Enhancing sustainability of vegetation ecosystems through ecological engineering: A case study in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Ecological engineering is an important measure to promote ecosystem adaptation and restoration to deal with environmental change and human disturbance. To assess the effectiveness of ecological construction and analyze the influencing factors of ecosystem changes in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), this study detected the spatial changes and dynamic hotspots of vegetation ecosystems in the ecological construction regions of the QTP (QTPE) and regions without ecological construction (QTPWE) using hot spot analysis and comprehensive dynamic degree model. Then the random forest (RF) model and geographical weighted regression model were used to study the degree and spatial heterogeneity of impacts of climate and human activities on normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Results showed that the vegetation restoration of the QTPE was obvious during 2001-2018 as the area of the increasing NDVI accounted for 74.15%. In addition, the effects of climate and human activities on NDVI of vegetation ecosystem showed significant spatial heterogeneity. The RF model showed that population density was the most significant factor affecting ecosystem vegetation in the QTPE, and its relative importance was between 26.1-32.6%, followed by downward shortwave radiation (7.9-16.8%). However, climate factors still had the greatest impact in the QTPWE, with the relative importance of precipitation and temperature being 45% and 15%, respectively. These findings provide a scientific basis for the restoration and management of vegetation on the QTP, and are of great significance for the deployment of future ecological engineering projects.

[Spatio-temporal Variation in Vegetation Cover and Its Driving Mechanism Exploration in Southwest China from 2000 to 2020].

Using the MOD13A3 NDVI time series from 2000 to 2020, climate date from 1999 to 2020, and land use type data in 2000 and 2020, the spatio-temporal variation in vegetation cover and the driving mechanisms of climate change and human activities to vegetation variation were analyzed based on Theil-Sen Median analysis, the Mann-Kendall significance test, the multi-collinearity test, residual analysis, and relative analysis. The results showed that the vegetation cover exhibited a fluctuating and increasing trend with a magnitude of 0.0016 a-1 in southwest China from 2000 to 2020. The increasing trend of vegetation cover was mostly significant in the Guangxi Hills and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and slightly significant in the Tibet Plateau. The vegetation cover had increased in the context of climate change and human activities, with an increasing rate of 0.0010 a-1 and 0.0006 a-1, respectively. The vegetation improvement was mostly dominated by the combination effects of climate change and human activities. The vegetation improvement was dominated by climate change, and the relative role of climate change reached 61.86%. What is more, the vegetation degradation was dominated by human activities, and the relative role of human activities reached 58.39%. Vegetation cover was positively related to minimum temperature, precipitation, maximum temperature, potential evapotranspiration rate, and relative humidity and negatively related to mean temperature, atmosphere pressure, sunshine duration, warmth index, and humidity index. As a whole, the minimum temperature, sunshine duration, and precipitation were the dominant climate factors affecting the vegetation variation in southwest China. Furthermore, the land use and land cover change were significantly related to vegetation variation in southwest China. The implementation of ecological afforestation projects could be beneficial to regional vegetation improvement, whereas the vegetation degradation was mostly conducted by the built-up land expansion.

Nursing intervention using a whole-process escort playing a relative role combined with mind mapping in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery: a randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor affecting women worldwide. Surgery is the main treatment for breast cancer and can obtain a good curative effect. However, it can also entail trauma and stress for patients, leaving them susceptible to negative emotions, poor sleep quality, and various postoperative complications, which can affect the treatment effect and prognosis. Therefore, it is of great significance to explore scientific and effective nursing methods for patients with breast cancer. This study aimed to examine the application effect of whole-process nursing and mind mapping in patients with breast cancer. METHODS: The present study enrolled 256 patients with breast cancer who were admitted to the hospital from March 2019 to October 2020. The study participants were divided into a control group (routine nursing intervention) and an observation group (nursing intervention including a whole-process escort playing a relative role combined with mind mapping) according to the random number table method, with 128 cases in each group. At admission and before surgery, the psychological status [Hamilton anxiety scale (HAMA) and Hamilton depression scale (HAMD)], physiological stress [cortisol (Cs) and adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH)], fatigue degree (Piper fatigue scale), and sleep quality [Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI)] were compared between the two groups, and the incidence of complications in the two groups was also compared. RESULTS: The psychological status (HAMA and HAMD) scores, physiological stress levels (Cs and ACTH), fatigue degree (Piper fatigue scale), and sleep quality (PSQI) score were all significantly higher before surgery than at admission in both groups, and were significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the incidence of complications between the two groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Nursing intervention using a whole-process escort playing a relative role combined with mind mapping can effectively relieve the anxiety and depression felt by patients undergoing breast cancer surgery, and can reduce their physiological stress and fatigue degree, as well as improve their sleep quality. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2100054024.