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【Objective】 Freezing-thawing and drying-wetting cycles are important abiotic processes in mineral particle weathering and their effect is modulated by many other processes. In this paper, we investigate the impact of particle size and soil salinity on mineral particle weathering. 【Method】 Green slate particles were used. The experiment consisted of three particle size treatments: 10, 20 and 30 mm, and three soil salinity treatments with salt concentration of the soil water being 3, 6 and 10 g/L, respectively. Each treatment was subjected to randomized freeze-thaw and drying-wetting cycles. During the experiment, we measured the weathering rate of all particles. 【Result】 ① Soil salinity increased particle weathering rate, but the increase depended on soil water concentration. In the treatments we compared, soil water concentration of 10 g/L gave the best results. For the10 mm particles, their weathering rate increased with soil salinity when they were subjected to 20 and 60 freeze-thaw and drying-wetting cycles. ② The weathering rate decreased with particle size, with the weathering rate of the 10 mm particles being two times that of the 30 mm particles. ③ The weathering rate increased with the number of freeze-thaw drying -wetting cycles. 【Conclusion】 Under the influence of freeze-thaw and drying-wetting cycles, the weathering rate of small particles is higher than that of large particle. Soil salinity also increased the weathering rate, albeit the increasing rate depended on soil water concentration.

【Objective】 This study aims to systematically analyze the current research and development in solute transport in soils and elucidate the research hotspots and its future development. 【Method】 The analysis is based on papers collected by the Web of Science (WoS) and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database, with the help of CiteSpace and VOSviewer visualization software. The knowledge mapping analysis of soil solute transport research topics was conducted based on the number of publications, countries of contributions, institutions of contributions, literature sources, subject distribution and keywords. 【Result】 ①Soil solute transport research has been in increase and the number of publications in English is higher than that in Chinese. Among them, China and the United States published much more than other countries. ②Among the top 10 institutions that published most, there is one from China (University of Chinese Academy of Sciences) and four from United States. There is less cooperation between Chinese scientists than their peers in other countries. ③The main English journals publishing more papers in this field are ‘Journal of Hydrology’, ‘Vadose Zone Journal’ and ‘Water Resources Research’, while the Chinese journals are ‘Journal of Irrigation and Drainage’, ‘Journal of Soil and Water Conservation’ and ‘Water Saving Irrigation’. ④Soil solute transport research is mainly in environmental science, water resources and agriculture, and the knowledge content of each discipline is interactive. ⑤The main keywords in papers published by Chinse scientists are “heavy metals”, “water-salt transport” and “heavy metal transport”, while for others the keywords are “solute transport”, “transport” and “water”. 【Conclusion】 Soil solute transport research is still a hotspot, and future research is likely to focus on transport and transformation of heavy metals and other pollutants in ecosystems, scaling up the effect of soil solute transport to large scale, ecological and environmental effects of irrigation and drainage, as well as tillage, coupled modeling of soil solute transport and crop growth considering the influence of multiple factors, and the consequence of soil conditioner applications.

Abstract Introduction Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) are prevalent in geriatric patients with hip fractures. Low oxygen level is one of the most important risk factors for PPCs. Prone position has been proven efficacy in improving oxygenation and delaying the progress of pulmonary diseases, especially in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome induced by multiple etiologies. The application of awake prone position (APP) has also attracted widespread attention in recent years. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be carried out to measure the effect of postoperative APP in a population of geriatric patients undergoing hip fracture surgery. Methods This is an RCT. Patients older than 65 years old admitted through the emergency department and diagnosed with an intertrochanteric or femoral neck fracture will be eligible for enrollment and assigned randomly to the control group with routine postoperative management of orthopedics or APP group with an additional prone position for the first three consecutive postoperative days (PODs). Patients receiving conservative treatment will not be eligible for enrollment. We will record the difference in the patient’s room-air-breathing arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) values between the 4th POD (POD 4) and emergency visits, the morbidity of PPCs and other postoperative complications, and length of stay. The incidence of PPCs, readmission rates, and mortality rates will be followed up for 90 PODs. Discussion We describe the protocol for a single-center RCT that will evaluate the efficacy of postoperative APP treatment in reducing pulmonary complications and improving oxygenation in geriatric patients with hip fractures. Ethics and dissemination This protocol was approved by the independent ethics committee (IEC) for Clinical Research of Zhongda Hospital, Affiliated to Southeast University, and is registered on the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. The findings of the trial will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals. Ethics approval number 2021ZDSYLL203-P01 Trial registration ChiCTR ChiCTR2100049311 . Registered on 29 July 2021. Trial status Recruiting. Recruitment is expected to be completed in December 2024.

