Efficacy of combined nebulized aerosol inhalation and pulmicort respules in the treatment of emergency pediatric laryngitis, and its effect on adverse reactions

Purpose: To determine the efficacy of combined use of nebulized epinephrine inhalation and pulmicortrespules in the treatment of emergency pediatric laryngitis and, its impact on the incidence of adverse reactions.Methods: A total of 100 cases of pediatric laryngitis admitted in The People’s Hospital of Zhangqiu District between December 2018 and December 2020 were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either pulmicort respules (control group) or pulmicort respules plus nebulized epinephrine inhalation treatment (study group).  Outcome measures included level of effectiveness and adverse reactions.Results: Pulmicort respules plus nebulized epinephrine inhalation treatment was associated with shorter remission time for dyspnea, wheeze, croup, and hoarseness versus pulmicort respules. The combination treatment produced higher total effectiveness of 96 % than pulmicort respules with total effectiveness of 82 % (p < 0.05). After treatment, both groups had decreased serum levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8), IL-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, with markedly lower levels in the group given nebulized epinephrine inhalation in combination with pulmicort respules (p < 0.05). Compared with patients given pulmicort respules only, those given combination treatments had a significantly shorter hospitalization time and a lower incidence of adverse reactions (4 vs 8 %; p < 0.05).Conclusion: Nebulized epinephrine inhalation in combination with pulmicort respules has high safety in the treatment of emergency pediatric laryngitis, and it significantly reduces clinical symptoms, inflammatory response, and hospital stay. However, further clinical trials are required prior to its use in clinical practice

Phytoliths Analysis for the Discrimination of Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica) and Common Millet (Panicum miliaceum)

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and Common millet (Panicum miliaceum) are the oldest domesticated dry farming crops in Eurasia. Identifying these two millets in the archaeobotanical remains are still problematic, especially because the millet grains preserve only when charred. Phytoliths analysis provides a viable method for identifying this important crop. However, to date, the identification of millet phytoliths has been questionable, because very little study has been done on their morphometry and taxonomy. Particularly, no clear diagnostic feature has been used to distinguish between Foxtail millet and Common millet. Here we examined the anatomy and silicon structure patterns in the glumes, lemmas, and paleas from the inflorescence bracts in 27 modern plants of Foxtail millet, Common millet, and closely related grasses, using light microscopy with phase-contrast and microscopic interferometer. Our research shows that five key diagnostic characteristics in phytolith morphology can be used to distinguish Foxtail millet from Common millet based on the presence of cross-shaped type, regularly arranged papillae, Ω-undulated type, endings structures of epidermal long cell, and surface ridgy line sculpture in the former species. We have established identification criteria that, when used together, give the only reliable way of distinguishing between Foxtail millet and Common millet species based on their phytoliths characteristics, thus making a methodological contribution to phytolith research. Our findings also have important implications in the fields of plant taxonomy, agricultural archaeology, and the culture history of ancient civilizations

Glacial-interglacial evolution of seasonal cooling events documented by land-snail eggs from Chinese loess

The alternations of glacial and interglacial cycles are a classical feature of Quaternary climatic evolution and have been demonstrated to be closely related to seasonal insolation changes at high northern latitudes. Therefore, seasonal features may provide insights into glacial-interglacial cycles. However, mainly due to the lack of long time series of seasonally sensitive proxies, little is known about seasonal changes on the glacial-interglacial scale. The unhatched eggs preserved in sediments can serve as a proxy of seasonal cooling events (e.g., cold spells) since biological principles indicate that egg hatching is sensitive to temperature changes, and cooling-event-induced low temperatures during the reproductive season are unfavorable for eggs to hatch. Vertebrate eggs are well documented in the geological records, but they rarely provide continuous records through time. Here we present a high-resolution time series of land-snail eggs from the Chinese Loess Plateau, spanning the last three glacial-interglacial cycles. The results show that seasonal cooling events, indicated by peaks in egg abundance, are strong during glacial inceptions and climate cooling shifts of the marine isotope stages (MIS) 7e/7d, MIS 5e/5d, MIS 5c/5b and MIS 3/2. They tend not to occur during deglacials. They may result in low temperatures unfavorable for egg hatching during the reproductive season. Although several factors may be involved, seasonal cooling events in the Chinese Loess Plateau seem to be positively and more closely related to high-northernlatitude ice sheet growth. This finding may provide a new perspective for understanding glacialinterglacial evolution

