A remarkable drop in tuberculosis (TB) incidence has been achieved in China, although in 2019 it was still considered the second most communicable disease. However, TB's spatial features and risk ...factors in urban areas remain poorly understood. This study aims to identify the spatial differentiations and potential influencing factors of TB in highly urbanized regions on a fine scale.
This study included 18 socioeconomic and environmental variables in the four central districts of Guangzhou, China. TB case data obtained from the Guangzhou Institute of Tuberculosis Control and Prevention. Before using Pearson correlation and a geographical detector (GD) to identify potential influencing factors, we conducted a global spatial autocorrelation analysis to select an appropriate spatial scales.
Owing to its strong spatial autocorrelation (Moran's I = 0.33, Z = 4.71), the 2 km × 2 km grid was selected as the spatial scale. At this level, TB incidence was closely associated with most socioeconomic variables (0.31 < r < 0.76, P < 0.01). Of five environmental factors, only the concentration of fine particulate matter displayed significant correlation (r = 0.21, P < 0.05). Similarly, in terms of q values derived from the GD, socioeconomic variables had stronger explanatory abilities (0.08 < q < 0.57) for the spatial differentiation of the 2017 incidence of TB than environmental variables (0.06 < q < 0.27). Moreover, a much larger proportion (0.16 < q < 0.89) of the spatial differentiation was interpreted by pairwise interactions, especially those (0.60 < q < 0.89) related to the 2016 incidence of TB, officially appointed medical institutions, bus stops, and road density.
The spatial heterogeneity of the 2017 incidence of TB in the study area was considerably influenced by several socioeconomic and environmental factors and their pairwise interactions on a fine scale. We suggest that more attention should be paid to the units with pairwise interacting factors in Guangzhou. Our study provides helpful clues for local authorities implementing more effective intervention measures to reduce TB incidence in China's municipal areas, which are featured by both a high degree of urbanization and a high incidence of TB.
Bistable polymer composite structures are morphing shells that can change shape and maintain two stable configurations. At present, mainly two types of bistable polymer composite structures are being ...studied: cross-ply laminates and antisymmetric cylindrical shells. This paper proposes a unified semianalytical model based on the extensible deformation assumption and nonlinear theory of plates and shells to predict bistability. Moreover, the higher-order theoretical model is extended for better prediction accuracy, while the number of degrees of freedom is not increased; this ensures a lower computational cost. Finally, based on these theoretical models, the main factors affecting the stable characteristic of the two bistable polymer composite structures are determined by comparing the models of various orders. The main challenges in describing the bistable behavior, such as bifurcation points and the curvatures of stable states, are addressed through prediction of the corner transversal displacement in stable configurations. The results obtained from the theoretical model are validated through nonlinear finite element analysis.
Underscreening of syphilis in clinical settings is a pervasive problem in resource-constrained settings where heavy patient loads and competing health priorities inhibit health providers' ability to ...meet screening coverage targets. A "detection-based" pay-for-performance (P4P) strategy can incentivize more targeted testing by rewarding providers with a monetary bonus for every confirmed case.
Five clinics in a high transmission setting of China participated in the 6-month pilot intervention. Seropositive proportions during the P4P intervention were compared with those during the preintervention phase using multilevel logistic regression models adjusted for age and sex of clinic attendees.
There were 8423 patients that sought care at 1 of the 6 clinics over the course of the study. Adjusted odds of a positive syphilis screen were greater during the intervention period compared to the preintervention interval (odds ratio, 1.33; 95% confidence interval, 1.14-1.56). Variability in clinic-level effects was substantial given the small number of sites of this pilot study.
Results of this detection-based P4P pilot study demonstrate the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of this approach for improving syphilis case detection in resource-constrained clinical settings. A fully powered randomized trial is needed to inform the full utility of this approach for improving sexually transmitted disease detection globally.
China is a country with a high burden of tuberculosis (TB). TB outbreaks are frequent in schools. Thus, understanding the transmission patterns is crucial for controlling TB.