Background: Osteoporosis (OP) is a systemic metabolic bone disease characterized by decreased bone mass and destruction of bone microstructure, which tends to result in enhanced bone fragility and related fractures. The postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP) has a relatively high proportion, and numerous studies reveal that estrogen-deficiency is related to the imbalance of gut microbiota (GM), impaired intestinal mucosal barrier function and enhanced inflammatory reactivity. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear and the existing interventions are also scarce. Methods: In this study, we established a mouse model induced by ovariectomy (OVX) and conducted fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) by gavage every day for 8 weeks. Subsequently, the bone mass and microarchitecture of mice were evaluated by the micro computed tomography (Micro-CT). The intestinal permeability, pro-osteoclastogenic cytokines expression, osteogenic and osteoclastic activities were detected by the immunohistological analysis, histological examination, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and western blot analysis accordingly. Additionally, the composition and abundance of GM were assessed by 16S rRNA sequencing and the fecal short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) level was measured by metabolomics. Results: Our results demonstrated that FMT inhibited the excessive osteoclastogenesis and prevented the OVX-induced bone loss. Specifically, compared with the OVX group, FMT enhanced the expressions of tight junction proteins (zonula occludens protein 1 (ZO-1) and Occludin) and suppressed the release of pro-osteoclastogenic cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β)). Furthermore, FMT also optimized the composition and abundance of GM, and increased the fecal SCFAs level (mainly acetic acid and propionic acid). Conclusions: Collectively, based on GM-bone axis, FMT prevented the OVX-induced bone loss by correcting the imbalance of GM, improving the SCFAs level, optimizing the intestinal permeability and suppressing the release of pro-osteoclastogenic cytokines, which may be an alternative option to serve as a promising candidate for the prevention and treatment of PMOP in the future. The translational potential of this article: This study indicates the ingenious involvement of GM-bone axis in PMOP and the role of FMT in reshaping the status of GM and ameliorating the bone loss in OVX-induced mice. FMT might serve as a promising candidate for the prevention and treatment of PMOP in the future.

Abstract Osteoporosis (OP) is a systemic bone disease characterized by the decreased bone mass and destruction of bone microstructure, which tends to result in the enhanced bone fragility and related fractures, as well as high disability rate and mortality. Exercise is one of the most common, reliable and cost-effective interventions for the prevention and treatment of OP currently, and numerous studies have revealed the close association between gut microbiota (GM) and bone metabolism recently. Moreover, exercise can alter the structure, composition and abundance of GM, and further influence the body health via GM and its metabolites, and the changes of GM also depend on the choice of exercise modes. Herein, combined with relevant studies and based on the inseparable relationship between exercise intervention-GM-OP, this review is aimed to discuss the moderating effects and potential mechanisms of exercise intervention on GM and bone metabolism, as well as the interaction between them.

