The Effect of Hospital Vertical Integration on Health Care Quality in China

The rapid growth of hospital integration activities in China has made it critical to understand whether integration in health care markets enhanced or damaged quality. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of hospital integration on health care quality in Shanghai. Using difference-in-difference analysis, the authors analyze cure rate and length of stay for gastric ulcer patients. The data indicates that hospital integration has positive impact on cure rate 4 years after integration at the 10% significant, but has no significant impact on length of stay. The authors also discuss the implications of these findings and offer directions for future research

Dancing With Care: Promoting Social Inclusion Among Older Women in China Through a Novel Preventative Care Model

This article examines how a new form of preventative care provision - dancing with care (DWC) - promotes social inclusion among older women in China and explores whether DWC can be regarded as an effective way to address the challenges these older women face in improving their social inclusion and achieving a healthy lifestyle. Our study demonstrates that various dimensions of DWC play a vital role in addressing the difficulties these older women encounter in their struggle to end their own social exclusion: These dimensions include levels of happiness, social network involvement, access to social support in "preventative care terms", and the role of own's grandchildren as a means to social bonding. Various dimensions of DWC align with the concept of preventative care for older women in urban communities. Using semi-structured interviews in selected "DWC communities" located in southern China, this article demonstrates that DWC contributes to addressing older women's social inclusion by providing preventative care. In addition, we also performed an empirical data analysis that included institutional regulations for DWC design and implementation, publications by DWC communities, and academic research focused on DWC communities. DWC proposes an appealing path for older women to actively engage with and within their community. Furthermore, it offers valuable insights into the potential of a new model of preventative care and our conclusions will serve as a reference for enhancing social involvement among older individuals globally

Analysis of Odor Components in Salted Egg Yolk during Thermal Processing Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and Multivariate Statistical Analysis

Odor compounds produced in salted egg yolk during thermal processing were identify by sensory evaluation and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) combined with multivariate statistical analysis such as hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) and principal component analysis (PCA). By using quantitative descriptive sensory analysis, it was found that there was a significant difference in the flavor profile between egg yolk samples with and without unpleasant odor, and it was determined that some egg yolks had obvious off-flavor during hot processing. Cluster analysis showed that the six groups of salted egg yolk samples were clearly divided into two categories, which was consistent with the sensory evaluation results. Furthermore, OPLS-DA identified 33 major differential components with variable importance in the projection (VIP) scores greater than one between samples with and without unpleasant odor, and aldehydes and alcohols were the most significant differential components. Finally, the volatile compounds showing a positive correlation with sour odor were screened by PCA, and n-hexanal, n-valeraldehyde, 1-octen-3-ol, trans,trans-2,4-decadienal, styrene, dimethyl disulfide and 2-nonone were identified due to their odor activity values (OAV) greater than one as the major odor compounds of salted egg yolk during thermal processing. The results provide a reference for analysis of the flavor characteristics and possible off-flavor components of salted egg yolk after thermal processing and provide a scientific basis for accessing the quality of salted egg yolk

Stabilities of one-dimensional stationary states of Bose-Einstein condensates

We explore the dynamical stabilities of a quasi-one dimensional (1D) Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) consisting of fixed $N$ atoms with time-independent external potential. For the stationary states with zero flow density the general solution of the perturbed time evolution equation is constructed, and the stability criterions concerning the initial conditions and system parameters are established. Taking the lattice potential case as an example, the stability and instability regions on the parameter space are found. The results suggest a method for selecting experimental parameters and adjusting initial conditions to suppress the instabilities.Comment: 12 page

Two Antarctic penguin genomes reveal insights into their evolutionary history and molecular changes related to the Antarctic environment. GigaScience

Abstract Background: Penguins are flightless aquatic birds widely distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The distinctive morphological and physiological features of penguins allow them to live an aquatic life, and some of them have successfully adapted to the hostile environments in Antarctica. To study the phylogenetic and population history of penguins and the molecular basis of their adaptations to Antarctica, we sequenced the genomes of the two Antarctic dwelling penguin species, the Adélie penguin [Pygoscelis adeliae] and emperor penguin [Aptenodytes forsteri]. Results: Phylogenetic dating suggests that early penguins arose~60 million years ago, coinciding with a period of global warming. Analysis of effective population sizes reveals that the two penguin species experienced population expansions from~1 million years ago to~100 thousand years ago, but responded differently to the climatic cooling of the last glacial period. Comparative genomic analyses with other available avian genomes identified molecular changes in genes related to epidermal structure, phototransduction, lipid metabolism, and forelimb morphology. Conclusions: Our sequencing and initial analyses of the first two penguin genomes provide insights into the timing of penguin origin, fluctuations in effective population sizes of the two penguin species over the past 10 million years, and the potential associations between these biological patterns and global climate change. The molecular changes compared with other avian genomes reflect both shared and diverse adaptations of the two penguin species to the Antarctic environment