Holocene coquina beachrock from Haishan Island, east coast of Guangdong Province, China

International audienceCoquina beachrock, with a thickness of 10 m and an exposed surface area covering 3.4 km2, is well developed along the southern coast of Haishan Island on the east coast of Guangdong Province, South China. Part of the deposit not treated in this study also extends under the surface of the sea. The coquina beachrock was deposited in a large embayment semi-enclosed by palaeocoastal hills and islands, but with good marine circulation. Holocene strata on Haishan Island demonstrate a mixed carbonate/siliciclastic regime in a series of fining- and deepening-upward shelly limestone successions. Mass accumulations of whole and fragmented mollusc shells are the most remarkable features expressed throughout the series. Coralline red algae are commonly found overgrowing the bivalve bioclasts. Other bioclasts include gastropods, coralline red algae, bryozoans, foraminifera, and scleractinian coral. Cement is well developed within the interstices formed by the bioclasts, showing two or three generations of development. On both a qualitative and quantitative basis, the consecutive coquina series document an overall shallowing-upward pattern of beachrock deposition, which was strongly influenced by marine transgression on Haishan Island. Dating by AMS 14C indicates an age in the Middle to early Late Holocene for these coquina beachrock deposits. Siliciclasts incorporated within the beachrock deposits mainly consist of quartz grains. Not fully hardened, the binding cement is high in calcium carbonate, including aragonite mud, fibrous aragonite and granular calcite. Such carbonate deposits dominated by mollusc bioclasts with quartz grains indicate a pattern of littoral sedimentation. The massive coquina beachrock on the southern coast of Haishan Island formed during Middle to early Late Holocene time, and represents a highstand of sea level from 4000 BP to 2800 BP with short-lived and rapid sea level fall

Phylogenetic structure and ecological and evolutionary determinants of species richness

Aim: Site-level species richness is thought to result from both local conditions and species’ evolutionary history, but the nature of the evolutionary effect, and how much it underlies the correlation with current environment, are debated. Although tropical conservatism is a widely used explanatory framework along temperature gradients, it is unclear whether cold tolerance is primarily a threshold effect (e.g. freezing tolerance) or represents a more continuous constraint. Nor is it clear whether cold tolerance is the only major axis of conservatism or whether others, such as water-stress tolerance, are additionally important or trade-off against cold tolerance. We address these questions by testing associated predictions for forest plots distributed across 35° latitude. Location: China. Methods: We recorded all trees within 57 0.1-ha plots, generated a phylogeny for the 462 angiosperm species found, and calculated phylogenetic diversity (standardized PD), net relatedness index (NRI) and phylogenetic species variability (PSV) for each plot. We tested the predictions using regression, variance partitioning and structural equation modelling to disentangle potential influences of key climate variables on NRI and PSV, and of all variables on species richness. Results: Species richness correlated very strongly with minimum temperature, nonlinearly overall but linearly where freezing is absent. The phylogenetic variables also correlated strongly with minimum temperature. While NRI and PSV explained little additional variance in species richness, they accounted for part of the species richness–current climate correlation. Water stress added minimal explanatory power. All these variables showed strong latitudinal gradients. Main conclusions: Minimum temperature appeared to primarily control tree species richness, via both a threshold-like freezing effect and a linear relationship in climates without freezing. We found no clear signal of water-stress effects. The modelled contribution of evolutionary history is consistent with cold-tolerance conservatism, but could not account for all the species richness–climate relationship

Effects of photoperiod on body mass, thermogenesis and body composition in Eothenomys miletus during cold exposure

Many small mammals respond to seasonal changes in photoperiod by altering body mass and adiposity. These animals may provide valuable models for understanding the regulation of energy balance. In present study, we examined the effect on body mass, rest metabolic rate, food intake and body composition in cold-acclimated (5 °C) in Eothenomys miletus by transferring them from a short (SD, 8h :16h L: D) to long day photoperiod (LD, 16h: 8h L:D). During the first 4 weeks of exposure to SD, E. miletus decreased body mass. After the next 4 weeks of exposure to LD, which the average difference between body masses of LD and SD voles was 4.76 g. This 14.74% increase in body mass reflected significant increases in absolute amounts of body components, including wet carcass mass, dry carcass mass and body fat mass. After correcting body composition and organ morphology data for the differences in body mass, only livers, kidney, and small intestine were enlarged due to photoperiod treatment during cold exposure. E. miletus increased RMR and energy intake exposure to LD, but maintained a stable level to SD after 28 days. Serum leptin levels were positively correlated with body mass, body fat mass, RMR as well as energy intake. All of the results indicated that E. miletus may provide an attractive novel animal model for investigation of the regulation of body mass and energy balance at organism levels. Leptin is potentially involved in the photoperiod induced body mass regulation and thermogenesis in E. miletus during cold exposure

