Reintroduction of captive-bred animals into suitable habitats is an important technique for the long-term conservation and recovery of populations of endangered species in fragmented landscapes.Inbreeding depression i...Reintroduction of captive-bred animals into suitable habitats is an important technique for the long-term conservation and recovery of populations of endangered species in fragmented landscapes.Inbreeding depression is an inherent risk when using captive populations for reintroduction programs and needs to be carefully assessed prior to reintroduction.In this study,we evaluated inbreeding levels within a captive breeding program and one remnant wild population of Cabot's Tragopan (Tragopan caboti),an endangered pheasant species endemic to China,for which reintroduction is now an essential conservation strategy for long-term population persistence.Fifteen highly polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed to genotype individuals.Inbreeding coefficients (FIS) reveal that there is no evidence of inbreeding within the Tragopan Breeding Center of Beijing Normal University (TBCBNU) captive population and the remnant population from the Wuyi-Yandang Mountains.Diversity of origin,large founder population size and a rational breeding strategy are the most critical factors preventing inbreeding depression within the TBCBNU captive population.We suggest that the TBCBNU population is a suitable candidate stock for T.caboti reintroduction programs and that there is an urgent need to better coordinate and strengthen reproduction management of captive T.caboti populations to sustain the long-term ex situ conservation of the species.展开更多
Objectives:Competence motivates newly employed nurses to provide high-quality care,which leads to appropriate patient care and satisfaction.A nursing orientation program can have a positive impact on new nurses who ar...Objectives:Competence motivates newly employed nurses to provide high-quality care,which leads to appropriate patient care and satisfaction.A nursing orientation program can have a positive impact on new nurses who are joining healthcare organizations.The research examined the orientation program for new nurses in a multicultural setting to redesign the program.Methods:The study was carried out in a multicultural tertiary setting.Action research was used as a research strategy with qualitative content analysis and quantitative evaluation.Seventy nurses were part of the orientation program.The competence of the nurses was assessed using the Nurse Competence Scale.Focus-group discussions were also conducted to find the views of the beneficiaries about the program.Results:The study revealed that the overall competence was high,and there was an overall gain in the competence score(5.48%)among the nurses.Among their competence in different dimensions,new nurses had a maximum gain in competence for the dimension of ensuring quality.However,they showed low competence gain in teaching coaching.The results show that the difference in the overall pre-and post-test scores was statistically significant(P<0.05)in all dimensions except teaching coaching and managing situations,and the program was effective.However,a few challenges were identified in the program.Conclusions:New nurses were found to be competent,and the orientation program had a significant impact on the competence of the nurses.The findings emphasized the need for modification of some content and strategy for future programs.The strategies developed from the findings were presented.This helps hospitals to consider examining specific aspects of the orientation program and redesigning it so it can enrich the experiences of new nurses.展开更多
A new structure of next generation integrated communication system was proposed, which is composed of space segment based on satellites and terrestrial segment. Moreover, the characteristics of enhanced multiple acces...A new structure of next generation integrated communication system was proposed, which is composed of space segment based on satellites and terrestrial segment. Moreover, the characteristics of enhanced multiple access schemes based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technique were analyzed for satellite links. However, OFDM is a doubtful candidate as its higher peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) that causes the distortion of high power amplifier (HPA). Furthermore, different schemes were evaluated and compared in terms of the HPA nonlinearity and the link level performance in detail. And the pilot-aided channel estimation and equalization techniques were also considered for analyzing the problem. Simulation results show that the bit error rate (BER) and block error rate (BLER) performance of orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) outperforms that of single carrier-frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) for the satellite links in the proposed structure, though discrete Fourier transform-spread OFDM DFT-S OFDM has low PAPR, especially the BER performance of OFDMA is 3.6 dB larger than that of SC-FDMA at the target BER.展开更多
The WHO World Health Assembly, and the most recent WHO World Health Report, have called for all health systems to move toward universal coverage. However, low-income countries have made little progress in this respect...The WHO World Health Assembly, and the most recent WHO World Health Report, have called for all health systems to move toward universal coverage. However, low-income countries have made little progress in this respect. We use existing evidence to describe the evolution of community-based health insurance in low-income countries through the three stages of basic model, enhanced model, and nationwide model. We have concluded that community-based health insurance development is a potential strategy to meet the urgent need for health financing in low-income countries. With careful planning and implementation, it is possible to adopt such evolutionary approach to achieve universal coverage by extending tax-based financing/social insurance characteristics to community-based health insurance schemes.展开更多
