Women’s empowerment and food consumption:Evidence from female-headed households in Tanzania

Despite the growing recognition of women’s increasing role in the household and corresponding empowerment programs in sub-Saharan Africa,intensive research on the relationship between women’s influence and household food consumption is minimal.Using the most recent(2017-2018)national household survey data from Tanzania,this study examined the influence of women’s empowerment on household food consumption.First,we compared the monthly consumption of eight food categories between female-headed households(FHHs)and male-headed households(MHHs)using both descriptive statistics and the propensity score matching(PSM)method.Furthermore,we adopted the two-stage Linear Expenditure System and Almost Ideal Demand System model(LES-AIDS)to estimate income and price elasticities for the two household types.The results show that FHHs consume bread and cereals,fish,oils and fats,vegetables,and confectionery(sugar,jam,honey,chocolate,etc.)more than MHHs.Moreover,FHHs have a significantly higher income elasticity of demand for all food groups than MHHs.They are also more price elastic than MHHs in meat,fish,oils,fats,sugar,jam,honey,chocolate,etc.

The Three Principles of Institutional Safeguards for Women's Participation in Legislation in China

The participation of women in legislation is an important aspect and means of safeguarding women’s rights.Feminist theory,based on criticism of both the“citizenship identity theory as rights”and the“citizenship identity theory as responsibilities,”proposes the“citizenship identity theory as subjectivity.”Observing the current practice of women’s participation in legislation in China,two institutional safeguard principles can be summarized:the“minimum proportion”and the“influence evaluation.”However,each of these principles has its inherent limitations.Therefore,it is necessary to supplement them with the principle of“subjective participation”in a reflective manner.This principle requires women to participate substantively in the legislative process as subjects,express women’s needs and demands,input women’s perspectives and experiences,and reconstruct the distribution of rights and responsibilities in the existing legislation.The three principles complement each other and work together to comprehensively constitute the institutional structure of women’s participation in legislation,thereby promoting the reproduction of corresponding action structures.

A Historical Review of the Development of Women’s Higher Education in China (1908-2020): Stages, Explanations, and Trends

The development of women’s higher education in China can be divided into four stages:emergence(1908-1948);foundation(1949-1976);accelerating development(1977-2008);and the qualitative leap(2009-2020).This work considers the principal institutional mechanisms that contributed to this development.First,flexibly planned parenthood gradually promoted gender equality and openness in society facilitated by systematic“awards,grants,and loans”initiatives to support women’s higher education economically.Second,compulsory education ensured that left-out and migrant children had access to higher education.Third,effective connectivity across different education types bridged education gaps between those with different levels of education.Fourth,China made great efforts to invite and integrate international experiences that promoted the development of women’s higher education.Looking beyond these achievements,we also discuss the future trends of women’s higher education in China.

Coat's病的光凝与冷凝治疗(附35例报告)

目的:评价氩激光光凝配合巩膜外冷凝方法在临床上治疗Coat's病的效果及意义。方法:22例23眼用氩激光(德国欧波同Mediek CLu40 E氩离子激光机,能量0.2w,光斑100～500μ,脉冲时间0.1～0.2秒,Ⅱ级反应)或配合巩膜外冷凝(-60～-80℃,冷凝时间5秒,随后重复一次,见视网膜有灰白色水肿反应为宜)治疗。结果:有18只眼获得了不同程度的疗效(治疗有效率占治疗眼数的78.2％)。眼底病变好转或稳定,视力有提高,随访时间1—3年。结论:氩激光或配合巩膜外冷凝方法治疗Coat's病的效果是肯定的。一经诊断为Coat's病,只要患眼有一定的视功能,就应该及时给予光凝或光凝加巩膜外冷凝治疗,这对于防止病情进一步恶化,保存患眼一定的视功能具有重要意义。眼科学报1996;12:199～201。

ADVANCES OF EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON ACUPUNCTURE AND MOXIBUSTION FOR TREATMENT OF WOMEN'S CLIMACTERIC SYNDROME

To introduce the advances of experimental research on acupuncture and moxibustion for treatment of Women＇s Climacteric Syndrome.The recent years experimental research literature of acupuncture and moxibustion for treatment of Women＇s Climacteric Syndrome were reviewed.The research literatures on acupuncture treatment were major,focusing on the field of acupuncture and moxibustion regulating hypothalamic-pituitary-gonad axis and nerval-endocritic-immune net.Acupuncture and moxibustion could regulate the endocrine environment of menopausal women.Taking advantage of combination biomedicine with multi-sciences,to improve the acupuncture and moxibustion curative effct and probe the mechanism of menopausal pathology and acupuncture and moxibustion function to Women＇s Climacteric Syndrome,is the research direction afterward.

