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Purpose: We studied the profitable phytoremediation method with commercial chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum indicum L.) in order to remediate the soils contaminated with heavy metals and generate economy income from the contaminated sites. Materials and methods: A field experiment was carried out to remediate the contaminated soil through growing the commercial chrysanthemum plants in a farmland polluted with heavy metals of Cd and Zn due to application of creek sediments in the western suburb of Shanghai, Southeast China, since June 2013. Results and discussion: After the consecutive 3 years of phytoremediation, Cd and Zn contents in the soil were reduced by 78.1% and 28.4%, respectively. We also found that the rice grain growing on the 3-year phytoremediated soil met the requirements of dietary safety, so did the vegetable growing on the 5-year phytoremediated soil. Conclusions: Growing chrysanthemum plants as a method of phytoremediation can not only remove a large amount of toxic heavy metals from the contaminated soil but also be highly profitable from the sales of chrysanthemum flowers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The post-Mao China has been increasingly managed mathematically, not the least in its judicial system. In this paper, I looked into some of the mathematical indicators used to judge the performance of judges in this nation, and ascertained their effects on the judicial decisions on medical malpractices in Shanghai. The findings of this paper support the previous study that qualitatively identified the judicial responses to such a quantified evaluation system. Underlying the effect of performance indicators is the Chinese judiciary's bending toward populist pressure. Essentially, therefore, this paper serves to place in perspective the judicial populism well documented in the latest literature on Chinese judiciary. At the same time, however, my study also endorses the theory on courts' reluctance to exercise discretion in a hierarchical judicial system. Thus, as hinted by the data, the actual behaviors of Chinese judges might be complex under a combination of institutional constraints embodying policy preferences of political leaders as well as structural characteristics of the judiciary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first reported human case of H7N9 influenza virus infection in Shanghai prompted a survey of local avian strains of influenza virus, involving the analysis of a large number of samples taken from poultry, wild birds, horses, pigs, dogs and mice. Seven instances of H7N9 virus infection were identified by real-time RT-PCR (1.47 % of samples), all in chickens sold in live-poultry markets. H7N9 antibody was not detected in serum samples collected from local poultry farms since 2006. The two H7N9 virus strains in the live-poultry markets and one H9N2 virus strain in the same market were genetically characterized. Resequencing of two of the seven isolates confirmed that they closely resembled H7N9 virus strains characterized elsewhere. Various strains co-exist in the same market, presenting a continuing risk of strain re-assortment. The closure of live-poultry markets has been an effective short-term means of minimizing human exposure to H7N9 virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The H9N2 influenza virus is endemic in poultry. We report its occurrence in live-poultry markets, fair-trade markets and poultry farms in the Shanghai region between September 2006 and December 2010. An analysis of partial sequences of the HA, NA, PB1, PB2 and NP genes of eleven distinct H9N2 isolates revealed that all carried an RSSR motif at the cleavage site of HA, diagnostic of low pathogenicity in chickens. A phylogenetic analysis indicated that these isolates are derived from the lineage represented by Duck/HK/Y280/97, but they have evolved a range of reassortments. Their PB1 and NP sequences resembled those of H5N1 strains, indicating a hybrid origin involving both H9 and H5 strains. The HA and NA sequences present in all eleven isolates resembled those of the Duck/HK/Y280/97-like lineage. Infection by H9N2 is commonplace in Shanghai live-poultry markets, allowing the viruses to have evolved rapidly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incidence rates in several registry catchment populations are amongst the highest worldwide. The incidence rates in urban Shanghai were analyzed between 1976 and 2005 to describe and interpret the time trends. Age-specific and age-standardized rates were calculated and graphically presented. An age-period-cohort model was fitted to assess the effects of age at diagnosis, calendar period, and birth cohort on the changing HCC incidence rates. In total, 35,241 and 13,931 men and women were diagnosed with HCC during 1976-2005 in urban Shanghai. The age-standardized incidence rates in urban Shanghai were 33.9 per 10 among men and 11.4 per 10 among women in 1976-1980, but decreased in both sexes to 25.8 per 10 and 8.5 per 10, respectively by 2001-2005. Accelerating rates in birth cohorts born in the early-1930s and decelerating rates circa 1945 were observed in both sexes, with further accelerations noted in the late-1950s (in women) and early-1960s (in men). Given the parameterization, increases in risk of HCC were seen in successive male and female generations between 1900 and 1935, followed by a further increase among successive cohorts born around 1960, with a reduction in risk in the most recent generations. The incidence rates of HCC in urban Shanghai from 1976 to 2005 have declined in both sexes, with the complex but similar patterns observed in successive generations suggestive of a shared changing prevalence in risk factors in men and women, with a role possibly for HBV interventions reducing risk of HCC in cohorts born after 1960. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]