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The unprecedented expansion and development of high-speed rail (HSR) in China provides a unique opportunity and a new way of thinking for addressing the problem of urban-rural wealth disparities. In this paper, I examine the impact of the introduction of HSRs on the income disparity between urban and rural residents in China. Using panel data from 285 prefecture-level cities from 2004 to 2018, in this paper I employ the double-difference method to assess the impact of HSR on the income gap between urban and rural populations and the mechanism of its action; furthermore, I explore the influence of HSR on urban residents' per capita disposable income and rural residents' per capita net income, as well as the impact of HSR on the flow of elements such as labor and capital. My research findings reveal that the introduction of HSR has greatly widened the income gap between urban and rural residents; however, there is heterogeneity between different East, Central, and West regions, as well as between different levels of cities. A further mechanism study finds that HSR lowers farmers' per capita net income, raises urban residents' per capita disposable income, and widens the urban/rural income gap via mechanisms such as facilitating the interregional mobility of labor and capital factors. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively assess the economic effects brought about by HSR, strengthen the construction of urban-rural transport networks, and improve support for rural areas, so as to promote the coordinated development of inter-regional and urban-rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteremia (SAB) has high morbidity and mortality, with the development of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and the recognized shortcomings of vancomycin, its management is becoming more complicated. Considering the capability to penetrate cells, tissues and biofilms, rifampin has been used as adjunctive agent to against staphylococcal activity. Objectives: We performed this meta-analysis, aimed to explore the efficacy of adjunctive rifampin for the treatment of SAB. Methods: Medical literatures were searched in the Pubmed, Medline, Embase and Cochrane databases up to October 2018. Patients with SAB received treatment with or without rifampin were included. The risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of mortality, rate of bacteriological failure and relapse were estimated. Results: Seven articles (five randomized controlled trials and two retrospective cohort studies) enrolling 979 and 636 patients of SAB treated with and without rifampin, respectively, were included. There was no difference of mortality between the adjunctive rifampin therapy and standard therapy on SAB (RR: 0.771, 95% CI: 0.442 to 1.347, I2 = 70.4%). In the subgroup analyses, the decreased mortality was observed in the adjunctive rifampin treatment for patients without MRSA infection (RR: 0.509, 95% CI: 0.372 to 0.697, I2 = 8.8%). In addition, there was no difference of the rate of bacteriologic failure (RR: 0.602, 95% CI: 0.198 to 1.825, I2 = 0.0%) or relapse (RR: 0.574, 95% CI: 0.106 to 3.112, I2 = 77.9%) between the adjunctive rifampin therapy and standard therapy on SAB. Conclusions: In general, insufficient evidence supported the efficacy of adjunctive use of rifampin for treatment of SAB, adding rifampin to standard therapy didn't decrease the incidence of death, rate of bacteriologic failure and relapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A growing body of evidence shows that childhood wheezing may lead to recurrent or persistent symptoms in adulthood, such that persistent wheezing associated with lung function deficits often have their roots in the first few years of life. Objectives: We summarized information from several prospective cohort studies following children with or without wheezing into adulthood, to estimate the effect of childhood wheezing on adulthood lung function. Methods: Medical literatures were searched in the Medline, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and Embase databases up to October 31, 2016. The adulthood lung function was selected as primary outcome, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) prevalence was selected as secondary outcome. The meta-analysis was performed with the Stata Version 14.0. A random-effects model was applied to estimate standardized mean difference (SMD) of lung function, and relative risk (RR) of COPD. Results: Six articles enrolling 1141 and 1005 children with and without wheezing, respectively. Meta-analysis showed that childhood wheezing decreased adulthood lung function as compared with no-wheezing subjects (SMD = -0.365, 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.569~-0.161, P = 0.000). Subgroup analyses indicated that childhood atopic wheezing reduced adulthood FEV1/FVC and FEV1%pred when compared with no-wheezing subjects. In addition, childhood atopic wheezing was significantly associated with COPD prevalence (RR = 5.307, 95% CI:1.033~27.271, P = 0.046). Conclusions: Our meta-analysis suggests that childhood wheezing may induce ongoing declined lung function that extends into adult life, as well as an increased risk of COPD prevalence when accompanied with atopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]