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Desiccation of clay soil caused by vegetation - grass, bushes and trees - and its effects on the stability of slopes, buildings, roads and other structures has long been a topic of interest and concern to the geotechnical engineer. Several international symposia on the topic have been held during the past 60 years, and the literature on the subject is voluminous. A review of past studies of soil desiccation and its effects showed that, with few exceptions, investigations had been of a short-term nature and had not adequately considered the variable annual effects of atmospheric and hydrological causes of soil desiccation and rehydration. As a contribution to providing this longer-term information, it was decided to embark on an extended study of the effects of evapotranspiration by vegetation and atmospheric climate on the seasonal and year-to-year variation of soil water content. The study is now complete and this paper presents an overview of the investigation from 2000 to 2006, including the influence of annual weather variations on the desiccating effects of lines of trees and bushes, the potential effects of desiccation caused by single trees on adjacent buildings, and the portrayal of these effects by means of soil water content and storage profiles, and soil water balances.

Objective: To review the therapeutic effect of acupuncture and moxibustion on allergic rhinitis based on the network Meta-analysis., Methods: The randomized controlled trials of acupuncture and moxibustion for allergic rhinitis were retrieved from the databases, starting from the date of establishment to August 17, 2020, i.e. the PubMed, EMbase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang and VIP. The traditional Meta-analysis and network Meta-analysis were performed by RevMan5.3 and GeMTC0.14.3., Results: A total of 50 RCTs were included, including 4260 patients, involving 5 kinds of acupuncture and moxibustion therapies, such as acupuncture, moxibustion, acupoint application, acupoint thread-embedding and auricular point therapy.①In term of total effective rate, acupuncture, moxibustion and acupoint thread-embedding were superior to western medication and auricular point therapy ( P <0.05); moxibustion was superior to acupoint application ( P <0.05); acupoint thread-embedding was superior to acupoint application ( P <0.05). Acupoint thread-embedding was most likely to be the best treatment ( P <0.05). ②In term of total effective rate in follow-up, acupuncture, moxibustion, acupoint thread-embedding and auricular point therapy were superior to western medication ( P <0.05); acupuncture and moxibustion were superior to acupoint application ( P <0.05). Moxibustion was most likely to be the best treatment ( P <0.05). ③In term of total score of nasal symptom, moxibustion and acupoint thread-embedding were superior to acupuncture ( P <0.05)., Conclusion: The therapeutic effect of acupuncture and moxibustion on allergic rhinitis is better than western medication, and acupoint thread-embedding has the best curative effect.

Background: Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is a severe health care concern, while anxiety and depression rates among ED patients have been reported to be substantially higher compared to the general population. We hypothesized that anxiety due to over crowdedness may lead to adverse events in EDs., Aim: To investigate correlations between crowdedness in EDs and anxiety of patients and nurses, and to identify factors affecting their anxiety., Methods: In this prospective observational study, a total 43 nurses and 389 emergency patients from two tier III hospitals located in Beijing were included from January 2016 to August 2017. Patients were grouped into inpatients when they were hospitalized after diagnoses, or into outpatients when they were discharged after treatments. The State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI Form Y) questionnaire was used to investigate patient and nurse anxieties, while crowdedness of EDs was evaluated with the National Emergency Department Over Crowding Score., Results: The present results revealed that state anxiety scores (49.50 ± 6.00 vs 50.80 ± 2.80, P = 0.005) and trait anxiety scores (45.40 ± 5.70 vs 46.80 ± 2.70, P = 0.002) between inpatients ( n = 173) and outpatients ( n = 216) were significantly different, while the state anxiety of nurses (44.70 ± 5.80) was different from those of both patient groups. Generalized linear regression analysis demonstrated that multiple factors, including crowdedness in the ED, were associated with state and trait anxieties for both inpatients and outpatients. In addition, there was an interaction between state anxiety and trait anxieties. However, multivariable regression analysis showed that while overcrowding in the ED did not directly correlate with patients' and nurses' anxiety levels, the factors that did correlate with state and trait anxieties of inpatients were related to crowdedness. These factors included waiting time in the ED, the number of patients treated, and the number of nurses in the ED, whereas for nurses, only state and trait anxieties correlated significantly with each other., Conclusion: Waiting time, the number of patients treated, and the number of nurses present in the ED correlate with patient anxiety in EDs, but crowdedness has no effect on nurse or patient anxiety., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors of this manuscript have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the effect of interleukin -8 (IL-8) on immune function in acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients and its related mechanisms., Methods: Forty-five ALL patients were selected from January 2014 to September 2017 in our hospital. Out of them, 32 relieved patients were included in group A, 13 patients did not relieved patients after treatment and were included in the group B. The serum IL-8 level was detected by ELISA.Th1 and Th2 cells were measured by flow cytometry. After Th cells were treated with different concentration of IL-8, the Western blot was used to detect the translation levels of p-STAT3 and JAK in cells., Results: The difference of white blood cell count and clinical risk level between the 2 groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). The serum IL-8 levels in group A and B were significantly higher than that in control group (P<0.05). The serum IL-8 level in group B was significantly higher than that in group A (P<0.05). After treatment, the level of Th1 cells in group B was 6.15%±1.22%, significantly lower than that in group A (P<0.05), and Th2 cell level in group B was 2.76%±0.24%, significantly higher than that in group A (P<0.05); Th1/Th2 in group B was 2.23%±0.09, significantly lower than that in group A (P<0.05). The protein level of p-STAT3 and JAK in the Th cells was lower than that in control group at different levels of IL-8 after treatment (P<0.05). After stimulating Th cells with 20 ng/ml IL-8, the levels of p-STAT3 and JAK protein in cells were lower than those after 10 ng/ml IL-8 treatment (P<0.05). IL-8 level had no significant effect on the protein expression of STAT3 in Th cells (P>0.05)., Conclusion: IL-8 can interfere the balance of Th1/Th2 through STAT3 signaling pathway, and has effect on the immune function of ALL patients.

