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Background & Problems: Patients with critical illnesses face an elevated risk of medical adhesive relation skin injuries (MARSI), which have negative, subsequent impacts on recovery and quality of healthcare. Purpose: The aim of this project was to decrease the incidence of MARSI in the surgical intensive care unit and to improve the accuracy of MARSI preventive care implementation. Resolutions: The intervention included the implementation of product-use cards, high-risk warning slogans, education programs, experience workshops, and a standard prevention-care protocol for MARSI. Results: After project implementation, the incidence rate of MARSI decreased from 18.2% to 0%-9.3%, and the accuracy rate of preventive care increased from 38.6% to 95.5%. Conclusion: This project effectively reduced the incidence of skin injury and improved the quality of critical care. The skills related to the care and prevention of MARSI have been implemented throughout the hospital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The karyotype is highly important for diagnosis and prognosis in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The objective of the present study was to investigate the cytogenetic characteristics of patients with MDS in China. The karyotypes of 665 Chinese patients with MDS were analyzed, and it was identified that 298 cases (298/665, 44.8%) had abnormal karyotypes. Among the 298 patients with abnormal karyotypes, the 75 patients with trisomy 8 (+8) constituted the most common subset (75/298, 25.2%). The incidence of abnormal karyotypes was significantly higher in patients who were ≥51 years old compared with those <51 years old, (54.8 vs. 34.7%, respectively; P<0.05). Based on World Health Organization (WHO) classification-based Prognostic Scoring System (WPSS) criteria, the incidence of poor-prognosis karyotypes was significantly higher (17.4 vs. 5.4%; P<0.05) in the older patient group, and based on the Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) criteria, the incidence of poor-/very poor-prognosis karyotypes was also significantly higher (17.4 vs. 6.6%; P<0.05) in patients ≥51 years old compared with younger ones. Based on the WHO classification of MDS subtypes, the incidence of abnormal karyotypes in patients with high percentages of bone marrow (BM) blasts [excess blasts (EB)-I + EB-II, ≥5% blasts] was significantly higher than that in patients with low percentages of BM blasts (those with single lineage dysplasia + multilineage dysplasia, <5% blasts) (62.5 vs. 36.0%; P<0.05). The incidence of poor-prognosis karyotypes based on WPSS criteria was significantly higher in patients with high percentages of BM blasts than those with low percentages (22.0 vs. 6.9%, respectively; P<0.05), and the incidence of poor-/very poor-prognosis karyotypes based on IPSS-R criteria was also significantly higher (23.0 vs. 7.4%, respectively; P<0.05). These results demonstrate that +8 is the most common abnormal karyotype in Chinese patients with MDS. Age and the percentage of BM blasts are associated with the incidence of both abnormal karyotypes and karyotypes with poor prognosis. The results of cytogenetic abnormalities in this study will supplement the data on patients of MDS in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncoupling protein 2(UCP2) is an attractive candidate gene for screening neural tube defects (NTDs) risk. In this study, polymerase chain reaction and agarose gel electrophoresis were used to determine the distribution of the polymorphism in a case group of 140 deliveries with NTDs, and a control group of 251 normal newborns. We found that the frequencies of allele I and genotypes ID + II were higher in the case group than in the control group (P = .167, OR = 1.4, 95% CI, 0.9-2.1; P = .132, OR = 1.44, 95% CI, 0.89-2.33, respectively); and at low maternal educational level, the frequency of ID + II genotypes was significantly higher in the NTD case group (P < .05, OR = 1.7, 95% CI, 1.01-2.79). The result suggested that the polymorphism in UCP2 may be a potential genetic risk factor for NTDs in a high-risk area of China, and the association was influenced by maternal education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Renewable energy resources have a positive effect on energy supply security as well as environmental protection. By analyzing the situation of the world and China''s solar industry, the paper indicates there is of great potential in China''s solar industry. However, there are capital, technology, market and policy obstacles in the development of solar industry. So we need not only the regulation of the market, but also the support of government policy, particularly economic incentives to promote solar industry in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Using agricultural household survey data and claim records from insurers in China, this paper analyzes hog producers' choice of the ways to prevent possible losses and identifies the relationships among biosecurity practices, vaccination, and hog insurance. By combining one probit and two structural equations, we adopt three-stage estimations by a mixed-process model to obtain results. The findings indicate that biosecurity practices provide the basic infrastructure for operating pig farms and complement both the usage of quality vaccines and the uptake of hog insurance. In addition, there is a strong substitution relationship between the quality of vaccine and the demand for hog insurance. Hog farmers that implement better biosecurity practices are more likely to seek high-quality vaccines or buy into hog insurance schemes, but not both. For those households with hog insurance, better biosecurity status, better management practices, and higher-quality vaccines significantly help to reduce loss ratios. However, we also find a moral hazard effect in that higher premium expenditures by the insured households might induce larger loss ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]