【Objective】 Sand and gravel mulching is a technology widely used for crop production in the arid regions in northwestern China. Continuous weathering could result in their degradation; the purpose of this paper is to study the effects of wetting-drying cycles on degradation of gravels and sand used for soil mulching in the arid belt in central Ningxia province. 【Method】 We took lime-green slate - a commonly used gravel and sand for soil mulching - as an example, mimicking wetting-drying cycles in laboratory by spraying. Degradation of the gravels were measured and calculated using SEM and PCAS technologies. 【Result】 ①Large gravels degraded faster than small ones at the early stage, and wetting-drying increased pore connectivity of the gravel mulch. A great number of debris and flocculent minerals were found. ②At the end of wetting-drying cycles, gravel size was proportional to the number of pores and was inversely proportional to the average pore area of the gravels. Wetting-drying increased the uniformity coefficient of the pores by up to 129.4%. The ability of the gravels to adsorb water decreased as the gravel size increased. The crushed sand and gravel in the size range of 0.5~2 mm had the highest water adsorption under water application of 250 and 125 mL, increasing water adsorption by 75.05% and 56.60% respectively, compared to the initial water content. ③At the end of the wetting-drying cycles, the mass loss rate and cumulative mass loss in the sand and gravel were inversely proportional to particle size. Among them, sand and gravel with size in the range of 0.5~2 mm were more sensitive to temperature. Their cumulative mass loss under water application of 250 mL was 27.66% higher than that under water application of 125 mL. 【Conclusion】 Wetting-drying cycles affect degradation of small and compacted sand and gravel more than the large ones. Our results have important implications for improving management of soils mulched by sand and gravel in the arid regions in northwestern China.

Nicotine withdrawal symptoms, mainly anxiety, cause high level of relapse rate after quitting smoking. Vitamin D supplementation has shown its potential for the prevention and treatment of anxiety disorders; however, neurobiological studies about the effect of vitamin D on nicotine withdrawal-induced anxiety are limited. To investigate the effect and molecular mechanism of vitamin D3 supplement by dietary on anxiety-like behavior during nicotine withdrawal, male C57/BL6 mice were divided into four groups: vehicle, nicotine only, vitamin D3 only, and nicotine plus vitamin D3. Mice were administrated with nicotine in drinking water (200 µg/mL), and vitamin D3 in feed for 6 weeks. During nicotine withdrawal, vitamin D3-treated mice showed significantly less anxiety-like behavior by an open-field test and marble buried test that performed an increase in the duration of the central zone and a decrease buried marble, respectively. Moreover, vitamin D3 supplementation attenuated the hippocampal NR2A expression on both protein and mRNA levels in nicotine and vitamin D3-treated mice. Our data showed that dietary supplementation with vitamin D3 ameliorated nicotine withdrawal-induced anxiety, which may be related to downregulation of NR2A expression in hippocampus. Vitamin D3 may provide a new dietary intervention with the easy access for smoking cessation.

BackgroundAnkle fracture-dislocations are one of the most severe types of ankle injuries. Compared to the simple ankle fractures, ankle fracture-dislocations are usually more severely traumatized and can cause worse functional outcomes. The purpose of this study was to review the previous literatures to understand the anatomy, mechanisms, treatment, and functional outcomes associated with ankle fracture-dislocations.MethodsThe available literatures from January 1985 to December 2021 in three main medical databases were searched and analyzed. The detailed information was extracted for each article, such as researchers, age, gender, groups, type of study, type of center research, level of evidence, significant findings, study aim, cause of injury, time from injury to surgery, type of fracture, direction of dislocation, follow-up, postoperative complications and functional evaluation scores.ResultsA total of 15 studies (1,089 patients) met the inclusion criteria. Only one study was a prospective randomized trial. The top-ranked cause of injury was high-energy injury (21.3%). Moreover, the most frequent type of fracture in ankle dislocations was supination-external rotation (SER) ankle fracture (43.8%), while the most common directions of dislocation were lateral (50%) and posterior (38.9%).ConclusionsCollectively, most ankle fracture-dislocations are caused by high-energy injuries and usually have poor functional outcomes. The mechanism of injury can be dissected by the ankle anatomy and Lauge-Hansen's classification. The treatment of ankle fracture-dislocations still requires more detailed and rational solutions due to the urgency of occurrence, the severity of injury, and the postoperative complications.