以纤维化为结局的Coat's病1例

患者，男性，24岁，于2004年12月23日因“右眼闪光感，视力下降1周”就诊。视力：右眼0．02，不能矫正，左眼0．06，矫正1．0。眼压：双眼12．5mmHg。眼底：右眼视盘及血管周围网膜可见大量渗出，水肿，浅脱离。FFA示：右眼造影早期见视盘颞下方血管异常，呈小球状扩张，迅速出现荧光素渗漏，视盘上下荧光融合成大片状，网膜前出血呈荧光遮蔽，黄斑下6PD范围渐呈低水平荧光积存，边界清楚。

Women＇s speech in variation studies

It is demonstrated by sociolinguistic variation studies that women are more likely than men to use standard speech. This paper reviews the operational methods and analytical means of classic quantitative studies in this field, intending to provide guidance and enlightenment for relevant studies and verifications in the context of Chinese culture.

The Women Characters of the 1930s in the Chinese TV Serials

The women of the 1930s in the Chinese TV serials deduct inspiring stories.They play different roles in the big wealthy families such as mothers-in-law,daughters-in-law,and maidservants.There are unceasing conflicts between these women,because of their struggle for men's love,wealth or social position.The theme of their stories is always about fertility,love,kindness and evil,with the ending being either comic or tragic.The stories of various kinds of women of the 1930s in the Chinese TV serials decorate and enrich the lives of many of us latecomers and their names are passed on from generation to generation.

Measurement of Young's Modulus and Poisson's Ratio of Thermal Barrier Coatings

In gas turbines, thermal barrier coatings （TBCs） applied by air plasma spraying are widely used to lower the temperature of hot components. To analyze the characteristics of TBCs such as residual stress, bond strength, fracture toughness, and crack propagation ratio, the Young＇s modulus and Poisson＇s ratio are important parameters. For TBC is a brittle and thin film, it is desirable to evaluate those properties while the coatings are bonded to a substrate. An atmospheric plasma spray MCrAIY bond coat and Yttria stabilized zirconia （YSZ） top coat are deposited onto a nickel-base superalloy GH150 substrate. The Young＇s modulus and Poisson＇s ratio are measured by cantilever beam bending with NDI. The method will be developed to test the Young＇ s modulus and Poisson ratio of other multilayer systems.

Prediction and optimization of process variables to maximize the Young’s modulus of plasma sprayed alumina coatings on AZ31B magnesium alloy

Like other manufacturing techniques,plasma spraying has also a non-linear behavior because of the contribution of many coating variables.This characteristic results in finding optimal factor combination difficult.Subsequently,the issue can be solved through effective and strategic statistical procedures integrated with systematic experimental data.Plasma spray parameters such as power,stand-off distance and powder feed rate have significant influence on coating characteristics like Young’s modulus.This paper presents the use of statistical techniques in specifically response surface methodology(RSM),analysis of variance,and regression analysis to develop empirical relationship to predict Young’s modulus of plasma-sprayed alumina coatings.The developed empirical relationships can be effectively used to predict Young’s modulus of plasma-sprayed alumina coatings at 95%confidence level.Response graphs and contour plots were constructed to identify the optimum plasma spray parameters to attain maximum Young’s modulus in alumina coatings.A linear regression relationship was established between porosity and Young’s modulus of the alumina coatings.

Kinetic Study of SiO_2/S Coating Deposition by APCVD

To alleviate catalytic coking on the inner surface of radiant tube for ethylene production in petrochemical plants,SiO2/S coatings were deposited on HP40 alloy specimens using dimethyldisulfide （DMDS） and tetraethoxysilane （TEOS） by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition （APCVD）. A two-dimension mathematical model was made to predict the growth rate of SiO2/S coating and to study the effects of deposition parameters on the deposition rate. The results show that the predicted deposition rate is in good agreement with the experimental one. The deposition rate mainly depends on the concentrations of precursors in the total gas flow, concentrations of intermediates on the deposition surface, total gas flow rate and deposition temperature. The weight of SiO2/S coating linearly increases with the deposition time. When the gas flow rate is below 0.3 m/s, the rate-limiting step of SiO2/S coating deposition is the diffusions of intermediates.However, the surface reactions of intermediates will be the rate-limiting step after the gas flow rate is above 0.3 m/s. When the deposition temperature is below 780℃, the rate-limiting step of SiO2/S coating deposition mainly depends on the surface reactions of intermediates. When the deposition temperature is above 780℃,the rate-limiting step depends on the diffusions of intermediates. The deposition rate increases with increasing the concentrations of the intermediates. However, when the partial pressures of the intermediates reach 8 Pa,the deposition rate keeps constant.

