Spatio-temporal variation and environmental drivers of chlorophyll a concentration and diatom community in four small urban lakes of Kunming, China.

Chlorophyll a (Chla) and diatom community structure are two indicators of lake water quality. In this study, we investigated the environmental parameters, chlorophyll a, and diatom community of four small urban lakes in Kunming (Beitan, Beihu, Nanhu and Longtan lakes in the campus of Yunnan Normal University) between March 2017 and December 2019. The results showed that the concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and Chla in the four lakes showed significant seasonal fluctuation. The Chla concentration in Nanhu Lake, which had the highest nutrient level among the four lakes, was significantly higher than that in the other three lakes and largely affected by TN. In comparison, water temperature significantly contributed to the increases in Chla concentration in the other three lakes. Water temperature and TN were significantly correlated with Chla across the four lakes. Diatom assemblages in Beitan, Nanhu, and Longtan lakes were dominated by planktonic diatoms, and benthic diatoms were dominant in the shallowest lake Beihu, suggesting that water depth significantly affected the proportion of planktonic diatoms and dominant taxa. Water depth, TN, TP, transparency, and water temperature affected the spatio-temporal changes of diatom community structure, with water temperature as the major factor in causing the seasonal variation in diatom community, and TN and TP as the major drivers for community variation among lakes within the same season.

Traditional Chinese Medicine in Cancer Care: An Overview of 5834 Randomized Controlled Trials Published in Chinese.

BACKGROUND: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely integrated into cancer care in China. An overview in 2011 identified 2384 randomized and non-randomized controlled trials (RCTs, non-RCTs) on TCM for cancer published in the Chinese literature. This article summarizes updated evidence of RCTs on TCM for cancer care. METHODS: We searched 4 main Chinese databases: China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, SinoMed, and Wanfang. RCTs on TCM used in cancer care were analyzed in this bibliometric study. RESULTS: Of 5834 RCTs (477 157 cancer patients), only 62 RCTs were indexed in MEDLINE. The top 3 cancers treated were lung, stomach, and breast cancer. About 4752 RCTs (81.45%) tested TCM combined with conventional treatment, and 1082 RCTs (18.55%) used TCM alone for treating symptoms and side-effects. Herbal medicine was the most frequently used TCM modality (5087 RCTs; 87.20%). The most frequently reported outcome was symptom improvement (3712 RCTs; 63.63%) followed by quality of life (2725 RCTs; 46.71%), and biomarkers (2384 RCTs; 40.86%). The majority of RCTs (4051; 69.44%) concluded there were beneficial effects using either TCM alone or TCM plus conventional treatment compared with conventional treatment. CONCLUSION: Substantial randomized trials demonstrated different types/stages of cancer were treated by various TCM modalities, alone or in combination with conventional medicine. Further evaluation on the effects and safety of TCM modalities focusing on outcomes such as quality of life is required.

The Effectiveness and Safety of Bushen Huoxue Decoction on Treating Coronary Heart Disease: A Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this meta-analysis was to systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula Bushen Huoxue Decoction (BSHXD) in treating coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS: Randomized controlled trials (RCTS) of BSHXD in treating CHD were searched until March 2020, through six electronic databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang, SinoMed, and VIP. This study used the Cochrane Risk Test bias tool in the Cochrane Handbook to assess the quality of the methodology. Review Manager (RevMan) 5.3 was used to analyze the results. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria were applied in the classification of evidence quality. RESULTS: Ten RCTs involving 901 patients were finally included in this meta-analysis. It revealed that the effectiveness of BSHXD in treating CHD was significantly better than that of the conventional western medicine (CWM) treatment (P < 0.00001). The effective rate of BSHXD treatment group on ECG was also significantly higher than that of CWM group (P < 0.00001). The low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was decreased in the treatment groups compared with those in the control groups (P < 0.00001). There was also a reduction in frequency and duration of angina pectoris (P < 0.00001). There were no significant differences in TC level (P=0.08), TG level (P=0.86), and HDL level (P=0.76) between the treatment and control groups. Five studies had informed adverse events, including nausea and diarrhea. CONCLUSION: Our findings laid the foundation to the use of TCM Formula BSHXD in combination with conventional western medicine for treating CHD. However, due to the limitation of the quality of the included researches, in addition to potential reporting bias, the above conclusions still need verification by higher-quality and better-designed studies.