Objective: This study investigated current use of ACEI/ARB among high risk patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) in China and factors affecting ACEI/ARB use in these patients., Methods: This cross-sectional survey was performed between June to December 2007 and May to November 2009 in 51 hospitals from 14 cities. The characteristics of patients with established CHD were collected by electronic questionnaire., Results: Only 45.8% high risk CHD patients were taking ACEI/ARB and the ACEI/ARB medication decreased significantly with time after initial CHD diagnosis. ACEI/ARB was taken in 46.1% CHD patients complicated with diabetes mellitus and in 56.3% CHD patients complicated with hypertension. Logistic regression analysis showed that comorbid hypertension was the strongest factor associated with ACEI/ARB use. In addition, male gender, history of myocardial infarction (MI), PCI and the time after initial CHD diagnosis were independent factors affecting the use of ACEI/ARB. Captopril was the most commonly prescribed ACEI in this cohort., Conclusion: ACEI/ARB is underused in secondary prevention among high risk CHD patients in China. It remains a major challenge for healthcare professionals and policy makers to make efforts on narrowing the gap between evidence and practice.

Objective: To analyze the etiology, therapy and influential factors in fever patients during the epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), so as to define early and differential diagnosis for SARS from other disease with fever., Methods: The epidemiological and the clinical data of 4060 patients with fever admitted to the emergency department of the Third Hospital affiliated to Peking University from March 5th to May 10th in 2003 were analyzed, and their influential factors were evaluated., Results: Of 4060 patients with fever 275 cases were admitted to the isolated ward, 145 cases were diagnosed as SARS (3.75 percent), 29 belonged to suspected cases, and in 101 cases SARS was ruled out. Ninety-three cases were non-SARS-pneumonia, 2 were epidemic encephalitis, 8 were epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis, and 3 cases were epidemic hemorrhagic fever., Conclusion: During epidemic of SARS, the etiology of fever is influenza or other virus infection in 90 percent of patients. Non-SARS-pneumonia and infectious diseases with fever accounted for certain proportion of patients with fever. Our diagnostic level should be improved. SARS could not be ruled out only by a high white blood cells count. Chest X-ray examination have to be repeated, because abnormal chest X-ray do not always appear at the same time with fever.

We have previously reported that interleukin-1-induced proliferation of thymocytes is accompanied by the appearance of [3H]morphine binding sites on these cells. In the present study, we have characterized these binding sites. They differ from classical opioid receptors in the brain in several ways, including: 1) lack of stereoselectivity; 2) relatively low affinity (Kd = 50 nM) and high capacity (Bmax = 3 pmol/mg of protein); 3) binding is strongly inhibited by Ca++, Mg++, Mn++ and Cl- ions and 4) binding is inhibited by proteinase K or E and by phospholipase A2 but not trypsin treatment of thymocyte membranes. The binding sites, which were found largely on the CD4+ subset of T-cells, also showed a preference for opioid alkaloids over peptides. These [3H]morphine binding sites may mediate a negative feedback effect on interleukin-1-induced proliferation of thymocytes in vivo.

Mouse thymocytes incubated in vitro with increasing concentrations of interleukin-1 (IL-1) in the presence of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) exhibited a dose-dependent increase in cell proliferation, as measured by [3H]thymidine incorporation. Under these conditions, there was a parallel dose-dependent increase in specific [3H]morphine binding, with a maximum increase of approximately 5-fold over basal levels. The binding sites differ from classical opioid receptors in that they are not stereo-selective. Interleukin-2 was ineffective in promoting either cell proliferation or enhanced opioid binding, but the effects of IL-1 could be mimicked by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), suggesting the involvement of tyrosine phosphorylation. These results indicate that morphine-binding sites on immune cells can be regulated by cytokine activation.

