Exploring geological and socio-demographic factors associated with under-five mortality in the Wenchuan earthquake using neural network model.

On 12 May 2008, a devastating earthquake occurred in Sichuan Province, China, taking tens of thousands of lives and destroying the homes of millions of people. Among the large number of dead or missing were children, particularly children aged less than five years old, a fact which drew significant media attention. To obtain relevant information specifically to aid further studies and future preventative measures, a neural network model was proposed to explore some geological and socio-demographic factors associated with earthquake-related child mortality.

Spatial analysis of neural tube defects in a rural coal mining area.

Shanxi province in northern China has one of the highest reported prevalence rates of neural tube defects (NTDs) in the world. The current study selected Heshun, the county with the highest rate of NTDs in Shanxi, as a study area and tested whether residence in a coal mining area was a contributing factor. A NTD cluster was detected in an area within 6 km of the coal mines for almost every year during 1998-2005.