Phosphorous fertilization alleviates drought effects on Alnus cremastogyne by regulating its antioxidant and osmotic potential.

Alnus cremastogyne, a broad-leaved tree endemic to south-western China, has both commercial and restoration importance. However, little is known of its morphological, physiological and biochemical responses to drought and phosphorous (P) application. A randomized experimental design was used to investigate how drought affected A. cremastogyne seedlings, and the role that P applications play in these responses. Drought had significant negative effects on A. cremastogyne growth and metabolism, as revealed by reduced biomass (leaf, shoot and root), leaf area, stem diameter, plant height, photosynthetic rate, leaf relative water content, and photosynthetic pigments, and a weakened antioxidative defence mechanism and high lipid peroxidation level. However, the reduced leaf area and enhanced osmolyte (proline and soluble sugars) accumulation suggests drought avoidance and tolerance strategies in this tree. Applying P significantly improved the leaf relative water content and photosynthetic rate of drought-stressed seedlings, which may reflect increased anti-oxidative enzyme (superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidase) activities, osmolyte accumulation, soluble proteins, and decreased lipid peroxidation levels. However, P had only a slight or negligible effect on the well-watered plants. A. cremastogyne is sensitive to drought stress, but P facilitates and improves its metabolism primarily via biochemical and physiological rather than morphological adjustments, regardless of water availability.

The Effect of Local Anesthetic Infiltration Around Nephrostomy Tract on Postoperative Pain Control after Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the safety and efficacy of local anesthetic infiltration around nephrostomy tract on postoperative pain control after percutaneous nephrolithotomy. METHODS: This systematic review was performed based on randomized clinic trials about local anesthetic infiltration around nephrostomy tract on postoperative pain control. The weighted mean difference (WMD), with their corresponding 95% CI, was calculated to compare continuous variables. RESULTS: Our results showed that the consumption of analgesic was less in the experimental group than in the control group (WMD -25.32, 95% CI -48.09 to -2.55, p = 0.003). There was no significant difference between the mean Visual Analog Scale (VAS) in the experimental group than the control group after 6 h while significantly lower after 24 h. The time of first analgesic demand was significantly longer in the experimental group (WMD 2.19, 95% CI 0.98-3.41). There was no significant difference between 2 groups in terms of operation time, hemoglobin (Hb) alteration, and hospital stay. CONCLUSION: Local anesthetic infiltration around nephrostomy tract had similar efficacy in the control group in terms of operation time, Hb alteration, and hospital stay, but offers some potential advantages in terms of analgesia requirement, the time of first analgesic demand, and VAS-24 h. However, good quality and large studies with long-term follow-up are warranted for further research.

Risk of bleeding complications after preoperative antiplatelet withdrawal versus continuing antiplatelet drugs during transurethral resection of the prostate and prostate puncture biopsy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the risk of antiplatelet drugs (APs) on bleeding complications in urological surgery. METHODS: Studies were sought and included in this review if they were clinical controlled trials and involved transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) and prostate puncture biopsy (PPB), which compared preoperative AP withdrawal (control group) with continuing APs (experimental group) and revealed bleeding complications as outcomes. A literature search was conducted of the electronic databases PubMed, Ovid, ScienceDirect and Embase for studies published between 1990 and 2012. Two reviewers independently screened the studies for eligibility, evaluated the quality and extracted the data from the eligible studies, with confirmation by cross-checking. There was evidence of publication bias based on Egger's test and funnel plot. Data were processed using Cochrane Review Manager 5.0 software. RESULTS: Nine studies involving 3,145 cases met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The baselines of patients' characteristics were comparable in all studies. The meta-analysis results showed that no differences were found in risk of bleeding after (1) TURP (OR 1.26, 95% CI 0.80-2.00, p = 0.32) or (2) PPB (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.45-1.76, p = 0.73). CONCLUSION: Preoperative APs do not raise the risk of surgical bleeding complications in prostatectomy and PPB. Because of few studies and small samples, more high-quality trials with larger samples and longer follow-ups are proposed.

[Study on the characteristics of population distribution of TCM syndromes and its related factors in patients of depression].

OBJECTIVE: To study the rules of occurrence and development of TCM syndromes in patients of depression by analysing the population distribution and related factors of it. METHODS: A clinical epidemiologic survey was carried out with the materials collected by the four-diagnostic method from patients of depression to gain the syndrome types of 397 patients through dynamic cluster analysis, factor analysis and TCM syndrome differentiation. The constitution of syndrome types in different population and the relation between TCM syndrome types and the clinical types differentiated by Western medicine of depression was analyzed. RESULTS: Six syndrome types were found in 397 patients with depression. They were, ranging in occurrence order, the Gan-Qi stagnation with mental uneasiness type (108 cases, 27.2%); the Xin-Pi deficiency with dampness retention type (94 cases, 23.7%); the Xin-Gan Qi-stagnation with Phlegm retention type (76 cases, 19.1%); the Xin-Gan Qi stagnation with Jing-Luo disharmony type (57 cases, 14.3%); the Xin-Shen Qi stagnation with collateral obstruction type (34 cases, 8.6%); and the Xin-Gan Qi stagnation with Heat interfering mental type (28 cases, 7.1%). There were statistical significance (P < 0.01) in comparison of the syndrome types constitution among patients of different ages or different Western medicinal types (mild, with or without psychotic symptoms), but no significant difference was shown in that among patients of different sexes, with or without familial history of mental diseases, with monophasic or biphasic, initial or recurrent episode (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The result obtained in this study is basically in accord with the cognitive rule of TCM theory, it provides a reliable base of syndrome differentiation for treatment.

[An experimental study on distribution of musk into the brain through blood brain barrier].

OBJECTIVE: To study the possible pathway of the effect of musk on brain disorder, distributing into the brain through blood brain barrier. METHODS: We used the musk ketone (muscone), a main composition of musk, to inject through the tail vein of the rats into the blood and took the brain and other organs at different times to make samples. Then gas chromatography was used to measure the distribution of muscone in the brain and other organs. RESULTS: Muscone could pass through the normal rat's blood brain barrier into the brain and soon reached the highest peak and remained in higher concentration, and more slowly metabolized as compared with other organs. CONCLUSION: Musk distributing into the brain through blood brain barrier provides the basis for its effect in treating brain disorders. Chromatography is an effective method to study the active composition of Chinese herbal medicine distributing through the blood brain barrier into the brain.