Quality of reporting of systematic reviews published in “evidence-based” Chinese journals

BACKGROUND: The number of systematic reviews (SRs)/meta-analyses (MAs) has increased dramatically in China over the past decades. However, evaluation of quality of reporting of systematic reviews published has not been undertaken. The objective of this study is to evaluate the quality of reporting of SRs/MAs assessing efficacy and/or harms of clinical interventions published in “evidence-based” Chinese journals. METHODS: Web-based database searches were conducted for the Chinese Journal of Evidence-based Medicine, the Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, the Chinese Journal of Evidence Based Pediatrics, and the Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Cardiovascular Medicine. SRs/MAs assessing efficacy and/or harms of clinical interventions were included. The cut-off was December 31st 2011. The PRISMA statement was applied to assess the quality of reporting. Each item was assessed as follows: ‘Yes’ for total compliance, scored ‘1’; ‘partial’ for partial compliance, scored ‘0.5’; and ‘No’ for non-compliance, scored ‘0’. The review was considered to have major flaws if it received a total score of ≤15.0, minor flaws if it received a total score of 15.5 to 21.0, and minimal flaws if it received a total score 21.5 to 27.0. Odds ratios were used for binary variables, and the mean difference was used for continuous variables. Analyses were performed using RevMan 5.0 software. RESULTS: Overall, 487 SRs/MAs were identified and assessed. The included reviews had medium quality with minor flaws based on PRISMA total scores (range: 8.5–26.0; mean: 19.6 ± 3.3). The stratified analysis showed that SRs/MAs with more than 3 authors, from a university, hospital + university cooperation, multiple affiliations (≥2), and funding have significantly higher quality of reporting of SRs/MAs; 58% of the included reviews were considered to have minor flaws (total score of 15.6 to 21.0). Only 9.6% of reviews were considered to have major flaws. Specific areas needing improvement in reporting include the abstract, protocol and registration, and characteristics of the search. CONCLUSIONS: The reporting of SRs published in “evidence-based” Chinese journals is poor and needs to be improved in order for reviews to be useful. SR authors should use the PRISMA checklist to ensure complete and accurate accounts of their SRs

Atorvastatin/trimetazidine combination therapy in patients with chronic cardiac failure

Purpose: To explore the outcomes and safety of atorvastatin/trimetazidine combination therapy in patients with chronic cardiac failure.Methods: A total of 144 patients with chronic cardiac failure were divided into test group (n = 72) and control group (n = 72). In addition to conventional anti-heart failure treatment, all patients in the two groups received atorvastatin, and those in the test group received, in addition, trimetazidine, for 28 days. The clinical outcomes and safety profiles of the two groups were determined and compared.Results: Compared with pre-treatment stage, the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular fractional shortening (LVFS), left ventricular early diastolic peak velocity (E), as well as E to left ventricular end diastolic peak velocity (A) ratio (E/A ratio) for both groups improved significantly after treatment, while A and serum brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) level decreased significantly (all p < 0.05). Moreover, compared with control group, the increases in LVEF, LVFS, E, and E/A ratio of the test group were greater (42.81 ± 3.04 vs 47.97 ± 4.22 %; 31.01 ± 3.19 vs 36.02 ± 3.31 %; 57.44 ± 5.18 vs 61.93 ± 5.42 cm/s; 1.02 ± 0.06 vs 1.19 ± 0.11, respectively), while the decreases in A and BNP level were greater (both p < 0.05) (57.34 ± 4.70 vs 52.37 ± 3.17 cm/s; 589.73 ± 41.19 vs 498.65 ± 30.89 pg/mL, respectively). Therapeutic outcomes were significantly better in the test group than in control group (p < 0.05). Blood pressure, heart rate and serum levels of alanine transaminase (ALT) and creatinine did not differ significantly between the two groups (p > 0.05), but serum potassium and aspartate amino transferase levels were lower in the test group than in the control group (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Atorvastatin combined with trimetazidine effectively reduces BNP level and improves cardiac function in patients with cardiac failure. The safety profile of the combined therapy is good.Keywords: Atorvastatin, Trimetazidine, Chronic cardiac failure, Combination therapy, Biochemical profil