In the present paper, the synthesis and analgesic activity (mice, i.p. hot plate test) of the derivatives of 3-methyl fentanyl are briefly described. Compound 7302, cis-N-[1-(2-hydroxy-2-phenylethyl)-3-methyl-4-piperidyl]-N-phenylpropionamide (cis: 3-methyl/4-N-phenylpropionamide) is found to be the most potent analgesic agent in this series synthesized by our laboratory (ED50 = 0.0022 mg/kg). The analgesic activity of 7302 is 28 times more potent than that of fentanyl and 6300 times more than that of morphine. The partition coefficients of 10 compounds in the series are determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and their log p values are about 3. There are no regular relationships between the analgesic activity and partition coefficients. Study on the specific binding of 8 out of the above 10 compounds to crude synaptic plasma membrane (P2-fraction) of mouse brain demonstrates that there is an excellent statistical linear correlation (r = 0.998) between the analgesic potency and the specific binding affinity. The result shows that the analgesic potency of the derivatives of this series is mainly dependent on binding affinity for opiate receptor.

Rat brain membranes exhibiting stereospecific opiate binding activity were solubilized by sonication and detergent treatment. The active material could be bound to an affinity column containing 6-succinylmorphine but could not be eluted with free agonist. Although two protein peaks could be eluted with NaCl, neither possessed binding activity; however, one of the peaks (A), in combination with an acidic lipid fraction, eluted subsequently from the column, showed stereospecific binding. Opiate ligands of the mu type bound to this protein/lipid mixture with an order of affinities closely correlating with those of the original membrane but one to two orders of magnitude lower; binding of delta, kappa, and sigma prototype opioids was considerably less. The protein/lipid mixture also competed with the membranes for mu ligands. These results suggest that the isolated protein-lipid complex may be a component of the opiate receptor and, specifically, the mu receptor or binding site. However, because of the lower affinities of mu opiates for this complex, it is conceivable that some essential membrane component is still missing. Preliminary analysis of peak A indicates that it contains a broad spectrum of protein bands, but it remains to be seen which of these are essential for activity.

Brain membranes were solubilized by sonication and Triton X-100 extraction and applied to an affinity column consisting of a 6-succinyl morphine derivative of Affi Gel-102. A fraction exhibiting high opiate binding was eluted by tris-buffer containing naloxone, CHAPS and NaCl. This fraction consisted of both proteins and acidic lipids. The opiate binding properties of this purified material exhibited many properties similar to those of membrane bound receptors of the u-type, including high affinity, stereospecificity, Na-effect and rank order in affinity for opiates. This opiate binding material was highly sensitive to both trypsin and N-ethylmaleimide. Based on the protein content of the isolated membrane receptor, a 3200-fold purification over the original brain P2 fraction was achieved.

A mu-opioid-specific receptor was purified to apparent homogeneity from rat brain membranes by 6-succinylmorphine affinity chromatography, gel filtration, wheat germ agglutinin affinity chromatography, and isoelectric focusing. The purified receptor had a molecular weight of 58,000 as determined by NaDodSO4/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and was judged to be homogeneous by the following criteria: (i) a single band was detected by autoradiography after NaDodSO4/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of 125I-labeled receptor and (ii) the purified preparation had a specific opioid-binding activity of 17,720 pmol/mg of protein, close to the theoretical value. In addition, the Mr 58,000 value agrees closely with that determined by covalently labeling purified receptor with bromoacetyl-[3H]dihydromorphine or with 125I-labeled beta-endorphin and dimethyl suberimidate.

The analgesic potencies of 3-[beta-(p-amino)-phenethyl)-9 beta-methoxy-9 alpha-(m-methoxyphenyl)-3- azabicyclo [3,3,1] nonane (P-8502) and 3-[beta-(p-monoester fumarylamido)-phenethyl]-9 beta-methoxy-9 alpha-(m-methoxyphenyl)-3-azabicyclo [3,3,1] nonane (P-8511) were examined. The analgesic ED50 of P-8502 and P-8511 were 55 and 200 micrograms/kg (mice, ip, hot plate), and 30 and 95 micrograms/kg (rat, sc, tail flick), respectively. The duration of the analgesic action of P-8511 (about 4 h) was longer than that of P-8502 (about 1.5 h, rat, sc, tail flick). Binding assay showed that P-8502 had a high ratio of delta/mu, kappa/mu: IC50 (DPDPE)/IC50 (DAGO) = 399; IC50(DAD-LE)/IC50 (DAGO) = 1498; IC50 (kappa)/IC50 (DAGO) = 159. In conclusion, P-8502 appears to be a new mu selective opioid receptor ligand, whereas P-8511 has no such selectivity.