Patterns of medication use for the treatment of menopausal symptoms before and after the women’s health initiative;implications for decision-making practices of women and women’s health professionals

Background: The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) published findings in 2002 that changed the perception of the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for the reduction of cardiovascular risks. Menopausal women using HRT for the relief of vasomotor symptoms were advised to use the lowest possible dose of HRT over the shortest possible duration. Objective: This study sought to examine patterns of HRT use for the treatment of menopausal symptoms before and after the WHI among women at least 40 years of age. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on a total of 1367 women in the pre-WHI group and 6467 women in the post-WHI group using the U.S. General Electric (GE) Centricity electronic medical record database. Menopause diagnosis was assessed using ICD-9 codes. Clinical characteristics and medication use were assessed for women with at least 3 years of enrollment (1 year baseline, 2 years follow-up). Results: The proportion of women in the post-WHI group that initiated HRT was significantly less than that of women in the pre-WHI group (31.3% vs. 56.9%, respectively;p < 0.001). Combination HRT use declined significantly (21.9% pre-WHI cohort vs. 7.2% post- WHI cohort, p < 0.001) among increases in non-HRT use, namely SSRIs (15.2% pre-WHI cohort v. 22.3% post-WHI cohort, p < 0.001) and tranquilizers (9.5% pre-WHI cohort v. 15.8% post-WHI cohort, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The results of the WHI 2002 publication made an impression on the perception of HRT’s role in the relief of menopausal symptoms. Decision-making on the part of women seeking treatment for vasomotor symptoms and women’s health professionals demonstrates that despite HRT precautions, women continue to exhibit a need for HRT use. This study’s findings suggest that women seeking treatment for menopausal symptom relief and women’s health professionals continue to work together to find the appropriate balance between therapy use and adherence to therapy use guidelines.

ZnS coating of cathode facilitates lean‐electrolyte Li‐S batteries

Tremendous effort has been devoted to lithium‐sulfur batteries,where flooded electrolytes have been employed ubiquitously.The use of lean electrolytes albeit indispensable for practical applications often causes low capacity and fast capacity fading of the sulfur cathode;thus,the electrolyte/sulfur active mass ratios below 5μL/mg have been rarely reported.Herein,we demonstrate that ZnS coating transforms sulfur cathode materials electrolyte‐philic,which tremendously promotes the performance in lean electrolytes.The ZnS‐coated Li2S@graphene cathode delivers an initial discharge capacity of 944mAh/g at an E/S ratio of 2μL/mg at the active mass loading of 5.0 mg Li2S/cm^2,corresponding to an impressive specific energy of 500Wh/kg based on the mass of cathode,electrolyte,and the assumed minimal mass of lithium metal anode.Density functional theory calculations reveal strong binding between ZnS crystals and electrolyte solvent molecules,explaining the better wetting properties.We also demonstrate the reversible cycling of a hybrid cathode of ZnS‐coated Li2S@graphene mixed with VS2 as an additive at an E/AM(active mass)ratio of 1.1μL/mg,equivalent to the specific energy of 432 Wh/kg on the basis of the mass of electrodes and electrolyte.

Influence of group B streptococcus and vaginal cleanliness on the vaginal microbiome of pregnant women

