Vegetative Ecological Characteristics of Restored Reed (Phragmites australis) Wetlands in the Yellow River Delta, China

In this study, we compared ecological characteristics of wetland vegetation in a series of restoration projects that were carried out in the wetlands of Yellow River Delta. The investigated characteristics include plant composition structure, species diversity and community similarity in three kinds of Phragmites australis wetlands, i.e. restored P. australis wetlands (R1, R2, R3 and R4: restored in 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2009, respectively), natural P. australis wetland (N) and degraded P. australis wetland (D) to assess the process of wetlands restoration. The coverage of the R1 was 99%, which was similar to natural wetland. Among all studied wetlands, the highest and lowest stem density was observed in R1 and R2, respectively, Plant height and stem diameter show the same trend as N > R2 > R1 > R3 > D > R4. Species diversity of restored P. australis wetlands became closed to natural wetland. Both species richness and Shannon–Wiener index had similar tendency: increased first and then decreased with restored time. The highest species richness and species diversity were observed in R2, while the lowest values of those parameters were found in natural P. australis wetland. Similarity indexes between restored wetlands and natural wetland increased with the restoration time, but they were still less than 50%. The results indicate that the vegetation of P. australis wetlands has experienced a great improvement after several years’ restoration, and it is feasible to restored degraded P. australis wetlands by pouring fresh water into those wetlands in the Yellow River Delta. However, it is notable that costal degraded P. australis wetland in this region may take years to decades to reach the status of natural wetland

Penetrating cardiac injuries: predictive model for outcomes based on 2016 patients from the National Trauma Data Bank

BACKGROUND: Penetrating cardiac injuries are uncommon and lethal. The objectives of this study are to examine the national profile of cardiac injuries, identify independent predictors of outcome, generate, compare and validate previous predictive models for outcomes. We hypothesized that National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) given its large number of patients, would validate these models. METHODS: The NTDB was queried for data on cardiac injuries, using survival as the main outcome measure. Statistical analysis was performed utilizing univariate and stepwise logistic regression. The stepwise logistic regression model was then compared with other predictive models of outcome. RESULTS: There were 2016 patients with penetrating cardiac injuries identified from 1,310,720 patients. Incidence: 0.16%. Mechanism of injury: GSWs-1264 (63%), SWs-716 (36%), Shotgun/impalement-19/16 (1%). Mean RTS 1.75, mean ISS 27 +/- 23. Overall survival 675 (33%). 830 patients (41%) underwent ED thoracotomy, 47 survived (6%). Survival stratified by mechanism: GSWs 114/1264 (10%), SWs 564/717 (76%). Predictors of outcome for mortality-univariate analysis: vital signs, RTS, ISS, GCS: Field CPR, ED intubation, ED thoracotomy and aortic cross-clamping (p\u3c0.001). Stepwise logistic regression identified cardiac GSWs (p\u3c 0.001; AOR 26.85; 95% CI 17.21-41.89), field CPR (p = 0.003; AOR 3.65; 95% CI 1.53-8.69), the absence of spontaneous ventilation (p = 0.008; AOR 1.08, 95% CI 1.02-1.14), the presence of an associated abdominal GSW (p = 0.009; AOR 2.58, 95% CI 1.26-5.26) need for ED airway (p = 0.0003 AOR 1386.30; 95% CI 126.0-15251.71) and aortic cross-clamping (p = 0.0003 AOR 0.18; 95% CI 0.11-0.28) as independent predictors for mortality. Overall predictive power of model-93%. CONCLUSION: Predictors of outcome were identified. Overall survival rates are lower than prospective studies report. Predictive model from NTDB generated larger number of strong independent predictors of outcomes, correlated and validated previous predictive models

The voter initiative and the power of the governor: evidence from campaign expenditures

Voter initiative, Direct democracy, Campaign finance, H1, H7,