A sperm bank that claims to be the nation's first to use genetic screening for potential hereditary risks and conduct psychological and mental evaluations of donors started trial operations in Shanghai on Wednesday.Located at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai, the sperm bank - the second in the municipality after one established at Renji Hospital in 2003 - said it will screen for mutated genes that might result in severe consequences, such as miscarriages and birth defects.Most sperm banks in the country do genetic analysis based on chromosome screening.We can imagine the chromosomes as corncobs and the genes as the corn grains. Maybe the shape and appearance of a corncob generally looks normal, but if you take a close look, you will find some grains are missing, damaged or deformed. Such problematic grains, which mean pathogenic genes to us, may pass on problems to the offspring, said Zhang Feng, head of the newly opened Human Sperm Bank at Fudan University and deputy director of the State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering at Fudan University.The sperm bank also conducts psychological and mental evaluations of donors through professional testing and face-to-face screenings with psychologists, as some problems such as depression can be passed on to the next generation, said Wang Xiao, a psychologist with the sperm bank.Those who suffer from depression may look no different from anyone else and we can only make a judgment through professional approaches, Wang said.Anyone with identified mental diseases or disorders will not qualify for donation, she said.Zhang said the sperm bank will also focus on the healthy development of embryos and reproductive medicine as a whole.The infertility rate in the country was found to range between 12.5 percent to 15 percent in 2014, according to the China Population Association.The sperm bank called for healthy Chinese adult males who do not suffer from hereditary diseases and infectious diseases to donate sperm. Donors also should not have severe hair loss, be of reasonable body weight and at least 165 centimeters tall. custom wristbands no minimummedical bracelets uk24 hour wristbands couponcustom made rubber braceletsrubber wristbands in bulkhow to make rubber bracelets24 hour wristbands
China will take more steps to boost the private sector by lowering the investment threshold in emerging industries, a senior official with the nation's top economic regulator said on Saturday. Zhang Yong, vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said private investment, while growing at a slow pace, should not be a concern, as it has to do with the nation's economic restructuring. The government is trying to rely less on old economic drivers and more on newly emerging sectors. "Destocking in the property market and cutting overcapacity in manufacturing, both part of key efforts on economic upgrading, have led to the growth slowdown," he said. However, the government does have a major role in guiding more private capital into emerging sectors with decent returns, according to Zhang. The central authorities will lower the investment threshold for private investors, expand market access, and introduce more measures to help ensure their rights, he said. In the first nine months of this year, private fixed-asset investment saw 6 percent year-on-year growth, compared with 11 percent growth in investment by State-owned enterprises during the same period, data from the National Bureau of Statistics show. Xu Hongcai, an economist with the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said efforts to ensure the rights of private investors are crucial, as SOEs usually enjoy more preferential policies, especially in government-initiated infrastructure construction projects. The central government also should make private investment in public-private partnership projects more convenient, said Xue Qitang, a Beijing-based lawyer specializing in PPP projects. [email protected] (China Daily 10/22/2017 page3)
