The Salutary Influence of Forest Bathing on Elderly Patients with Chronic Heart Failure.

The aim of the current study was to test the hypothesis that forest bathing would be beneficial for elderly patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) as an adjunctive therapy. Two groups of participants with CHF were simultaneously sent to the forest or an urban control area for a four-day trip, respectively. Subjects exposed to the forest site showed a significant reduction of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) in comparison to that of the city group and their own baseline levels.

Therapeutic effect of forest bathing on human hypertension in the elderly.

Objective: To provide scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of forest bathing as a natural therapy for human hypertension.

Methods: Twenty-four elderly patients with essential hypertension were randomly divided into two groups of 12. One group was sent to a broad-leaved evergreen forest to experience a 7-day/7-night trip, and the other was sent to a city area in Hangzhou for control.

Antiaging effect of pine pollen in human diploid fibroblasts and in a mouse model induced by D-galactose.

The present paper was designed to investigate the effect of pine pollen against aging in human diploid fibroblast 2BS cells and in an accelerated aging model, which was established by subcutaneous injections with D-galactose daily for 8 weeks in C57BL/6J mice. Pine pollen (1 mg/mL and 2 mg/mL) is proved to delay the replicative senescence of 2BS cells as evidenced by enhanced cell proliferation, decreased SA-β-Gal activity, and reversed expression of senescence-associated molecular markers, such as p53, p21(Waf1), p16(INK4a), PTEN, and p27(Kip1) in late PD cells. Besides, pine pollen reversed D-galactose-induced aging effects in neural activity and inflammatory cytokine levels, as indicated by improved memory latency time and reduced error rate in step-down test and decreased concentrations of IL-6 and TNF-α in model mice.

Effects of 60-day NO2 fumigation on growth, oxidative stress and antioxidative response in Cinnamomum camphora seedlings.

Objective: To study the oxidative stress and antioxidative response of Cinnamomum camphora seedlings exposed to nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) fumigation.

Methods: Measurements were made up of the growth, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence, antioxidant system and lipid peroxidation of one-year-old C. camphora seedlings exposed to NO(2) (0.

[Effect of stand condition improvement on surface soil nutrient losses of hilly land Dendrocalamus latiflorus plantations].

A comparative study on the soil nutrient losses of hilly land shoot-used Dendrocalamus lati florus plantations at the Nanjing stated-owned forest farm, Fujian Province showed that the losses of soil N, P and K under three treatments of stand condition improvement varied with season, and 90% or more of these losses appeared from April to September, with the order of overall ploughing > strip ploughing > control. There was no significant difference of N and P losses among the three treatments, while the K loss was markedly higher under overall ploughing than the control.

[Dynamics of litterfall and its decomposition and nutrient return of shoot-used Dendrocalamus latiflorus in Mountainous areas of Fujian Province].

This paper studied the dynamics of nutrients in the litters of shoot-used Dendrocalamus latiflorus planted Nanjing State-owned Forest Farm of Fujian Province. The results showed that the litterfall as well as its nutrient concentration and return varied obviously with seasons, and had a double-peak curve change. The weight loss during litter decomposition was very fast at first, and then slowed down.