An ethnobotanical study of forage plants in Zhuxi County in the Qinba mountainous area of central China

In the Qinba mountainous area of Central China,pig farming has a significant impact on the growth of the rural economy and has substantially increased farmer incomes.Traditional knowledge plays an important role in the selection of forage plant species for pig farming by local people.This study aimed to identify the forage plants used for pig feeding and to catalog indigenous knowledge regarding their use.During 2016 and 2017,ethnobotanical surveys and inventories were conducted in Zhuxi County,Hubei Province,China.Data were collected using semi-structured interviews,key informant reports,free listings,guided field walks,and participatory observations with 77 households in 16 villages in 13 towns/townships.The obtained data were analyzed using a relative frequency citation(RFC)index.Overall,145 wild forage plants from 91 genera and 31 families were recorded.The most cited families were Asteraceae,Polygonaceae,Urticaceae,Amaranthaceae,Fabaceae,Cruciferae,Caryophyllaceae,and Lamiaceae.Whole plants(75.9%)and tender leaves(12.4%)were the most frequently used parts of the plants.Most of the forage plants were herbaceous(88.9%).Almost all forage plants could be collected throughout the year(62.7%).Raw and cooked were the two main preparation methods.The most frequently cited species were Taraxacum mongolicum,Bidens pilosa,Sonchus oleraceus,Pilea verrucosa,and Pilea pumila var.obtusifolia.A total of 14 species were identified as the top forage plants in Zhuxi County based on their RFC values(RFC value greater than 0.5).Local people possess rich traditional knowledge about the utilization and management of forage plants for pig feeding.However,the maintenance of this traditional knowledge may be seriously threatened by changes in pig feeding modes and the lack of successors.Appropriate strategies and action plans have been suggested for the conservation of traditional knowledge associated with biodiversity and the sustainable use of forage species resources.These include 1)taking targeted measures to protect forage resources and associated traditional knowledge;2)strengthening research on the forage plants with the highest RFC values for nutritional value,digestibility,other functions,and ecological status;and 3)enhancing the identification of poisonous forage plants.

Impacts of congestion on healthcare outcomes:an empirical observation in China

Many studies have shown that healthcare quality such as mortality rate exhibits Ushaped curves for congestion.These studies usually focus on how the congestion rate affects the overall hospitals’mortality rate.Our study investigates the impact of congestion on two subcategories:surgical and non-surgical inpatients,using the records of 27,575 patients from a public hospital in China.We confirm that the overall mortality rate exhibits a U-shaped curve.We further show that the mortality rate of surgical patients first decreases and then almost stays unchanged as congestion level increases,while the curve for the mortality rate of non-surgical patients remains U-shaped.The initial decrease partly results from the combination of decreasing mortality and increasing peak occupancy with time.The increase is in accordance with the overwork,but the condition requirement and high standard protocols of care may cause the mortality of surgical patients to be less affected by congestion.