Cardiovascular disease in chinese women: An emerging high-risk population and implications for nursing practice

Globally, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among women. In China, the burden of CVD is increasing at an alarming rate; yet, it is underestimated and has important primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention issues. AIM:: This article seeks to document the issues surrounding the increased rate of CVD among Chinese women and describe the etiological factors and potential strategies to decrease the burden of disease. METHODS:: The Medline, Current Information in Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Ovid, Science Direct, and Government Reports were searched using the key words heart disease, cardiovascular, ischemic heart disease, coronary, women, and Chin (China, Chinese). Articles were selected if they described epidemiological factors and/or interventions to address heart disease in Chinese women. FINDINGS:: Rapid industrialization and urbanization in China have extended the life expectancy of the population, particularly among women. Social, political, and economic factors have caused lifestyle changes that have a direct bearing on health. Heart disease has become the most common cause of death among Chinese women and the second most common cause among men. Paradoxically, prevention and management strategies are sparse in relation to the high prevalence. A number of modifiable risk factors have been identified as major contributors of CVD and should be a focus of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. CONCLUSION:: Cardiovascular disease is already a leading cause of death and disability among Chinese women. The high prevalence of risk factors and low rate of awareness, treatment, and control signal an urgent need for focusing on this issue in Chinese women. Strategies on individual, community, and government levels are recommended. Involving Chinese nurses in these strategies is essential. © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Giant schwannoma of thoracic vertebra: A case report

BACKGROUND,It is relatively rare for schwannomas to invade bone, but it is very rare for a large,mass to form concurrently in the paravertebral region. Surgical resection is the,only effective treatment. Because of the extensive tumor involvement and the,many important surrounding structures, the tumor needs to be fully exposed.,Most of the tumors are completely removed by posterior combined open-heart,surgery to relieve spinal cord compression, restore the stability of the spine and,maximize the recovery of nerve and spinal cord function. The main objective of,this article is to present a schwannoma that had invaded the T5 and T6 vertebral,bodies and formed a large paravertebral mass with simultaneous invasion of the,spinal canal and compression of the spinal cord.,CASE SUMMARY,A 40-year-old female suffered from intermittent chest and back pain for 8 years.,Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans showed a,paravertebral tumor of approximately 86 mm × 109 mm × 116 mm, where the,adjacent T5 and T6 vertebral bodies were invaded by the tumor, the right intervertebral,foramen was enlarged, and the tumor had invaded the spinal canal to,compress the thoracic medulla. The preoperative puncture biopsy diagnosed a,benign schwannoma. Complete resection of the tumor was achieved by a two-step,operation. In the first step, the thoracic surgeon adopted a lateral approach to,separate the thoracic tumor from the lung. In the second step, a spine surgeon,performed a posterior midline approach to dissect the tumor from the vertebral,junction through removal of the tumor from the posterior side and further,resection of the entire T5 and T6 vertebral bodies. The large bone defect was,reconstructed with titanium mesh, and the posterior root arch was nail-fixed. Due,to the large amount of intraoperative bleeding, we performed tumor angioembolization,before surgery to reduce and avoid large intraoperative bleeding. The,postoperative diagnosis of benign schwannoma was confirmed by histochemical,examination. There was no sign of tumor recurrence or spinal instability during,the 2-year follow-up.,CONCLUSION,Giant schwannoma is uncommon. In this case, a complete surgical resection of a,giant thoracic nerve sheath tumor that invaded part of the vertebral body and,compressed the spinal cord was safe and effective

Health-seeking beliefs of cardiovascular patients: A qualitative study

Objectives: The study aims were to (a) describe the experiences of Chinese Australians with heart disease following discharge from hospital for an acute cardiac event; (b) identify patterns and cultural differences of Chinese Australians following discharge from hospital; and (c) illustrate the illness/health seeking behaviors and health beliefs of Chinese Australians. Design: Qualitative study. Methods: Interview data were obtained from the following sources: (a) focus groups of Chinese community participants without heart disease; (b) interviews with patients recently discharged from hospital following an admission for an acute cardiac event; and (c) interviews with Chinese-born health professionals working in Australia. Qualitative thematic analysis was undertaken. Results: Study themes generated from the data were: (1) linking traditional values and beliefs with Western medicine; (2) reverence for health professionals and family; and (3) juxtaposing traditional beliefs and self-management. Conclusions: Considering the influence of cultural values in developing health care plans and clinical decision making is important. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd

