4D SPACE FUN: A visitor poses at a multidimensional artwork exhibition in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, on May 18 (XIAO YIJIU)

Female Oceanauts

Female oceanauts are being considered to steer China's record-breaking submersible Jiaolong, officials have announced.

The National Deep Sea Center in east China's Shandong Province will train a second group of six oceanauts, including two women, for the sub's future missions, said Liu Feng, Director of the center, on May 21.

The training is expected to start in September or October and will last one or two years, according to Liu.

The Jiaolong set a new national dive record after reaching 7,062 meters deep in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench in June 2012, allowing China to theoretically conduct deep-sea scientific research and resource exploration in 99.8 percent of the world's oceans.

Disability Prevention

The China Disabled Persons' Federation on May 17 established a center for disability prevention, control and research.

The center will focus on preventing disabilities, distributing recovery information, building a database for the disabled and conducting policy research, as well as preventing disability-related complications and reducing degrees of disability, said Director Li Jianjun.

China has more than 85 million disabled people. The number is expected to exceed 160 million by 2050, according to the center.

Bowel Transplant

A hospital in northwest China's Shaanxi Province announced on May 21 that Asia's first small bowel transplant operation between twins was successful.

The transplanted intestine has regained its digestive function, and the 45-year-old patient is expected to be discharged on May 22 after two-and-a-half weeks of observation, said a spokesman for Xijing Hospital in the provincial capital of Xi'an.

The patient, a woman surnamed Xu, received 155 cm of small intestine from her twin sister during surgery on May 4, said operating surgeon Zhao Qingchuan.

The small intestine transplant is among the most difficult large organ transplants because it can trigger stronger immune responses. The latest small intestine transplant between twins was the fifth case in the world after four similar ones in the United States, Britain and Switzerland, of which three succeeded.

Orphanage Regulations

The Chinese Government released a draft of basic requirements for orphanages on May 17 in order to standardize their practices and close safety loopholes.

The draft, released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs for public opinion, clarifies standard practices related to hygiene, medical care, education and safety measures in orphanages.

Figures from the Ministry of Civil Affairs show China has about 615,000 orphans. Just 109,000 of them live in government-funded agencies, while the rest are cared for by relatives or private orphanages.

Currently, 878 non-government-affiliated agencies are housing 9,394 orphans, according to the ministry.