Legume intake and risk of prostate cancer: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

Previous studies regarding the relationship between legume intake and risk of prostate cancer have reported inconsistent results. We conducted a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies to summarize evidence on this association. A systematic literature search of articles published through June 2016 was performed using PubMed and Web of Science databases. The combined relative risk (RR) with its 95% confidence interval (CI) for the highest versus the lowest intake of legumes was calculated with a random-effects model. Dose-response meta-analysis was also performed for the studies that provided at least three levels of legume consumption. Ten articles (eight cohorts) reporting 281,034 individuals and 10,234 incident cases were identified. The individuals with high consumption of legumes compared with the reference group experienced a significantly reduced risk for developing prostate cancer (RR: 0.85 [95% CI 0.75-0.96], P = 0.010). Moderate heterogeneity of RRs was observed across these studies (P = 0.064 for heterogeneity, I2 = 45.8 %). Dose-response meta-analysis indicated that the risk of prostate cancer reduced by 3.7% (95% CI 1.5%-5.8%) for each 20 grams per day increment of legume intake. In conclusion, the results from this meta-analysis suggest that a high intake of legumes is associated with a low incidence of prostate cancer.

Green tea and the risk of prostate cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Prostate cancer (PCa) now remains the 2nd most frequently diagnosed cancer. In recent years, chemoprevention for PCa becomes a possible concept. Especially, many phytochemicals rich foods are suggested to lower the risk of cancer. Among these foods, green tea is considered as effective prevention for various cancers. However, clinical trials and previous meta-analyses on the relationship between green tea consumption and the risk of PCa have produced inconsistent outcomes. This study aims to determine the dose-response association of green tea intake with PCa risk and the preventive effect of green tea catechins on PCa risk. Seven observational studies and 3 randomized controlled trials were retrieved from Cochrane Library, PubMed, Sciencedirect Online, and hand searching. The STATA (version 12.0) was applied to analyze the data. The relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals were pooled by fixed or random effect modeling. Dose-response relations were evaluated with categories of green tea intake. Although there was no statistical significance in the comparison of the highest versus lowest category, there was a trend of reduced incidence of PCa with each 1 cup/day increase of green tea (P = 0.08). Our dose-response meta-analysis further demonstrated that higher green tea consumption was linearly associated with a reduced risk of PCa with more than 7 cups/day. In addition, green tea catechins were effective for preventing PCa with an RR of 0.38 (P = 0.02). In conclusion, our dose-response meta-analysis evaluated the association of green tea intake with PCa risk systematically and quantitatively. And this is the first meta-analysis of green tea catechins consumption and PCa incidence. Our novel data demonstrated that higher green tea consumption was linearly reduced PCa risk with more than 7 cups/day and green tea catechins were effective for preventing PCa. However, further studies are required to substantiate these conclusions.

The impact of surgical treatments for lower urinary tract symptoms/benign prostatic hyperplasia on male erectile function: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS)/benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is common in adult men and can impair erectile function (EF). It was believed surgical treatments for this illness can improve EF due to the relief of LUTS while they were also reported harmed EF as heating or injury effect. Current network meta-analysis aimed to elucidate this discrepancy.Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified. Direct comparisons were conducted by STATA and network meta-analysis was conducted by Generate Mixed Treatment Comparison. Random-effects models were used to calculate pooled standard mean difference and 95% confidence intervals and to incorporate variation between studies.Eighteen RCTs with 2433 participants were analyzed. Nine approaches were studied as transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), plasmakinetic resection of the prostate (PKRP), plasmakinetic enucleation of the prostate (PKEP), Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP), Holmium laser resection of the prostate (HoLRP), photoselective vaporization of the prostate (PVP), Thulium laser, open prostatectomy (OP), and laparoscopic simple prostatectomy (LSP). In direct comparisons, all surgical treatments did not decrease postoperative International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF)-5 score except PVP. Moreover, patients who underwent HoLEP, PKEP, Thulium laser, and TURP had their postoperative EF significantly increased. Network analysis including direct and indirect comparisons ranked LSP at the highest position on the variation of postoperative IIEF-5 score, followed by PKRP, HoLEP, TURP, Thulium laser, PKEP, PVP, HoLRP, and OP. In subgroup analysis, only PVP was found lower postoperative EF in the short term and decreased baseline group, whereas TURP increased postoperative IIEF-5 score only for patients with normal baseline EF. However, HoLEP and PKEP showed pro-erectile effect even for patients with decreased baseline EF and short-term follow-up. Our novel data demonstrating surgical treatments for LUTS/BPH showed no negative impact on postoperative EF except PVP. Moreover, HoLEP and PKEP were found pro-erectile effect for all subgroups. New technologies, such as LSP, PKRP, and Thulium laser, were ranked at top positions in the network analysis, although they had no pro-erectile effect in direct comparison due to limited original studies or poor baseline EF. Therefore, further studies and longer follow-up are required to substantiate our findings.