Phytolith Analysis for Differentiating between Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica) and Green Foxtail (Setaria viridis)

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is one of the oldest domesticated cereal crops in Eurasia, but identifying foxtail millets, especially in charred grains, and differentiating it from its wild ancestor, green foxtail (Setaria viridis), in the archaeobotanical remains, is still problematic. Phytolithic analysis provides a meaningful method for identifying this important crop. In this paper, the silicon structure patterns in the glumes, lemmas, and paleas from inflorescence bracts in 16 modern plants of foxtail millet and green foxtail from China and Europe are examined using light microscopy with phase-contrast and a microscopic interferometer. Our research shows that the silicon structure of ΩIII from upper lemmas and paleas in foxtail millet and green foxtail can be correspondingly divided into two groups. The size of ΩIII type phytolith of foxtail millet is bigger than that from green foxtail. Discriminant function analysis reveals that 78.4% of data on foxtail millet and 76.9% of data on green foxtail are correctly classified. This means certain morphotypes of phytoliths are relatively reliable tools for distinguishing foxtail millet from green foxtail. Our results also revealed that the husk phytolith morphologies of foxtail millets from China and Eastern Europe are markedly different from those from Western Europe. Our research gives a meaningful method of separating foxtail millet and green foxtail. The implications of these findings for understanding the history of foxtail millet domestication and cultivation in ancient civilizations are significant

Terrestrial mollusk records from Chinese loess sequences and changes in the East Asian monsoonal environment

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Preliminary study of mollusk fossils in the Qinan Miocene loess-soil sequence in western Chinese Loess Plateau

International audienceThe first near continuous mollusk fossil record from the Qinan Miocene loess-soil sequence is presented. Results show that mollusk species are abundant in the QA-I section between 22 and 6.2 Ma, and both loess layers and soil layers yield mollusk fossil individuals. All mollusk species are terrestrial and well preserved in the section. Most species are identical to those identified in the Quaternary loess-soil sequence of the Loess Plateau. The thermo-humidiphilous group generally is distributed in soil layers, whereas cold-aridiphilous group can be observed in loess layers. From the Miocene to Quaternary, the occurrence and divergence of new species of Metodontia and Cathaica correspond to the crucial periods of regional and global environmental changes, indicating that mollusk species are sensitive to environmental variations. Preliminary study on the QA-I mollusk record indicates that the Qinan Miocene loess-soil sequence may have a similar sedimentary environment to the Quaternary loess-soil sequence of the Loess Plateau

Time-Transgressive Nature of the Magnetic Susceptibility Record across the Chinese Loess Plateau at the Pleistocene/Holocene Transition.