It has been demonstrated that the disturbance of gut microbiota (GM) is closely related to the reduction of bone mass and incidence of osteoporosis (OP). The aim of this study is to investigate whether the supplementation of Prevotella histicola (Ph) can prevent the bone loss in mice with ovariectomy (OVX)-mediated OP, and further explore relevant mechanisms. Regular (once a day for 8 consecutive weeks) and quantitative (200 µL/d) perfusion of Ph (the bacteria that orally gavaged) was conducted starting from 1 week after the construction of mice models. Bone mass and bone microstructure were detected by Micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT). Expressions of intestinal permeability, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and osteogenic and osteoclastic activities of mice were analyzed by histological staining and immunohistochemistry (IHC). 16S rRNA high throughput sequencing technique was applied to analyze the alterations of composition, abundance, and diversity of collected feces. Regular and quantitative perfusion of Ph mitigated the bone loss in mice with OVX-mediated OP. Compared with OVX + PBS group, perfusion of Ph repressed osteoclastogenesis and promoted osteogenesis, reduced release of pro-inflammatory cytokine cytokines (interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)), and reversed expressions of tight junction proteins (zonula occludens protein 1 (ZO-1) and Occludin). Besides, the perfusion of Ph improved the composition, abundance, and diversity of GM. Collectively, this study revealed that regular and quantitative perfusion of Ph can improve the bone loss in mice with OVX-mediated OP by repairing intestinal mucosal barrier damage, optimizing intestinal permeability, inhibiting release of pro-osteoclastogenic cytokines, and improving disturbance of GM.

Objective: Patients with lung cancer are at risk of radiation pneumonia (RP) after receiving radiotherapy. We established a prediction model according to the critical indicators extracted from radiation pneumonia patients. Materials and Methods: 74 radiation pneumonia patients were involved in the training set. Firstly, the clinical data, hematological and radiation dose parameters of the 74 patients were screened by Logistics regression univariate analysis according to the level of radiation pneumonia. Next, Stepwise regression analysis was utilized to construct the regression model. Then, the influence of continuous variables on RP was tested by smoothing function. Finally, the model was externally verified by 30 patients in validation set and visualized by R code. Results: In the training set, there was 40 patients suffered≥ level 2 acute radiation pneumonia. Clinical data (diabetes), blood indexes (lymphocyte percentage, basophil percentage, platelet count) and radiation dose (V15 > 40%, V20 > 30%, V35 >18%, V40 > 15%) were related to radiation pneumonia ( P < 0.05). Particularly, stepwise regression analysis indicated that the history of diabetes, the basophils percentage, platelet count and V20 could be the best combination used for predicting radiation pneumonia. The column chart was obtained by fitting the regression model with the combined indicator. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that the AUC in the development term was 0.853, the AUC was 0.656 in the validation term. And calibration curves of both groups showed the high stability in efficiently diagnostic. Furthermore, the DCA curve showed that the model had a satisfactory positive net benefit. Conclusion: The combination of the basophils percentage, platelet count and V20 is available to build a predictive model of radiation pneumonia for patients with advanced lung cancer.

Aims: Exposure to crystalline silica (CS) in occupational settings induces chronic inflammation in the respiratory system and, potentially, the brain. Some workers are frequently concurrently exposed to both CS and nicotine. Here, we explored the impact of nicotine on CS‐induced neuroinflammation in the mouse hippocampus. Methods: In this study, we established double‐exposed models of CS and nicotine in C57BL/6 mice. To assess depression‐like behavior, experiments were conducted at 3, 6, and 9 weeks. Serum inflammatory factors were analyzed by ELISA. Hippocampus was collected for RNA sequencing analysis and examining the gene expression patterns linked to inflammation and cell death. Microglia and astrocyte activation and hippocampal neuronal death were assessed using immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining. Western blotting was used to analyze the NF‐κB expression level. Results: Mice exposed to CS for 3 weeks showed signs of depression. This was accompanied by elevated IL‐6 in blood, destruction of the blood–brain barrier, and activation of astrocytes caused by an increased NF‐κB expression in the CA1 area of the hippocampus. The elevated levels of astrocyte‐derived Lcn2 and upregulated genes related to inflammation led to higher neuronal mortality. Moreover, nicotine mitigated the NF‐κB expression, astrocyte activation, and neuronal death, thereby ameliorating the associated symptoms. Conclusion: Silica exposure induces neuroinflammation and neuronal death in the mouse hippocampal CA1 region and depressive behavior. However, nicotine inhibits CS‐induced neuroinflammation and neuronal apoptosis, alleviating depressive‐like behaviors in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]