Field margins as rapidly evolving local diversity hotspots for ground beetles (Coleoptera : Carabidae) in northern China

The diversity of carabid assemblages at newly established field margins was compared to the diversity in surrounding fields and woodland habitats at Dongbeiwang village, Beijing. Carabids were sampled using 6 pitfalls per plot at a total of 12 plots in the year 2000. Although sampled only a year after their establishment, field margins harbored the most abundant and diverse carabids assemblages of all sites. More than a quarter of carabid species encountered were furthermore restricted to catches from field margins. Also woodland and fields under rotational wheat/maize cultivation harbored some unique species. Therefore, a short term establishment of field margins is effective in enhancing diversity and abundance of carabids, an important predator group in the agricultural landscape, while only the preservation of a heterogeneous landscape will enable the conservation of the overall species diversity

Software refactoring guided by multiple soft-goals

Software refactoring is intended to enhance the quality of a software by improving its understandability, performance, as well as other quality attributes. We adopt the modelling framework of [14] in order to analyze software qualities, to determine which software refactoring transformations are most appropriate. In addition, we use software metrics to evaluate software quality quantitatively. Our framework adopts and extends work reported in [15]

Study on antioxidant activity of Echinacea purpurea L. extracts and its impact on cell viability

This study investigates the antioxidant activity of Echinacea Purpurea L. (EP) extracts and its impact on cell viability. The polysaccharides content of EP was 159.8 ± 12.4 mg/g dry weight (DW), with extracts obtained by applying 55% ethanol at 55°C containing 11.0 ±1.0 mg gallic acid equivalent/g DW of total phenolic compound. Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, 0.1 mg/mL of EP extracts exhibited only 30% when compared to the ascorbic acid at the same concentration. Reducing power of extractsincreased linearly with its concentration and the concentration at 2.0 mg/mL reached about 65% of ascorbic acid at 0.3 mg/mL. The chelating capacity of ferrous iron (Fe2+) was 70% as good as that of thesynthetic metal chelater EDTA when added to 5.0 mg/mL of EP extracts. The DPPH scavenging capacity showed 85.1% at 0.5 mg/mL of extracts and with half-effective doses (ED50) was measured at 0.23mg/mL. The superoxide anions scavenging capacity of EP extracts was nearly equivalent to ascorbic acid (91.1% vs 93.0%) at the same concentration of 1.6 mg/mL and ED50 was 0.32 and 0.13 mg/mL, respectively. Microculture tetrazolium assays showed extracts had 92% cell viability at 1.6 mg/mL forchicken’s peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and 84% for RAW 264.7 macrophages, neither reaching the IC50 level. In summary, the EP extracts had antioxidant activity similar to that of ascorbic acid, but have no serious effect on inhibiting chicken’s PBMCs viability

Taxon- and functional group-specific responses of ground beetles and spiders to landscape complexity and management intensity in apple orchards of the North China Plain

Agricultural intensification has caused severe declines in ground-dwelling arthropods and associated ecosystem services. The conservation and re-establishment of semi-natural habitats in agricultural landscapes represent widely accepted measures to counter these declines. The effectiveness of these measures nonetheless varies between target taxa and their functional traits, while also being affected by local management. Here, we studied how species richness and abundance of different functional groups of carabid beetles and spiders in apple orchards were affected by landscape complexity (% semi-natural habitat) and local management intensity (mowing and soil total nitrogen (STN) content). Both abundance and species richness of non-carnivorous carabids and carabids overall were negatively affected by STN, while the abundance of carnivorous carabids and carabids overall was affected by interactive effects of mowing and landscape complexity, showing a positive response to mowing where semi-natural habitats are scarce, but negative responses in landscapes with a higher proportion of semi-natural habitats. The abundance of ground-hunting spiders and spiders overall was generally positively related to % semi-natural habitats, while the abundance of web-building spiders and the species richness of ground-hunting spiders showed a positive correlation with STN at landscapes with a low or medium abundance of semi-natural habitats, but a negative correlation where semi-natural habitats were more abundant. Non-carnivorous carabid diversity benefitted from low nitrogen application, while carnivorous carabid abundance benefitted from mowing intensity especially in simple and structurally homogenous agricultural landscapes. Both web-building and ground-hunting spiders positively responded to low nitrogen applications and intermediate landscape complexity. Overall, a low local management intensity promoted carabid beetles, while spiders were favored by increasing landscape complexity. We conclude that taxon- and functional group-specific, multi-scale conservation strategies are therefore required to conserve invertebrate predators in apple orchards