Tea consumption and prostate cancer: an updated meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Tea is supposed to have chemopreventive effect against various cancers. However, the protective role of tea in prostate cancer is still controversial. The aim of this study is to elucidate the association between tea consumption and prostate cancer risk by meta-analysis. METHODS: A total of 21 published articles were retrieved via both computerized searches and review of references. Estimates of OR/RR for highest versus non/lowest tea consumption levels were pooled on the basis of random effect model or fixed effect model as appropriate. Stratified analyses on tea type, population and study design were also conducted. RESULTS: No statistical significance was detected between tea consumption and prostate cancer risk in meta-analysis of all included studies (odds ratio (OR) = 0.86, 95% CI (0.69-1.04)). Furthermore, stratified analyses on population (Asian, OR = 0.81, 95% CI (0.55-1.08); non-Asian, OR = 0.89, 95% CI (0.72-1.07)) and tea type (green tea, OR = 0.79, 95% CI (0.43-1.14); black tea, OR = 0.88, 95% CI (0.73-1.02)) also yielded non-significant association. Only the case-control study subgroup demonstrated a borderline protective effect for tea consumption against prostate cancer (OR = 0.77, 95% CI (0.55-0.98)). CONCLUSION: Our analyses did not support the conclusion that tea consumption could reduce prostate cancer risk. Further epidemiology studies are needed.

A meta-analysis of tea consumption and the risk of bladder cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies on the association between tea consumption and bladder cancer risk have only illustrated contradictory results. The role of tea in bladder carcinogenesis still remains conflicting. In order to illustrate the potential relationship between tea consumption and bladder cancer, a meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies was conducted. METHODS: Eligible studies were retrieved via both computerized searches and review of references. Stratified analyses on types of tea, gender, study design, ethnicity and smoking status were performed. Fixed- or random-effect models were used to summarize the estimates of OR with 95% CIs. RESULTS: Seventeen studies were eligible for our analysis. No statistical significance was detected between tea consumption and bladder cancer risk when comparing the highest with the lowest intake of tea (OR = 0.825, 95% CI 0.652-1.043). In the subgroup of green tea, we observed it illustrated a protective effect on bladder cancer (OR = 0.814, 95% CI 0.678-0.976). CONCLUSION: Our analysis indicated that green tea may have a protective effect on bladder cancer in Asian people. Further studies need to be conducted to better clarify the biological mechanisms.

[Transurethral vapor enucleation and resection of prostate with TURis button electrode].

OBJECTIVE: To describe an efficient and effective method of using Olympus TURis button plasma vaporization electrode plus loop electrode for transurethral vapor enucleation and resection of prostate. METHODS: Between July 2011 and October 2011, the investigators performed transurethral vapor enucleation and resection of prostate using Olympus TURis button plasma vaporization electrode plus loop electrode in 16 consecutive patients at our institution. The parameters of prostate weight, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), quality of life (QOL), operative duration, blood loss volume, catheterization period, duration of hospitalization, perioperative complications and the weight of enucleated tissue were evaluated. IPSS and QOL were recorded during the follow-up. RESULTS: No patient had significant blood loss or signs of transurethral resection syndrome. The mean patient age was 67.3 ± 8.1 years. Mean preoperative prostate weight was 49 ± 24 g (range: 19 - 91) and mean resected tissue weight 36 ± 16 g (range: 10 - 50). Serious complications were not observed. Operative duration was 116 ± 31 minutes, mean catheter time 4.9 ± 1.8 days and the duration of hospitalization was 16.6 ± 5.5 days. Transurethral vapor enucleation and resection of prostate induced significant, pronounced, immediate and lasting improvement in IPSS (15.6 ± 6.8 vs 6.7 ± 2.4, P < 0.01) and QOL (3.4 ± 1.4 vs 1.6 ± 0.6, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Transurethral vapor enucleation and resection of prostate with Olympus TURis plasma button electrode is a safe, effective and thorough surgical method in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