AIM: To investigate the effect of reducing dietary fiber on patients with idiopathic constipation. METHODS: Sixty-three cases of idiopathic constipation presenting between May 2008 and May 2010 were enrolled into the ...AIM: To investigate the effect of reducing dietary fiber on patients with idiopathic constipation. METHODS: Sixty-three cases of idiopathic constipation presenting between May 2008 and May 2010 were enrolled into the study after colonoscopy excluded an organic cause of the constipation. Patients with previous colon surgery or a medical cause of their constipation were excluded. All patients were given an explanation on the role of fiber in the gastrointestinal tract. They were then asked to go on a no fiber diet for 2 wk. Thereafter, they were asked to reduce the amount of dietary fiber intake to a level that they found acceptable. Dietary fiber intake, symptoms of constipation, difficulty in evacuation of stools, anal bleeding, abdominal bloating or abdominal pain were recorded at 1 and 6 mo. RESULTS: The median age of the patients (16 male, 47 female) was 47 years (range, 20-80 years). At 6 mo, 41 patients remained on a no fiber diet, 16 on a reduced fiber diet, and 6 resumed their high fiber diet for religious or personal reasons. Patients who stopped or reduced dietary fiber had significant improvement in their symp-toms while those who continued on a high fiber diet had no change. Of those who stopped fiber completely, the bowel frequency increased from one motion in 3.75 d (± 1.59 d) to one motion in 1.0 d (± 0.0 d) (P < 0.001); those with reduced fiber intake had increased bowel frequency from a mean of one motion per 4.19 d (± 2.09 d) to one motion per 1.9 d (± 1.21 d) on a reduced fiber diet (P < 0.001); those who remained on a high fiber diet continued to have a mean of one motion per 6.83 d (± 1.03 d) before and after consultation. For no fiber, reduced fiber and high fiber groups, respectively, symptoms of bloating were present in 0%, 31.3% and 100% (P < 0.001) and straining to pass stools occurred in 0%, 43.8% and 100% (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Idiopathic constipation and its associated symptoms can be effectively reduced by stopping or even lowering the intake of dietary fiber.展开更多
The Family Stipend Program （Bolsa Famflia--BF） has been implemented since 2003 as the main strategy to face poverty in Brazil. Its benefit is the transfer of income to poor and extremely poor families as well as to ...The Family Stipend Program （Bolsa Famflia--BF） has been implemented since 2003 as the main strategy to face poverty in Brazil. Its benefit is the transfer of income to poor and extremely poor families as well as to articulate the monetary income transfer with some structural policies, mainly education, health, and work. The BF has already reached almost 14 million of families and is implemented in all the 5,545 Brazilian municipalities, i.e. about ~ of the Brazilian population. The program requires the fulfillment of some conditionalities in the field of education and health, such as： enrollment and attendance of the children and adolescents in school; children must get basic health care; and pregnant women must receive prenatal care. The BF is considered in Brazil, according to Eduardo Suplicy＇s Law Bill 266/2001 sanctioned by President Lula on ]anuary 8 of 2004, as the first step towards creating a Citizenship Basic Income. The goal of this proposal is to present and to problematize the recent political and economic post Lula and Dilma Administrations situation in order to demonstrate the climate of regression in the social protection programs and the dismantling of the same social rights already conquered by the worker class and the poor population. Among the programs to be mentioned is the BF. The intention is to highlight the economic situation of a long recession and rise in unemployment rates besides the decrease of the workers＇ income and the repression of social movements, in order to develop an analysis of the BF in this context.展开更多
Objective To study the improvement of infarcted myocardial contractile force after autologous skeletal muscle satellite cell implantation via intracoronary arterial perfusion. Methods Skeletal muscle cells were harves...Objective To study the improvement of infarcted myocardial contractile force after autologous skeletal muscle satellite cell implantation via intracoronary arterial perfusion. Methods Skeletal muscle cells were harvested from gluteus max of adult mongrel dogs and the cells were cultured and expanded before being labeled with DAPI (4’, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindone). The labeled cells were then implanted into the acute myocardial infarct site via the ligated left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery. Specimens were taken at 2nd, 4th, 8th week after myoblast implantation for histologic and contractile force evaluation, respectively. Results The satellite cells with fluorescence had been observed in the infarct site and also in papi- llary muscle with consistent oriented direction of host myocardium. A portion of the implanted cells had differen- tiated into muscle fibers. Two weeks after implantation, the myocardial contractile force showed no significant difference between the cell implant group and control group. At 4 and 8 week, the contractile force in the cell implant group was better than that in control group. Conclusion The skeletal muscle satellite cells, implanted into infarct myocardium by intracoronary arterial perfusion, could disseminate through the entire infarcted zone with myocardial regeneration and improve the contractile function of the infarcted myocardium.展开更多