Random Lasing Action from Randomly Assembled ZnS Nanosheets

Lasing characteristics of randomly assembled ZnS nanosheets are studied at room temperature. Under 266-nm optical excitation, sharp lasing peaks emitted at around 332 nm with a linewidth less than 0.4 nm are observed in all directions. In addition, the dependence of lasing threshold intensity with the excitation area is shown in good agreement with the random laser theory. Hence, it is verified that the lasing characteristics of randomly assembled ZnS nanosheets are attributed to coherent random lasing action

Genome maps across 26 human populations reveal population-specific patterns of structural variation.

Large structural variants (SVs) in the human genome are difficult to detect and study by conventional sequencing technologies. With long-range genome analysis platforms, such as optical mapping, one can identify large SVs (>2 kb) across the genome in one experiment. Analyzing optical genome maps of 154 individuals from the 26 populations sequenced in the 1000 Genomes Project, we find that phylogenetic population patterns of large SVs are similar to those of single nucleotide variations in 86% of the human genome, while ~2% of the genome has high structural complexity. We are able to characterize SVs in many intractable regions of the genome, including segmental duplications and subtelomeric, pericentromeric, and acrocentric areas. In addition, we discover ~60 Mb of non-redundant genome content missing in the reference genome sequence assembly. Our results highlight the need for a comprehensive set of alternate haplotypes from different populations to represent SV patterns in the genome

Lasing oscillation in a three-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavity with a complete bandgap

We demonstrate lasing oscillation in a three-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavity. The laser is realized by coupling a cavity mode, which is localized in a complete photonic bandgap and exhibits the highest quality factor of ~38,500, with high-quality semiconductor quantum dots. We show a systematic change in the laser characteristics, including the threshold and the spontaneous emission coupling factor by controlling the crystal size, which consequently changes the strength of photon confinement in the third dimension. This opens up many interesting possibilities for realizing future ultimate light sources and three-dimensional integrated photonic circuits and for more fundamental studies of physics in the field of cavity quantum electrodynamics.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Improved ground-state modulation characteristics in 1.3 μm InAs/GaAs quantum dot lasers by rapid thermal annealing

We investigated the ground-state (GS) modulation characteristics of 1.3 μm InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) lasers that consist of either as-grown or annealed QDs. The choice of annealing conditions was determined from our recently reported results. With reference to the as-grown QD lasers, one obtains approximately 18% improvement in the modulation bandwidth from the annealed QD lasers. In addition, the modulation efficiency of the annealed QD lasers improves by approximately 45% as compared to the as-grown ones. The observed improvements are due to (1) the removal of defects which act as nonradiative recombination centers in the QD structure and (2) the reduction in the Auger-related recombination processes upon annealing

Enhanced electrochemical reduction of hydrogen peroxide by Co3O4 nanowire electrode

Crystalline Co3O4 nanowire arrays with different morphologies grown on Ni foam were investigated by varying the reaction temperature, the concentration of precursors, and reaction time. The Co3O4 nanowires synthesized under typical reaction condition had a diameter range of approximately 500–900 nm with a length of 17 µm. Electrochemical reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) of the optimized Co3O4 nanowire electrode was studied by cyclic voltammetry. A high current density of 101.8 mA cm−2 was obtained at −0.4 V in a solution of 0.4 M H2O2 and 3.0 M NaOH at room temperature compared to 85.8 mA cm−2 at −0.35 V of the Co3O4 nanoparticle electrode. Results clearly indicated that the Ni foam supported Co3O4 nanowire electrode exhibited superior catalytic activity and mass transport kinetics for H2O2 electrochemical reduction