In this genomic ...epidemiological study, the conventional epidemiological survey data combined with whole-genome sequencing was used to assess the genotypic distribution and transmission characteristics of
strains isolated from patients with TB attending schools during 2015 to 2019 in Guangzhou, China.
The TB incidence was mainly concentrated in regular secondary schools and technical and vocational schools. The incidence of drug resistance among the students was 16.30% (22/135). The phylogenetic tree showed that 79.26% (107/135) and 20.74% (28/135) of the strains belonged to lineage 2 (Beijing genotype) and lineage 4 (Euro-American genotype), respectively. Among the 135 isolates, five clusters with genomic distance within 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms were identified; these clusters included 10 strains, accounting for an overall clustering rate of 7.4% (10/135), which showed a much lower transmission index. The distance between the home or school address and the interval time of symptom onset or diagnosis indicated that campus dissemination and community dissemination may be existed both, and community dissemination is the main.
TB cases in Guangzhou schools were mainly disseminated and predominantly originated from community transmission. Accordingly, surveillance needs to be strengthened to stop the spread of TB in schools.
HIV prevalence has increased rapidly among men who have sex with men (MSM) in China reaching alarmingly high levels in some cities. Bisexual MSM have potential to transmit HIV and syphilis to their ...female partners through condomless vaginal intercourse (CVI). Thus, estimation of the burden of CVI and identification of its associates seemed necessary to control this cross-gender transmission.
In a cross-sectional study, using respondent-driven-sampling and snowball sampling, 2958 MSM were recruited from seven Chinese cities, interviewed and tested for HIV and syphilis. Descriptive analysis of the socio-demographic and behaviors followed by simple and multiple logistic regressions adjusted for income, city, race and social network size to determine adjusted odds ratio (aOR) were performed using SAS-9.1.
Among participating MSM, 19.03% were engaged in CVI. Prevalence of HIV and syphilis among participants involved in CVI were 5.86% and 14.74% respectively. MSM who were older aOR for aged 40-49 = 2.60 (95% CI: 1.54-4.37), married aOR = 6.13 (4.95-7.58), attended primary school or below aOR = 3.86 (2.26-6.69), met male partners at spa/bathhouse/sauna/massage parlor aOR = 3.52 (2.62-4.72) and had heterosexual orientation aOR = 13.81 (7.14-26.70) were more likely to have CVI. Furthermore, correct knowledge regarding HIV aOR = 0.70 (0.55, 0.88) and exposure to HIV prevention interventions aOR = 0.67 (0.54, 0.82) were negatively associated with CVI.
CVI was found to be common among MSM in China. To minimize the transmission of HIV and syphilis from bisexual MSM to their relatively female partners, targeted interventions should specifically focus on bisexual MSM especially the older and married subgroups.
Major economies, such as the United States, European Union (EU), Japan, and China have enacted Circular Economy Promotion Laws (CEPLs) to promote the development of the recycling industry. The Urban ...Mining Pilot Policy (UMPP) is an essential provision of the CEPL in China, which promotes a circular economy and environmentally friendly industries and society. In China, the Urban Mining Pilot City (UMPC) program facilitates the addressing of the negative environmental impacts of industrial and urban waste, and conservation of scarce primary resources, which are necessary for sustainable industrialization and urban sustainability in developing countries. In the present study, a time-varying difference-in-difference analysis of city-level panel data was conducted to investigate the impact of the UMPC program on pollution reduction in China. The results indicated that the UMPC program has improved municipal waste management efficiency and environmental quality significantly, with robust results across various models and datasets. Additionally, the mediation test showed the positive impacts of the UMPC program are mainly associated with the economy-of-scale effects. Finally, the UMPP had geographical and social-economic heterogeneous effects. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to quantify the impact of the UMPC program on recyclable solid waste management and pollution reduction in urban China, with potential contributions to resource and environmental economics.