The loess stratigraphic boundary at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition defined by the magnetic susceptibility (MS) has previously been assumed to be synchronous with the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2/1 boundary, and approximately time-synchronous at different sections across the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). However, although this assumption has been used as a basis for proxy-age model of Chinese loess deposits, it has rarely been tested by using absolute dating methods. In this study, we applied a single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol to the 45-63 μm quartz grain-size fraction to derive luminescence ages for the last glacial and Holocene sections of three loess sections on a transect from southeast to northwest across the CLP. Based on the 33 closely spaced optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) samples from the three sections, OSL chronologies were established using a polynomial curve fit at each section. Based on the OSL chronology, the timing of the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary, as defined by rapid changes in MS values, is dated at ~10.5 ka, 8.5 ka and 7.5 ka in the Yaoxian section, Jingchuan and Huanxian sections respectively. These results are clearly inconsistent with the MIS 2/1 boundary age of 12.05 ka, and therefore we conclude that the automatic correlation of the Pleistocene/Holocene transition, as inferred from the MS record, with the MIS 2/1 boundary is incorrect. The results clearly demonstrate that the marked changes in MS along the southeast to northwest transect are time-transgressive among the different sites, with the timing of significant paleosol development as indicated by the MS record being delayed by 3-4 ka in the northwest compared to the southeast. Our results suggest that this asynchronous paleosol development during the last deglacial was caused by the delayed arrival of the summer monsoon in the northwest CLP compared to the southeast

Climatic conditions recorded by terrestrial mollusc assemblages in the Chinese Loess Plateau during marine Oxygen Isotope Stages 12–10

International audiencePast analogs for our present interglacial have been sought for better understanding of our present and future climate. Marine Isotope Stage 11 (MIS 11) has long been considered to be a good candidate and has gained increasing attention in recent studies of marine and terrestrial records. In the Chinese loess–paleosol sequences, S4 soil, interpreted as equivalent to MIS 11, yields a very precise terrestrial paleoclimate record of environmental changes that prevailed during this period. In this study, two high-resolution terrestrial mollusc records from the Loess Plateau have been analyzed to characterize climate variability during the periods of MIS 12–10. The changes in environment and climate, indicated by the variations in abundance of land mollusc species, are thus documented. Our mollusc results show that the L5 loess, equivalent of MIS 12, developed under relatively cold and dry conditions. Climate during this period was not as severe as indicated in the marine isotopic records. An episode of warmer and more humid condition occurred at the middle stage of the MIS 12, reflecting a summer monsoon strengthened during the glacial interval. A similar scenario has been observed in the middle part of MIS 10. In addition, our mollusc records provide insight into the climate conditions over the Loess Plateau during MIS 11, a general warm–humid climate dominated during the formation of S4 soil. But at least four fluctuations occurred at Xifeng region, reflecting unstable climate conditions and regional climate differences within the Loess Plateau during this period. Our study shows that the early part of S4, spanning over 30 ka, was very warm and humid, while the late part was characterized by mild-cool conditions. Comparison of mollusc species compositions of both MIS 11 and Holocene intervals reveals different climate conditions. The early part of MIS 11 was warmer and more humid than the Holocene optimum period, while the late part of MIS 11 was similar or cooler. Our study indicates that the extent of warming during the Holocene in the Loess Plateau might be significantly less than the conditions that prevailed during the MIS 11 interglacial period

Wind-blown origin of Dongwan late Miocene–Pliocene dust sequence documented by land snail record in western Chinese Loess Plateau

International audienceRecently, the first late Miocene–Pliocene eolian deposits from the western Chinese Loess Plateau have been reported. These deposits would complement the eolian record between Quaternary loess-paleosol sequences and Miocene loess sequences, if their wind-blown origin could be documented. However, although several lines of evidence indicate the eolian origin of this sequence, it is still necessary to address this issue through further efforts. Among these, biological approaches are of particular value. Here we analyze the composition and preservation conditions of mollusk assemblages in the Dongwan section. Our results show that all mollusk fossil individuals are preserved in perfect condition without indicating any reworking. All identifiable mollusk species are terrestrial, and are mostly identical to those identified in the Quaternary loess-paleosol sequences of the Chinese Loess Plateau. Generally, the cold-aridiphilous species are dominant in the loess layers, while thermo-humidiphilous species are mostly encountered in the paleosols. The close similarity of the mollusk record in both the Dongwan late Miocene–Pliocene deposits and the Quaternary loess sequence in the Chinese Loess Plateau supports the supposition that the Dongwan section is a typical loess-paleosol sequence, and is, without any doubt, of wind-blown origin