Theory of current-driven motion of Skyrmions and spirals in helical magnets

We study theoretically the dynamics of the spin textures, i.e., Skyrmion crystal (SkX) and spiral structure (SS), in two-dimensional helical magnets under external current. By numerically solving the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation, it is found that (i) the critical current density of the motion is much lower for SkX compared with SS in agreement with the recent experiment, (ii) there is no intrinsic pinning effect for SkX and the deformation of the internal structure of Skyrmion reduces the pinning effect dramatically, (iii) the Bragg intensity of SkX shows strong time-dependence as can be observed by neutron scattering experiment.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Brief Cognitive Instruments to Evaluate Suspected Dementia in Chinese-Speaking Populations

Background: Chinese is the most commonly spoken world language; however, most cognitive tests were developed and validated in the West. It is essential to find out which tests are valid and practical in Chinese speaking people with suspected dementia. Objective: We therefore conducted a systematic review and meta-Analysis of brief cognitive tests adapted for Chinese-speaking populations in people presenting for assessment of suspected dementia. Methods: We searched electronic databases for studies reporting brief (≤20 minutes) cognitive test's sensitivity and specificity as part of dementia diagnosis for Chinese-speaking populations in clinical settings. We assessed quality using Centre for Evidence Based Medicine (CEBM) criteria and translation and cultural adaptation using the Manchester Translation Reporting Questionnaire (MTRQ), and Manchester Cultural Adaptation Reporting Questionnaire (MCAR). We assessed heterogeneity and combined sensitivity in meta-Analyses. Results: 38 studies met inclusion criteria and 22 were included in meta-Analyses. None met the highest CEBM criteria. Five studies met the highest criteria of MTRQ and MCAR. In meta-Analyses of studies with acceptable heterogeneity (I2 <  75%), Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination Revised III (ACE-R ACE-III) had the best sensitivity and specificity; specifically, for dementia (93.5% 85.6%) and mild cognitive impairment (81.4% 76.7%). Conclusions: Current evidence is that the ACE-R and ACE-III are the best brief cognitive assessments for dementia and mild cognitive impairment in Chinese-speaking populations. They may improve time taken to diagnosis, allowing people to access interventions and future planning

Combination of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor and irbesartan for the treatment of heart failure

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Expression of CD80 and CD86 costimulatory molecules are potential markers for better survival in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>B7 Costimulatory signal is essential to trigger T-cell activation upon the recognition of tumor antigens. This study examined the expression of B7-1 (CD80) and B7-2 (CD86) costimulatory molecules along with HLA-DR and the presence of infiltrating lymphocytes and dendritic cells to assess their significance in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Expression of CD80, CD86, HLA-DR, S-100 protein and the presence of infiltrating lymphocytes and follicular dendritic reticulum cells were immunohistochemically examined on the paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from newly diagnosed NPC patients (n = 50). The results were correlated with clinical outcome of patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CD80 and CD86 were each expressed in 10 of 50 cases in which they co-expressed in 9 cases. Univariate analysis revealed that patients with CD80/CD86 expression had significantly better overall survival than those without it (P = 0.017), but after adjustment for stage, nodal status, and treatment, the expression of CD80/CD86 did not significantly correlate with overall survival. Expression of HLA-DR and the presence of infiltrating lymphocytes and dendritic cells did not appear to have impact on the survival of patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Expression of CD80 and CD86 costimulatory molecules appears to be a marker of better survival in patient with NPC.</p

Self-rated health in middle-aged and elderly Chinese : distribution, determinants and associations with cardio-metabolic risk factors

Background: Self-rated health (SRH) has been demonstrated to be an accurate reflection of a person's health and a valid predictor of incident mortality and chronic morbidity. We aimed to evaluate the distribution and factors associated with SRH and its association with biomarkers of cardio-metabolic diseases among middle-aged and elderly Chinese. Methods: Survey of 1,458 men and 1,831 women aged 50 to 70 years, conducted in one urban and two rural areas of Beijing and Shanghai in 2005. SRH status was measured and categorized as good (very good and good) vs. not good (fair, poor and very poor). Determinants of SRH and associations with biomarkers of cardio-metabolic diseases were evaluated using logistic regression. Results: Thirty two percent of participants reported good SRH. Males and rural residents tended to report good SRH. After adjusting for potential confounders, residence, physical activity, employment status, sleep quality and presence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depression were the main determinants of SRH. Those free from cardiovascular disease (OR 3.68; 95%CI 2.39; 5.66), rural residents (OR 1.89; 95% CI 1.47; 2.43), non-depressed participants (OR 2.50; 95% CI 1.67; 3.73) and those with good sleep quality (OR 2.95; 95% CI 2.22; 3.91) had almost twice or over the chance of reporting good SRH compared to their counterparts. There were significant associations -and trend- between SRH and levels of inflammatory markers, insulin levels and insulin resistance. Conclusion: Only one third of middle-aged and elderly Chinese assessed their health status as good or very good. Although further longitudinal studies are required to confirm our findings, interventions targeting social inequalities, lifestyle patterns might not only contribute to prevent chronic morbidity but as well to improve populations' perceived health