[Effects of Fufang Jiangzhi No.3 on cholesterol-bile acid metabolism in rabbits with hypercholesterolemia].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Fufang Jiangzhi No. 3, a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, on cholesterol-bile acid metabolism in rabbits with hypercholesterolemia and to explore the mechanism. METHODS: Twenty-four male New Zealand white rabbits were randomly assigned into normal control group, untreated group and Fufang Jiangzhi No. 3 group, with 8 rabbits in each group. Rabbits in the untreated group and Fufang Jiangzhi No. 3 group were fed high cholesterol diet to induce hypercholesterolemia. After 4-week treatment, serum total cholesterol and bile acid contents were assessed. Activity of cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) in liver tissues was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expressions of CYP7A1, bile salt export pump (BSEP) and small heterodimer partner (SHP) mRNAs in liver tissues were observed by real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Compared with the normal control group, serum total cholesterol and bile acid contents in the untreated group were increased (P<0.01). Activity of CYP7A1 and expression of CYP7A1 mRNA were decreased and expressions of BSEP and SHP mRNAs were increased in liver tissues in the untreated group as compared with the normal control group (P<0.01). Serum total cholesterol level, and expressions of BSEP and SHP mRNAs in the Fufang Jiangzhi No. 3 group were lower than those in the untreated group (P<0.01). The CYP7A1 activity and expression of CYP7A1 mRNA in the Fufang Jiangzhi No. 3 group were increased as compared with the untreated group (P<0.01), however, there was no significant difference in bile acid between the Fufang Jiangzhi No. 3 group and the untreated group. CONCLUSION: Fufang Jiangzhi No. 3 can up-regulate the expression of CYP7A1 mRNA, raise the activity of CYP7A1, and inhibit the expressions of BSEP and SHP mRNAs to regulate the metabolism of total cholesterol in rabbits.

The effects of vestibular stimuli on brain cognitive processing: an ERP study.

Cognition impairment caused by space motion sickness often is a risk of spaceflight. So the dynamic changes of pattern of brain cognitive processing under varied vestibular stimuli was explored using event-related potentials. Vestibular stimulation was produced by rotary chair and varied linearly, i.e. control, constant 10 degrees/s rotation and constant 0.6 degrees/s, 0.8 degrees/s, 1.0 degrees/s, 1.2 degrees/s acceleration. Thirty-three subjects participated in the study and performed same auditory selective attention task in which the odd numbers in a randomly mixed series of odd and even numbers (go/no-go) presented acoustically in Chinese pronunciation were assigned as target signal during the rotation stimuli. The results showed that the P3 latency induced by target signal and the N1P2, P2N2 and N2P3 peak-to-peak amplitudes decreased significantly during constant 10 degrees/s rotation in contrast to control and constant angular acceleration. The P3 latency induced by target signal was shorter during constant 0.6 degrees/s and 1.2 degrees/s acceleration rotations than that during constant 0.8 degrees/s and 1.0 degrees/s acceleration rotations. It was suggested that constant angular velocity rotation had a promotion effect on brain cognitive processing. The constant angular acceleration inhibited the cognitive processing and its action had at least two different levels.

An event-related potentials study on selective attention modulated by vestibular stimulation.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the dynamic change of the late attentional selection process under linearly varied vestibular stimuli using event-related potentials (ERPs) technique. METHOD: Thirty-three subjects participated in the experiment. They were exposed to vestibular stimulation of constant angular velocity rotation (10 degrees/s) and four levels of constant angular acceleration rotation, the acceleration was 0.6 degrees/s2, 0.8 degrees/s2, 1.0 degrees/s2, 1.2 degrees/s2 respectively. The same auditory go/no-go cognitive task was done during the stimulation. The task involved verbally given Chinese digit number from two to nine with 1000 ms random interval. Subjects were asked to push the button for the odd numbers (target) and withhold to the even numbers (non-target). RESULT: Compared with control and different level of constant angular acceleration rotation, the N2 amplitude of non-target ERPs (NT-ERPs) decreased significantly over anterior-central scalp during 10 degrees/s constant rotation, but the N2 amplitude of target ERPs (T-ERPs) reduced significantly only at F4, F(Z) and T4 sites. The P3 latency of T-ERPs decreased significantly in 10 degrees/s constant rotation in contrast with control. Under four different acceleration level, the P3 latency of T-ERPs was relatively longer in 0.8 degrees/s2 and 1.0 degrees/s2, but shorter in 0.6 degrees/s2 and 1.2 degrees/s2. CONCLUSION: Constant angular velocity rotation had an activating effect on late attentional selection process. In contrast to the activation effect of constant angular velocity rotation, constant angular acceleration had an inhibition effect on the cognitive processes and this inhibition effect may have several levels.