内容摘要：AP correspondent Haya Panjwani reports on using synthetic hair for braiding.

AP correspondent Haya Panjwani reports on using synthetic hair for braiding.

– were short-lived. But two additional pig kidney recipients so far are thriving – antransplanted in November and a

transplanted in January. A U.S. clinical trial is about to begin.Nearly three weeks after the kidney surgery the Chinese patient “is very well” and the pig kidney likewise is functioning very well, Dr. Lin Wang of Xijing Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University in Xi’an told reporters in a briefing this week.Wang, part of the hospital’s xenotransplant team, said the kidney recipient remains in the hospital for testing. Chinese media have reported she is a 69-year-old woman diagnosed with kidney failure eight years ago.

But Wang pointed to a potential next step in xenotransplantation — learning to transplant pig livers. His team reported Wednesday in the journal Nature that a pig liver transplanted into a brain-dead person survived for 10 days, with no early signs of rejection. He said the pig liver produced bile and albumin — important for basic organ function — although not as much as human livers do.The liver is a complex challenge because of its varied jobs, including removing waste, breaking down nutrients and medicines, fighting infection, storing iron and regulating blood clotting.

“We do find that it could function a little bit in a human being,” Wang said. He speculated that would be enough to help support a failing human liver.

In the U.S. last year, surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania attempted that sort of “bridge” supportlive births, significantly higher than the national average of about 23. But in Jackson’s quarter-century tenure, she said, there have been no maternal deaths among clients.

Pivotal to Healthy Start’s success are care coordinators like Krystal Keener, a social worker based at Oklahoma State University’s obstetrics and gynecology clinic, where clients get prenatal care. One of her responsibilities is to educate clients about health issues, like how to spot the signs of preeclampsia or how much bleeding is too much after delivery.She also helps with practical matters: Many clients don’t have cars, so they call Keener when they need a ride to a prenatal visit, and she assists in scheduling one.

With doctors, Keener serves as a patient advocate. On a recent afternoon, Keener sat in on a prenatal appointment for Areana Coles. A single mom, Coles was joined by her 5-year-old daughter, who was born prematurely and spent time in intensive care.Coles, 25, said Healthy Start is “probably the best thing that’s happened in this pregnancy.” She called Keener “an angel.”