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Guang Ying Zhang, Yi Feng Chen, Wei Xin Dai, Dan Zhang, Yi Huang, Wen Zheng He, Cheng Xin Lin Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Cheng Xin Lin; Wen Zheng HeDepartment of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, No. 6 Shuangyong Road, Qingxiuqu, Nanning 530022, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail lin.chx@163.com; he20082008@126.comPurpose: To investigate the impact of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and its severity on the threshold of sciatic nerve electrical stimulation in diabetic patients.Patients and Methods: The case–control study included 60 patients that were divided into non-diabetic patients (control group, n = 26) and diabetic patients (diabetes group, n = 34). All the patients who were scheduled for lower leg, foot, and ankle surgery received a popliteal sciatic nerve block. We recorded the minimum current required to produce motor activity of the sciatic nerve during ultrasound-guided popliteal sciatic nerve block.Results: Among the 60 patients, the sciatic nerve innervated muscle contractile response was successfully elicited in 57 patients (dorsiflexion of foot, plantar flexion, foot valgus or adduction, toe flexion, etc.) under electric stimulation. We failed to elicit the motor response in three patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy, even when the stimulation current was 3 mA. The average electrical stimulation threshold (1.0 ± 0.7 mA) in the diabetes group was significantly higher than that of the control group (0.4 ± 0.1 mA). Diabetic patients with peripheral neuropathy had a higher electrical stimulation threshold (1.2 ± 0.7 mA) than patients without peripheral neuropathy (0.4 ± 0.1 mA). Furthermore, the electrical stimulation threshold of the sciatic nerve in diabetic patients had a linear dependence on the Toronto Clinical Scoring System (TCSS) peripheral neuropathy score (electrical stimulation threshold [in mA] = 0.125 TCSS score) (P < 0.001).Conclusion: The threshold of electrical stimulation to elicit a motor response of the sciatic nerve was increased in diabetic patients, and the threshold of electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerve increased with the severity of diabetic nerve dysfunction.Keywords: diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy, electrical stimulation threshold, nerve block

With the development of urbanization, the environmental quality of urban soil has been declining. Transport has become an important source of heavy metals in soil. To have a preliminary understanding of soil heavy metals pollution in the urban road, in this study, the contents of Cd, As, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni and Cr in soil of urban road of Quanzhou City were analyzed and investigated to evaluate environmental quality based on health risk assessment model. The results showed that the soil of these urban roads has been polluted by heavy metals. Especially, the pollution of Zn and Cd was the most serious, has exceeded the secondary standard of the environmental quality standard for soils. The order of non-cancer hazard indexes of heavy metals in soil was As > Pb > Cr > Cd > Cu > Ni > Zn, and the order of carcinogen risks of heavy metals was As > Cd. The non-cancer hazard indexes and carcinogen risks of heavy metals were both lower than their threshold values. They were not to be direct threats to people health.

The relation among the lattice vibrations, carriers and high-Tc superconductivity is discussed in detail. We propose that there are strong local coupling between carriers and rhe lattice vibrations rather than the screen effect between them. Basing on the experimental results and the theoretical analysis, we found that the relation between superconductivity and the strength of the local coupling and its overall effect.