基金supported by the National Key Technology R & D Program of China (No. 2008BAC39B05)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30670289)
文摘Reintroduction of captive-bred animals into suitable habitats is an important technique for the long-term conservation and recovery of populations of endangered species in fragmented landscapes.Inbreeding depression is an inherent risk when using captive populations for reintroduction programs and needs to be carefully assessed prior to reintroduction.In this study,we evaluated inbreeding levels within a captive breeding program and one remnant wild population of Cabot's Tragopan (Tragopan caboti),an endangered pheasant species endemic to China,for which reintroduction is now an essential conservation strategy for long-term population persistence.Fifteen highly polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed to genotype individuals.Inbreeding coefficients (FIS) reveal that there is no evidence of inbreeding within the Tragopan Breeding Center of Beijing Normal University (TBCBNU) captive population and the remnant population from the Wuyi-Yandang Mountains.Diversity of origin,large founder population size and a rational breeding strategy are the most critical factors preventing inbreeding depression within the TBCBNU captive population.We suggest that the TBCBNU population is a suitable candidate stock for T.caboti reintroduction programs and that there is an urgent need to better coordinate and strengthen reproduction management of captive T.caboti populations to sustain the long-term ex situ conservation of the species.
基金The study was supported by a grant from the research center at King Fahad Medical City under RFA:018—049,and this did not influence the results of the study.
文摘Objectives:Competence motivates newly employed nurses to provide high-quality care,which leads to appropriate patient care and satisfaction.A nursing orientation program can have a positive impact on new nurses who are joining healthcare organizations.The research examined the orientation program for new nurses in a multicultural setting to redesign the program.Methods:The study was carried out in a multicultural tertiary setting.Action research was used as a research strategy with qualitative content analysis and quantitative evaluation.Seventy nurses were part of the orientation program.The competence of the nurses was assessed using the Nurse Competence Scale.Focus-group discussions were also conducted to find the views of the beneficiaries about the program.Results:The study revealed that the overall competence was high,and there was an overall gain in the competence score(5.48%)among the nurses.Among their competence in different dimensions,new nurses had a maximum gain in competence for the dimension of ensuring quality.However,they showed low competence gain in teaching coaching.The results show that the difference in the overall pre-and post-test scores was statistically significant(P<0.05)in all dimensions except teaching coaching and managing situations,and the program was effective.However,a few challenges were identified in the program.Conclusions:New nurses were found to be competent,and the orientation program had a significant impact on the competence of the nurses.The findings emphasized the need for modification of some content and strategy for future programs.The strategies developed from the findings were presented.This helps hospitals to consider examining specific aspects of the orientation program and redesigning it so it can enrich the experiences of new nurses.
基金Project(60532030) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
文摘A new structure of next generation integrated communication system was proposed, which is composed of space segment based on satellites and terrestrial segment. Moreover, the characteristics of enhanced multiple access schemes based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technique were analyzed for satellite links. However, OFDM is a doubtful candidate as its higher peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) that causes the distortion of high power amplifier (HPA). Furthermore, different schemes were evaluated and compared in terms of the HPA nonlinearity and the link level performance in detail. And the pilot-aided channel estimation and equalization techniques were also considered for analyzing the problem. Simulation results show that the bit error rate (BER) and block error rate (BLER) performance of orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) outperforms that of single carrier-frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) for the satellite links in the proposed structure, though discrete Fourier transform-spread OFDM DFT-S OFDM has low PAPR, especially the BER performance of OFDMA is 3.6 dB larger than that of SC-FDMA at the target BER.
文摘The WHO World Health Assembly, and the most recent WHO World Health Report, have called for all health systems to move toward universal coverage. However, low-income countries have made little progress in this respect. We use existing evidence to describe the evolution of community-based health insurance in low-income countries through the three stages of basic model, enhanced model, and nationwide model. We have concluded that community-based health insurance development is a potential strategy to meet the urgent need for health financing in low-income countries. With careful planning and implementation, it is possible to adopt such evolutionary approach to achieve universal coverage by extending tax-based financing/social insurance characteristics to community-based health insurance schemes.