In this work, we fabricated PIM-based mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) containing MOF-801/ionic liquid nanocomposites to enhance CO2 separation performance of pure polymer membranes. All membranes and ...MOF-801/ionic liquid nanocomposites were prepared by solution casting method and wet impregnation, respectively. The samples were analyzed by SEM, XRD, FTIR, TGA and Nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements. The nanocomposites are composed of metal-organic framework (MOF) MOF-801 and ionic liquid (IL) adsorption capacity. MOF-801 can well control the dispersion of IL in the polymer matrix, which is conducive to exposing more active sites in the nanocomposites to improve the CO2 adsorption selectivity of MOF-801/ionic liquid nanocomposites. At the same time, the porous structure of nanocomposites also enhances the gas adsorption and diffusion, thereby improving the gas separation performance. Compared with pure PIM-1 membranes, the CO2 permeability and CO2/N2 selectivity of IL@MOF/PIM-5% MMMs was increased by 129% and 45% (CO2 = 9420 Barrer, CO2/N2 = 29）, respectively. Compared with MOF-801/PIM-1 MMMs, the permeability of CO2 decreased slightly but the selectivity of CO2/N2 increased from 27 to 29. The aging test showed that the CO2 permeability of MMMs could remain above 70% after 90 days. The anti-plasticization performance of MMMs has also been significantly improved. The CO2 separation performance of IL@MOF/PIM-5% MMMs significantly exceeded the 2008 Robeson upper bound, showing excellent gas separation performance and working stability.
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•PIM-1 showed excellent compatibility with IL@MOF-801 filler.•The CO2-philic IL@MOF-801 filler provided fast and selective transport channels for CO2.•IL@MOF/PIM-1 mixed-matrix membranes revealed much higher CO2 permeability and CO2/N2 selectivity.•IL@MOF/PIM-1 mixed-matrix membranes have good long-term working stability and good antiaging properties.
In the tide of paterntocracy sweeping the world, parental involvement in Chinese cities shows its own unique characteristics.Firstly, Chinese parental participation largely revolves around academic ...achievement and has a strong focus on performance outcome; secondly, parents' engagement in school public affairs is very much underdeveloped but family private sphere has expanded dramatically; finally, the class differentiation of parental participation is largely observed among the three groups of migrants, urban workers and middle class people. Based on a follow-up survey of two junior middle school classes in the same urban district, this article examines the characteristics of Chinese parental participation and the differences in the adaptation by different groups in the context of parentocracy. Chinese urban schools advocate family resource utilization, capability boost and parental responsibility ethics. It enables teachers to place ever higher demands on parental participation in education. In the categori
•PIM-1 showed excellent compatibility with MOF-801 filler.•The CO2-philic MOF-801 filler provided fast and selective transport channels for CO2.•MOF-801/PIM-1 mixed-matrix membranes revealed much ...higher CO2 permeability and CO2/N2 selectivity.•MOF-801/PIM-1 mixed-matrix membranes have good long-term working stability and good antiaging properties.
This work mainly studies the CO2 separation performance of a new type mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) based on MOF-801 as the microporous filler and PIM-1 as the polymer matrix. MMMs was successfully formed via simple casting/solvent evaporation approach at room temperature. The samples were systematically characterized by SEM, XRD, TGA and FTIR, the permeability-selectivity of MMMs to CO2, O2 and N2 was studied by gas permeability test. The experimental results show that the uniform dispersion of the CO2-philic MOF-801 filler provides a channel for the rapid and selective transport of CO2, so the MOF-801/PIM-1 MMMs revealed much higher CO2 permeability and CO2/N2 ideal selectivity (CO2 = 9686 Barrer, CO2/N2 = 27, all selectivity in the paper is ideal) than pure polymer membrane. After 90-days aging test, the CO2 permeability of MMMs remains above 70%, which reflects its good anti-aging performance. After 120 h continuous gas permeability test, it also shows good long-term working stability. The experimental results show that the good gas separation performance of MMMsexceeds the Robeson upper bound (2008), showing good application prospect for practical greenhouse gas CO2 separation.
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