BACKGROUND The vaginal microbiome plays a critical role in the health of pregnant women and their newborns.Group B Streptococcus(GBS)and vaginal cleanliness significantly affect the vaginal microecosystem and are closely associated with vaginal diseases.AIM To explore the effects of GBS status and vaginal cleanliness on vaginal microecosystems.METHODS We collected 160 vaginal swabs from pregnant women and divided them into the following four groups based on GBS status and vaginal cleanliness:GBS-positive+vaginal cleanliness I–II degree,GBS-negative+vaginal cleanliness I–II degree,GBS-positive+vaginal cleanliness III–IV degree,and GBS-negative+vaginal cleanliness III–IV degree.Samples were subjected to 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.RESULTS Alpha diversity analysis showed that the Shannon index did not significantly differ between the four groups.We identified significant variation in taxa abundance between the GBS-positive and GBS-negative groups and between the vaginal cleanliness I–II degree and III–IV degree groups.Principal coordinate analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis further confirmed the microbial diversity of the four groups.Moreover,the linear discriminant analysis demonstrated that Lactobacillus jensenii and Actinobacteria were strongly associated with GBS-positive status,and Lactobacillus iners,Lactobacillaceae,Lactobacillus,Lactobacillales,Bacilli and Firmicutes were closely correlated with GBS-negative status.CONCLUSION GBS status and vaginal cleanliness significantly affect vaginal microbiome differences in pregnant women.Our findings provide instructional information for clinical antibiotic treatment in pregnant women with different GBS statuses and vaginal cleanliness degrees.

Impact of the Changes in Women’s Characteristics over Time on Antenatal Health Care Utilization in Egypt (2000-2008)

Objectives: This study empirically assesses the impact of the changes in women’s characteristics, empowerment, availability and quality of health services on woman’s decision to use antenatal care (ANC) and the frequency of that use during the period 2000-2008. Study Design: The study is a cross-sectional analytical study using 2000 and 2008 Egypt Demographic and Health Surveys. Methods: The assessment of the studied impact is conducted using the Zero-inflated Negative Binomial Regression. In addition, Factor Analysis technique is used to construct some of the explanatory variables such as women’s empowerment, the availability and quality of health services indicators. Results: Utilization of antenatal health care services is greatly improved from 2000 to 2008. Availability of health services is one of the main determinants that affect the number of antenatal care visits in 2008. Wealth index and quality of health services play an important role in raising the level of antenatal care utilization in 2000 and 2008. However, the impact of the terminated pregnancy on receiving ANC increased over time. Conclusions: Further research of the determinants of antenatal health care utilization is needed, using more updated measures of women’s empowerment, availability and quality of health services. In order to improve the provision of antenatal health care services, it is important to understand barriers to antenatal health care utilization. Therefore, it is advisable to collect information from women about the reasons for not receiving antenatal care.

Women＇s Cooperatives Contributions to Local Region Economy： Seferihisar Agricultural Cooperative Development Model-Turkey

The cooperative movement has played a very important role in the social and economic development of all countries since 19th eentury＇s second half. Cooperatives provide health, housing, and banking services; they promote education and gender equality; they protect the environment and workers＇ rights. According to 2014＇s data, the total number of cooperatives is 79,486 in Turkey, while the total number of partners of cooperatives is approximately 7.8 million. The research＇s sample group ＂Hidirlik Agricultural Development Cooperative＂ was founded by the wife of the Seferihisar＇s mayor and six women. It has been a subject of curiousity that the contributions of the cooperative have developed the economy of the region since 2010. Therefore, various questions asked to the president and members of the cooperative, and significant results were obtained. In this research ＂Interview technique＂ was used. The fact that within the boundaries of local governments, the establishment of ＂women＇s cooperatives＂ and their active management can be supported with 10 basic criteria for the regional and national development can be predicted. These dimensions： ecological balance and sensitivity, the revival of the tourism sector, the mobility of logistics activities, new investments and increase of land value, the increase of women employment, the increase of healthy living standards, increase of competitiveness and trade earnings, the creation of new brands, widespread of the agricultural sector, and the increase of social and educational level of women. The similiar implementation of ＂Seferihisar Women＇s Cooperatives Model＂ in the research is considered form an important enterprenurship model not only in Turkey but also for all countries.

Women with overweight, mixed hyperlipidemia, intolerance to glucose and diastolic hypertension

