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Highlights: [•] Assuming the recycling rate remains unchanged, the zinc old scrap index would continue increasing in China. [•] The values are expected to reach 0.402 and 0.076 by 2020, respectively. [•] The regeneration resource of depreciated zinc is actually insufficient in China. [•] The actual value of old scrap index is positively correlated with the recycling rate of zinc products. [•] The influence of recycling rate of galvanized products on old scrap index is larger than other zinc products. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Splenomegaly and pancytopenia are common in Wilson’s disease (WD) and splenectomy is one of the conventional treatments for splenomegaly and the associated pancytopenia. However, splenectomy remained controversial for hypersplenism in WD as it was reported that splenectomy leaded to serious emotional and neurological deterioration in WD patients with hypersplenism. In the current study, we present our experiences in 70 WD patients with hypersplenism who had undergone splenectomy, outlining the safety and efficacy of splenectomy in WD. The clinical database of 70 WD patients with hypersplenism who had undergone splenectomy in our hospital between 2009 and 2013 were reviewed and followed-up regularly. Before splenectomy, all the patients accepted a short period of anti-copper treatment with intravenous sodium 2, 3-dimercapto-1-propane sulfonate (DMPS). All the patients demonstrated a marked improvement in platelet and leucocyte counts after splenectomy. No severe postoperative complication was observed. In particular, none of the 37 patients with mixed neurologic and hepatic presentations experienced neurological deterioration after splenectomy, and none of the patients with only hepatic presentations newly developed neurological symptoms. During the one year follow-up period, no patient presented hepatic failure or hepatic encephalopathy, no hepatic patient newly developed neurological presentations, and only 3 patients with mixed neurologic and hepatic presentations suffered neurological deterioration and these 3 patients had poor compliance of anti-copper treatment. Quantative analysis of the neurological symptoms in the 37 patients using the Unified Wilson’s Disease Rating Scale (UWDRS) showed that the neurological symptoms were not changed in a short-term of one week after splenectomy but significantly improved in a long-term of one year after splenectomy. Additionally, compared to that before splenectomy, the esophageal gastric varices in most patients significantly improved one year after splenectomy. Thus, we may conclude that splenectomy is a safe and effective therapeutic measure for hypersplenism in WD patients who had been preoperatively treated with DMPS for powerful anti-copper therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the causes of North Korea's failure to pursue export-oriented industrialization, and examines whether Sino-North Korean economic cooperation might facilitate such a transformation or not. It concludes that Sino-North Korean economic interactions are more likely to reinforce North Korea's traditional resource dependency than to stimulate export-oriented industrialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author discusses the geopolitical discourses in Kazakhstan through a case study of attitudes toward China and its influence in contemporary affairs. She explains that representatives of the two governments reached eight agreements in energy, transport, and infrastructure development during the visit of President Nursultan Nazarbayev to China in February 2011. Several charts are presented depicting Kazakhstan's imports and exports, and primary reasons for the capital change.