Control of Plant Growth by Monitoring Soil Moisture, Temperature and Humidity in Dry Climate

Monitoring of environment parameter such as soil moisture, temperature and humidity are important parts of plant growth. This paper focused on the development of an instrumentation system and analysis on the effect of the water volume to the soil moisture, effect rate of soil moisture, temperature and humidity for an indoor greenhouse. Data were collected through two experiment. First experiment focused on effect volume of water to soil moisture. Soil hygrometer sensor used to measure soil moisture in real time. Five bottles contained different volume of water poured into soil which the soil is fixed to 200gram.Three different rate of soil moisture applied to plant and the data were analysed to determined relationship between soil moisture to the plant growth. It can be concluded that the rate of soil moisture does have effect on the stem diameter and leaves length based on the observations of the plant growth for three weeks.

A meta-analysis on the efficiency of the time window of hyperbaric oxygen treatment on disorders of consciousness in China

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical effects of time window on hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC).MethodsAll the clinical research literature regarding HBOT for DOC published between January 2000 and November 2020 were retrieved from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Standards Database (WFSD) and VIP Database using Chinese key words disorders of consciousness, the vegetable state, minimally conscious state, or hyperbaric oxygen followed by a comprehensive meta-analysis.ResultsThe query gave rise to 348 results, in which 21 articles were eventually selected for meta-analysis. Among the selected 21 articles, 18 articles involved a time window comparison. All the patients were classified into < 60- (718 patients) and ≥ 60- (374 patients) day groups depending on the number of days from HBOT initiation. The Jadad scores for the included datasets were relatively low in general with 2 points as the highest score. Comparable baseline data were demonstrated in all of the articles. Datasets from different sources were pooled and analyzed, and the results suggested that the clinical curative effect rate in the treatment group was significantly higher compared with that in the control group (curative effect rate: 69.86% versus 42.30%; Z = 11.28, P = 0.000, odds ratio = 3.80, 95% CI = 3.02-4.80). Additionally, the adverse reaction rate of the < 60-day group was found to be significantly lower compared with that of the ≥ 60-day group (Z = 10.01, P = 0.000, odds ratio = 4.82, 95% CI = 3.54-6.56). The funnel diagram in articles related to curative effect analysis and time window evaluation is inverted and symmetrical, indicating that publication bias was not significant.ConclusionsThe clinical curative effect of the HBOT group is higher compared with that of the control group. However, the conclusions based on meta-analysis are limited because of the methodological problems of some studies. Therefore, the clinical efficacy needs to be further tested using carefully designed large sample trials (multicenter, randomized, controlled, and double-blind).

Precise Application of the Xiao-Chai-Hu-Tang in 98 Cases of Patients with the Major Syndrome of Feeling Pain and Tenderness under the Right Costal Arch

Xiao-Chai-Hu-Tang (XCHT), a representative of previous edition of Formulas of Traditional Chinese Medicine and harmonizing formulas, has multiple pharmacological functions. However, a variety of side effects could be caused by misuse or abuse, ignoring the theory of diagnosis and treatment based on the combination of syndrome and disease differentiation. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the efficacy of XCHT, depending upon the individual patient’s condition. Among 98 patients treated with XCHT, most of the patients of syndromes could be cured after about two course. The therapeutic effect rate of prescribed XCHT in our 98 cases of treatment is 91.84% (90/98). In addition, the high frequently syndromes are consistent with Shanhanlun. With multiple years of experience, we believe that: patient feel pain and tenderness under the right costal arch is one of the symptoms of patients who fit for the treatment with XCHT.

Short-term adverse effects of testosterone used for priming in prepubertal boys before growth hormone stimulation test

Background:Despite the fact that priming with sex steroids in prepubertal children before growth hormone (GH) provocative tests is recommended, there is an ongoing controversial discussion about the appropriate age of the children, the drug used for priming, the dose and the period between priming and the GH test. Interestingly, there is no discussion on the safety of this procedure. To date, only little data have been available on the possible side effects of priming with testosterone.Methods:We analyzed the outcome in 188 short-statured prepubertal boys who had been primed with testosterone enanthate (n=136: 50 mg; n=51: 125 mg, and accidentally one boy with 250 mg) 7 days prior to the GH test. Serum testosterone levels were measured on the day of the GH test in 99 boys.Results:Overall, only five boys developed adverse side effects. Two boys (dose 125 mg) showed severe low-flow priapism and had to undergo decompression of the corpora cavernosa. One boy suffered from self-limiting priapism and testicular pain (dose 50 mg). Two patients reported testicular pain (each dose 50 mg). The single patient with 250 mg testosterone did not show any adverse effects. The total side effect rate was 2.7%. The serum testosterone levels of the boys with side effects were not different from the testosterone levels of the boys without any side effects.Conclusions:Parents and patients should be informed about the possible side effects of priming with testosterone such as priapism and testicular pain. However, the overall side effect rate is low. We found no correlation between the outcome and the testosterone dose used and/or the level of serum testosterone.