Primarily healthy women who attended a practice of General Medicine were examined and coded data were evaluated using two statistical methods (n = 248, aged 36 ± 14 years). It was found that participants with LDL-related (mixed) hyperlipidemia showed higher blood pressure, a higher proportion of alcohol problems and/or smoking compared to normolipidemic women (p ≤ 0.05). These hyperlipidemic women who reported alcohol problems and/or smoking more often showed proteinuria and/or hematuria, rise of LDL/HDL, critical fasting blood glucose and lower HDL-cholesterol compared to hyperlipidemic women reporting healthy lifestyle (p ≤ 0.05). Likewise, high triglycerides were associated with rise of blood pressure and intolerance to glucose (p ≤ 0.05) and also with elevated total cholesterol. Alcohol-related hypertriglyceridemia overlapped with diastolic hypertension, rise of body weight and urine pathology, lowering of HDL-cholesterol and critical fasting blood glucose. The motivating message was that women with mixed hyperlipidemia and healthy lifestyle had functionally renal endothelium and healthy HDL-related baseline measures. Altogether, LDL-related hyperlipidemia and/or high triglycerides were correlated with diastolic hypertension whereby critical alcohol consumption declined renal endothelium and lowered HDL-cholesterol implicating baseline strategies to neutralize early risk factors.

Studies on electroless Ni-P-Cr_2O_3 and Ni-P-SiO_2 composite coatings

本文对化学镀镍及化学镀镍磷基质中SiO2与Cr2O3的共沉积进行了研究。微粒在不断生长的膜层中共沉积引起了新的化学复合镀层的出现,这些复合镀层许多都具有优异的耐磨及耐蚀性能。通过选取镀层合金/复合微粒/金属基体的组分可改进镀层,获得所需的性能,以满足特别的需求。在对这些复合镀层的应用需求正在迫近与增长的同时,其市场正在迅速扩张。本文开发出了一种合适的复合化学镀镍液,并通过维氏硬度法对化学复合镀镍层进行了表征。采用动电位极化及交流阻抗法测定了镀层的Taber耐磨性能及耐蚀性能。采用SEM及XRD对复合镀层的表面形貌进行了分析。

Women’s Motivation and Associated Factors for Herbal Medicine Use during Pregnancy and Childbirth: A Systematic Review

Background: Herbal medicines use has prevailed over the past decades in both low-middle-income and high-income countries over the years. The use among women has increased with increased risks of ill-health. There is extensive literature on herbal medicine use among women in pre/pregnancy, labour, and the postpartum periods. Therefore, this study aimed to understand women’s purposes, experiences, and motivation for using herbal medicines during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum, and the experiences associated with the use. Methods: Four critical databases were predetermined and searched: CINAHL, Medline, Web of Science, and EMBASE. These databases were chosen for their comprehensiveness and relevance to the review aims. We considered peer-reviewed published articles from January 2000 to December 2018. We chose these databases because we found that they are dominant in the medical and healthcare-related literature. All references were pooled to Endnote reference management software for screening. Quality appraisal of articles was conducted using the Mixed-Method Assessment Tool (MMAT). Content analysis approach was used to extra the data from the articles. Globally, twenty-one articles met the inclusion criteria, and thus, formed the dataset for this review. Results: Most articles (n = 10, 47.6%) reported solely HM uses on only pregnancy whiles the rest evaluated HM uses in labour, pre-pregnancy, and the postpartum periods. The results have shown that the majority of women received information about HM from friends, family, the “black markets,” and drug outlets. Overall, the results were presented in seven broad themes: 1) sociodemographic characteristics of HM users, 2) perceived threat of health problem, 3) sources and quality of the information received, 4) susceptibility to health complications, 5) potential limitations to the use of HM, 6) the motivation for HM utilization, 7) concerns on the combined use of herbal and allopathic medicines. Conclusion: The study recommends the further research into the toxicity of herbal products, to ensure that accurate information can be provided to women before use.

Study on Tongue Coating Microbiota in Patients with Atrophic Gastritis

Aims: To explore the tongue coating microbiota composition in patients with atrophic gastritis by using the 16S rRNA gene sequencing technology. Methods: The study included 29 atrophic gastritis patients and 29 age and gender-matched non-atrophic gastritis controls. By sequencing the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA, we investigated the microbial community structure and diversity on the tongue coating. Results: There was no significant difference in the microbial diversity on the tongue coating between the two groups. However, compared with the control, the atrophic gastritis group had a smaller number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs). At the class level, patients with atrophic gastritis had lower relative abundances of Betaproteobacteria and Spirochaetia than the control group. At the gene level, the abundance of Neisseria and Aggregatibacter in atrophic gastritis group had significantly decreased compared with control ones. Furthermore, functional prediction revealed that 24 metabolic pathways significantly differed between the two groups. Conclusions: Our findings provide novel evidence that tongue coating microbiota may be a biomarker for characterizing patient with atrophic gastritis, but its mechanism needs to be further elaborated.