ethnic minority groups. Nowadays, these minority groups inhabit in different Chinese provinces and some of them still keep their unique culture and lifestyle. Currently, only limited data are available on the gut microbiota of these Chinese ethnic groups. In this study, 10 major fecal bacterial groups of 314 healthy individuals from 7 Chinese ethnic origins were enumerated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Our data confirmed that the selected bacterial groups were common to all 7 surveyed ethnicities, but the amount of the individual bacterial groups varied to different degree. By principal component and canonical variate analyses of the 314 individuals or the 91 Han subjects, no distinct group clustering pattern was observed. Nevertheless, weak differences were noted between the Han and Zhuang from other ethnic minority groups, and between the Heilongjiang Hans from those of the other provinces. Thus, our results suggest that the ethnic origin may contribute to shaping the human gut microbiota.

Mongolians core gut microbiota and its correlation with seasonal dietary changes.

Historically, the Mongol Empire ranks among the world's largest contiguous empires, and the Mongolians developed their unique lifestyle and diet over thousands of years. In this study, the intestinal microbiota of Mongolians residing in Ulan Bator, TUW province and the Khentii pasturing area were studied using 454 pyrosequencing and q-PCR technology. We explored the impacts of lifestyle and seasonal dietary changes on the Mongolians' gut microbes. At the phylum level, the Mongolians's gut populations were marked by a dominance of Bacteroidetes (55.56%) and a low Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio (0.71). Analysis based on the operational taxonomic unit (OTU) level revealed that the Mongolian core intestinal microbiota comprised the genera Prevotella, Bacteroides, Faecalibacterium, Ruminococcus, Subdoligranulum and Coprococcus. Urbanisation and life-style may have modified the compositions of the gut microbiota of Mongolians from Ulan Bator, TUW and Khentii. Based on a food frequency questionnaire, we found that the dietary structure was diverse and stable throughout the year in Ulan Bator and TUW, but was simple and varied during the year in Khentii. Accordingly, seasonal effects on intestinal microbiota were more distinct in Khentii residents than in TUW or Ulan Bator residents.

Isolation and identification of cultivable lactic acid bacteria in traditional yak milk products of Gansu Province in China.

Various traditional fermented yak milk and raw milk foods could be considered as an abundant resource for obtaining novel lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with unique properties. Eighty-eight samples of yak milk products were collected from Gansu Province in China. Three hundred and nineteen strains of LAB isolated from these samples were identified by phenotypic methods, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and PCR-Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) technology. Among the isolates, one hundred and sixty-four isolates (51.41% of the total) were classified under Lactobacilli, and one hundred and fifty-five (48.59%) belonged to cocci. All the isolates were classified to six genera (Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Streptococcus, Enterococcus and Weissella) and twenty-one species. Lactobacillus helveticus (87 strains), Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides (49 strains), Streptococcus thermophilus (39 strains), Lactobacillus casei (31 strains) and Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis (19 strains) were considered as the predominant populations in the yak milk products. The results showed that there were abundant genus and species LAB existing in yak milk products in Gansu Province in China. The obtained LAB pure cultures may be a valuable source for further starter selection.