[Plant community and soil nutrient of alpine meadow in different degradation stages on the Tibetan Plateau, China.].

We examined soil physical and chemical properties and plant community characteristics of four alpine meadows at different degradation stages in Damxung County, Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, with the method of spatial sequence instead of time succession. The results showed that soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, ammonium, nitrate, and water content showed a decreasing trend as the degree of soil degradation increased, while pH showed an increasing trend. Plant community height, richness, diversity index and evenness index of the moderately degraded meadow were the highest.

[Functional magnetic resonance imaging in patients with long-term unilateral hearing loss].

Objective: To evaluate the potential functional reorganization by functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure the brain activation in responses to stimulation to healthy ears in patients with long-term unilateral hearing loss (UHL).

Methods: From June 1998 to December 2009, 23 patients with serious UHL (15 left, 8 right) were recruited along with 15 matched normal hearing subjects. Laterality index (LI) for activated voxel in primary auditory cortex (PAC) was calculated.