文摘AIM: To investigate the effect of reducing dietary fiber on patients with idiopathic constipation. METHODS: Sixty-three cases of idiopathic constipation presenting between May 2008 and May 2010 were enrolled into the study after colonoscopy excluded an organic cause of the constipation. Patients with previous colon surgery or a medical cause of their constipation were excluded. All patients were given an explanation on the role of fiber in the gastrointestinal tract. They were then asked to go on a no fiber diet for 2 wk. Thereafter, they were asked to reduce the amount of dietary fiber intake to a level that they found acceptable. Dietary fiber intake, symptoms of constipation, difficulty in evacuation of stools, anal bleeding, abdominal bloating or abdominal pain were recorded at 1 and 6 mo. RESULTS: The median age of the patients (16 male, 47 female) was 47 years (range, 20-80 years). At 6 mo, 41 patients remained on a no fiber diet, 16 on a reduced fiber diet, and 6 resumed their high fiber diet for religious or personal reasons. Patients who stopped or reduced dietary fiber had significant improvement in their symp-toms while those who continued on a high fiber diet had no change. Of those who stopped fiber completely, the bowel frequency increased from one motion in 3.75 d (± 1.59 d) to one motion in 1.0 d (± 0.0 d) (P < 0.001); those with reduced fiber intake had increased bowel frequency from a mean of one motion per 4.19 d (± 2.09 d) to one motion per 1.9 d (± 1.21 d) on a reduced fiber diet (P < 0.001); those who remained on a high fiber diet continued to have a mean of one motion per 6.83 d (± 1.03 d) before and after consultation. For no fiber, reduced fiber and high fiber groups, respectively, symptoms of bloating were present in 0%, 31.3% and 100% (P < 0.001) and straining to pass stools occurred in 0%, 43.8% and 100% (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Idiopathic constipation and its associated symptoms can be effectively reduced by stopping or even lowering the intake of dietary fiber.
文摘The Family Stipend Program （Bolsa Famflia--BF） has been implemented since 2003 as the main strategy to face poverty in Brazil. Its benefit is the transfer of income to poor and extremely poor families as well as to articulate the monetary income transfer with some structural policies, mainly education, health, and work. The BF has already reached almost 14 million of families and is implemented in all the 5,545 Brazilian municipalities, i.e. about ~ of the Brazilian population. The program requires the fulfillment of some conditionalities in the field of education and health, such as： enrollment and attendance of the children and adolescents in school; children must get basic health care; and pregnant women must receive prenatal care. The BF is considered in Brazil, according to Eduardo Suplicy＇s Law Bill 266/2001 sanctioned by President Lula on ]anuary 8 of 2004, as the first step towards creating a Citizenship Basic Income. The goal of this proposal is to present and to problematize the recent political and economic post Lula and Dilma Administrations situation in order to demonstrate the climate of regression in the social protection programs and the dismantling of the same social rights already conquered by the worker class and the poor population. Among the programs to be mentioned is the BF. The intention is to highlight the economic situation of a long recession and rise in unemployment rates besides the decrease of the workers＇ income and the repression of social movements, in order to develop an analysis of the BF in this context.
文摘Objective To study the improvement of infarcted myocardial contractile force after autologous skeletal muscle satellite cell implantation via intracoronary arterial perfusion. Methods Skeletal muscle cells were harvested from gluteus max of adult mongrel dogs and the cells were cultured and expanded before being labeled with DAPI (4’, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindone). The labeled cells were then implanted into the acute myocardial infarct site via the ligated left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery. Specimens were taken at 2nd, 4th, 8th week after myoblast implantation for histologic and contractile force evaluation, respectively. Results The satellite cells with fluorescence had been observed in the infarct site and also in papi- llary muscle with consistent oriented direction of host myocardium. A portion of the implanted cells had differen- tiated into muscle fibers. Two weeks after implantation, the myocardial contractile force showed no significant difference between the cell implant group and control group. At 4 and 8 week, the contractile force in the cell implant group was better than that in control group. Conclusion The skeletal muscle satellite cells, implanted into infarct myocardium by intracoronary arterial perfusion, could disseminate through the entire infarcted zone with myocardial regeneration and improve the contractile function of the infarcted myocardium.
