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Background Reduced physical activity (PA) was the strongest predictor of all-cause mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This scoping review aimed to map the evidence on the current landscape of physical activity, barriers and facilitators, and assessment tools across COPD patients. Methods Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review methodology framework guided the conduct of this review. An electronic search was conducted on five English databases (PubMed, Cochrane library, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Web of Science (Medline)) and three Chinese databases (CNKI, CQVIP and WAN-FANG) in November 2021. Two authors independently screened the literature, extracted the studies characteristics. Results The initial search yielded 3686 results, of which 1754 were duplicates. Of the remaining 135 articles, 42 studies met the inclusion criteria. Among the reviewed articles, there were 14 (33.3%) cross-sectional study, 9 (21.4%) cohort study, 4 (9.5%) longitudinal study, 3 qualitative study, 12 (28.7%) randomized control trials (RCTs). The main barriers identified were older age, women, lung function, comorbidities, COPD symptoms (fear of breathlessness, severe fatigue, anxiety and depression), GOLD stage, frequency of exacerbation, oxygen use, low motivation and environment-related (season and weather). Twelve studies have evaluated the effects of physical exercise (e.g., walking training), pulmonary rehabilitation, pedometer, self-efficacy enhancing intervention, behavioral modification intervention on physical activity and have had inconsistent results. Conclusions Changing physical activity behavior in patients with COPD requires multidisciplinary collaboration. Future studies need to identify the best instruments to measure physical activity in clinical practice. Future studies should focus on the effects of different types, time and intensity of physical activity in COPD patients and conduct randomized, adequately-powered, controlled trials to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of behavioral change interventions in physical activity.

Macrobenthos is an important part in mangrove ecosystem,and plays a connection link in energy flow and matter cycling.Its community structure can reflect the level of mangrove forest rehabilitation by bottom sediment condition,water quality,vegetation and environmental pressure and so on.To reveal the effects of mangrove rehabilitation on macrobenthic communities,a seasonal investigation(from October 2010 to May 2011) on the macrobenthic assemblages was performed in six habitats,including four artificial Kandelia obovata forests with different ages,Spartina alterniflora(Sa) marsh,and naked beach(NB) in Ximen Island in southeastern China.The four mangrove forests were 1-year old replanted mangrove forest(M1),4-years old replanted mangrove forest(M4),8-years old replanted mangrove forest(M8) and 50-years old replanted mangrove forest(M50).To avoid the effects of tidal elevation,all the six habitats had the same elevation.A total of 24 macrobenthic species were recorded,including Polychaeta,Mollusca,Crustacean and others.The members of Mollusca and Crustacean were dominant and dominant species were found to be different among various habitats.Phascolosoma esculenta and Littoraria melanostoma were the dominant species in M50,while Assiminea latericea,Batillaria zonalis,and Cerithideopsilla cingulata were the dominant species in the others.Young mangrove forests were dominated by surface adhering group,while the older mangrove forest(M50),NB and Sa were dominated by infauna.Moreover,it revealed that caving animals appeared only in mature ecosystems which are more stable,such as NB,Sa and M50.There were differences in macrobenthic assemblages among the six habitats and M50 showed the highest stability in terms of ecological function as indicated by the highest abundance and species diversity of macrobenthos.This result was different from those of previous researches,which suggested a negative relationship between the abundance and diversity of macrobenthos and the mangrove development.This difference was probably due to the differences in sediment and soil development.Compared with typical natural mangrove forest,M50 had less litter and semi-decomposed litter in the sediments.Furthermore,the sediment in M50 lacked the typical smelly and black-color appearance which is typical of natural mangrove forest.Therefore,our results suggested that the sediment of M50 in Ximen Island developed slower than those of natural ones,which may be due to the limited planting scale and the larger tidal range in Ximen Island.Generally,further researches focusing on the linear relationship between the macrobenthos biodiversity and the ecosystem stability,especially its applicable temporal and special scale are required.

Ximen island of Yueqing bay,the northern boundary of artificially planted mangroves,was chosen as the study site.Changes of 1-and 4-year-old Kandelia candel at the tidal level of 1.96,1.66 and 1.35 m above the zero tidal level of Yellow Sea(Waterlogging time at this tidal level are 3.18,3.65 and 4.07 h per-tide-cycle respectively) on growth,photosynthetic pigments,activities of protective enzymes in leaves,contents of total soluble sugars and free amino acid and ion contents in leaves and stems were investigated.The results showed that the tidal level of 1.66 m above the zero tidal level of Yellow Sea was suitable for planting Kandelia candel,because the waterlogging time at this tidal level was less than 3.65 h per-tide-cycle.When the tidal level was 1.35 m above the zero tidal level of Yellow Sea,the waterlogging time at the tidal level was 4.07 h per-tide-cycle,which caused a series of effects.A decrease in the contents of chlorophyll,carotenoid,total soluble sugars and free amino acid,the activities of peroxidase(POD) in leaves,and the ratio of K+/Na+ in stems and leaves of 4-years-old Kandelia candel were detected.Moreover,a rapid increase in the contents of malondialdehyde(MDA) in leaves and Na+ concentration both in leaves and stems of 4-years-old Kandelia candel were found.Based on results listed above,a growth retard was detected when the waterlogging time was 4.07 h per-tide-cycle for 4-year-old Kandelia candel.However,this growth retard was not found in 1-year-old Kandelia candel under the same waterlogging time.Therefore,it is concluded that the older Kandelia candel could grow at 1.66 m above the zero tidal level of Yellow Sea,which is due to the maintaining of normal carbon and nitrogen metabolism under waterlogging time(less than 3.65 hours per-tide-cycle) at this tidal level.

Blue sheep(Pseudois nayaur) are endemic to the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding mountain regions.They are classified as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and are included in the list of the second grade nationally protected animals of China.Traditionally,blue sheep in China were classified into two subspecies,the nominate or Tibetan subspecies(P.n.nayaur) which is distributed on the Tibetan Plateau,and the Sichuan subspecies(P.n.szechuanensis) which has a widespread geographical distribution in the western and north-western areas of China.Different geographically distributed populations of the Sichuan subspecies are also found on several isolated mountains in China.Because of the lack of research data,the genetic validity and geographic characteristics of these two subspecies remain unclear.In the present study,we have sequenced the complete mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b(Cyt b) gene from tissue samples of blue sheep originating from seven distinct geographical populations(Qinghai,Sichuan,Gansu,Inner Mongolia,Ningxia,Xinjiang,and Tibet) covering all regions in which the sheep are distributed.Our aim was to measure the genetic divergence among these populations,and to analyze the base variation,genetic distance,and nucleotide sequence variability between the different populations.A total of 45 haplotypes from 59 cyt b gene sequences were identified.Only one of these haplotypes was shared by individuals from the Ningxia and Inner Mongolia populations.A maximum likelihood tree and a Bayesian tree were established using the Kimura2-parameter model to evaluate the genetic distance between samples from each pair of different geographical populations.We found that the genetic distances between the Tibetan populations(nominate subspecies) and the other geographical populations(Sichuan subspecies) were on average,4.2%(±0.007).This value is higher than the average level of Cyt b sequence divergence among the different populations from the Sichuan subspecies and higher than the reported genetic divergence of five known Artiodactyla animals.Therefore,we propose that,based on the mitochondrial DNA Cyt b gene,the sheep that are distributed on the Tibetan plateau do indeed form a valid subspecies of blue sheep.A molecular clock calculation estimated that the two subspecies might have separated approximately 1.05 million years ago.The average genetic distance within different geographical populations of the Sichuan subspecies(0.033 ± 0.0111) was not significantly different from the average genetic distance(0.042 ± 0.007) between populations of the two subspecies(t=1.824,P=0.084).This result indicates that significant genetic divergence had occurred among populations of the Sichuan subspecies.For example,the Helan Mountain population which includes individuals from Ningxia and Inner Mongolia,and the Xinjiang population both have significant genetic divergence compared with the populations from Sichuan,Gansu,and Qinghai,which have a much closer genetic relationship within themselves.Phylogenetic analyses between the 45 haplotypes based on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Parsimony revealed different maternal inheritances that corresponded to different geographical distribution regions.The Gansu,Qinghai,and Sichuan populations formed a cluster,indicating a close genetic relationship between them.The Ningxia population and the Inner Mongolia population from the Helan Mountain also grouped together;the Tibetan population formed a monophyletic group.The Xinjiang population and a Tibetan population(RT1) tended to cluster together,which was sister group of the other three groups.Further studies are needed to help improve our understanding of the genetic composition and geographical characteristics of the Sichuan subspecies of blue sheep.