A study of HIV/AIDS related knowledge, attitude and behaviors among female sex workers in Shanghai China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>China is currently facing a rapid and widespread increase in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The activities of female sex workers (FSWs) have contributed to the mounting epidemic of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Therefore, this study aimed to assess the HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitude and risk behaviors among FSWs operating in Shanghai China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was conducted in five districts of Shanghai, including three suburbs and two downtown locales. We adopted a cluster randomized sampling method to obtain ten geographic sites which consisted of one or more communities/villages proximal to a location where FSWs were accessible. A total of 324 FSWs from 109 Xitou Fang, massage parlors and hair salons who explicitly provided sexual services were enrolled in the study. Each participant completed a questionnaire survey and interview aimed to collect information on the individual's knowledge, attitude, and behaviors associated with risk for HIV/AIDs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall correct answer rate of HIV/AIDS-related knowledge was 60.8%, and the knowledge of FSWs from downtown areas was significantly higher than those from suburban areas (<it>P </it>< 0.05). The percentage of FSWs who reported having experiences in commercial sexual services without the use of condoms was 33.6%. Condom slippage or breakage was reported as having occurred at least once by 51.2% of the FSWs. FSWs from suburban areas were found to more often engage in high-risk behaviors, including oral and anal sex, than those from downtown areas (<it>P </it>< 0.001). Many of the FSWs (65.7%) reported having non-client sexual partners (most were identified as boyfriends or husbands); however, condom usage with these partners were lower (34.3%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Based on the findings from our survey, we advise that promotion of HIV/AIDS-related knowledge be targeted towards FSWs in Shanghai, especially those operating in the suburbs. HIV prevention efforts, such as urging constant condom usage with both clients and steady partners, should be sustained and reinforced among the female sex workers population.</p

Democracy, Financial Openness, and Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Heterogeneity Across Existing Emission Levels

The determinants of CO2 emissions have attracted many researchers over the past few decades. Most of studies, however, ignore the possibility that effect of independent variables on CO2 emissions could vary throughout the CO2 emission distribution. We address this issue by applying quantile regression methods. We examine whether greater democracy and more financial openness consistently reduce emissions among the most and least emission nations. Our results show that the effect of democracy on CO2 emissions is heterogeneous across quantiles. Among the most emissions nations, greater democracy appears to reduce emissions, but more financial openness does not appear to reduce it

Learned Smartphone ISP on Mobile GPUs with Deep Learning, Mobile AI & AIM 2022 Challenge: Report

The role of mobile cameras increased dramatically over the past few years, leading to more and more research in automatic image quality enhancement and RAW photo processing. In this Mobile AI challenge, the target was to develop an efficient end-to-end AI-based image signal processing (ISP) pipeline replacing the standard mobile ISPs that can run on modern smartphone GPUs using TensorFlow Lite. The participants were provided with a large-scale Fujifilm UltraISP dataset consisting of thousands of paired photos captured with a normal mobile camera sensor and a professional 102MP medium-format FujiFilm GFX100 camera. The runtime of the resulting models was evaluated on the Snapdragon's 8 Gen 1 GPU that provides excellent acceleration results for the majority of common deep learning ops. The proposed solutions are compatible with all recent mobile GPUs, being able to process Full HD photos in less than 20-50 milliseconds while achieving high fidelity results. A detailed description of all models developed in this challenge is provided in this paper

The effects of FDI, economic growth and energy consumption on carbon emissions in ASEAN-5: Evidence from panel quantile regression

This study investigates the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI), economic growth and energy consumption on carbon emissions in five selected member countries in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN-5), including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. This paper employs a panel quantile regression model that takes unobserved individual heterogeneity and distributional heterogeneity into consideration. Moreover, to avoid an omitted variable bias, certain related control variables are included in our model. Our empirical results show that the effect of the independent variables on carbon emissions is heterogeneous across quantiles. Specifically, the effect of FDI on carbon emissions is negative, except at the 5th quantile, and becomes significant at higher quantiles. Energy consumption increases carbon emissions, with the strongest effects occurring at higher quantiles. Among the high-emissions countries, greater economic growth and population size appear to reduce emissions. The results of the study also support the validity of the halo effect hypothesis in higher-emissions countries. However, we find little evidence in support of an inverted U-shaped curve in the ASEAN-5 countries. In addition, a higher level of trade openness can mitigate the increase in carbon emissions, especially in low- and high-emissions nations. Finally, the results of the study also provide policymakers with important policy recommendations

Subsurface precision machining of glass substrates by innovative lasers

At very high laser intensities, achieved with modern, diode-pumped solid state lasers having high beam quality and high pulse power, even transparent materials such as glass can be easily machined with high efficiency and precision. Examples are given by the subsurface engraving, the cutting and the drilling of glass, where the physical effect of nonlinear absorption in transparent media is used. This enables machining processes and results which are not feasible with any other tool known before

Electrical Activity in a Time-Delay Four-Variable Neuron Model under Electromagnetic Induction

To investigate the effect of electromagnetic induction on the electrical activity of neuron, the variable for magnetic flow is used to improve Hindmarsh–Rose neuron model. Simultaneously, due to the existence of time-delay when signals are propagated between neurons or even in one neuron, it is important to study the role of time-delay in regulating the electrical activity of the neuron. For this end, a four-variable neuron model is proposed to investigate the effects of electromagnetic induction and time-delay. Simulation results suggest that the proposed neuron model can show multiple modes of electrical activity, which is dependent on the time-delay and external forcing current. It means that suitable discharge mode can be obtained by selecting the time-delay or external forcing current, which could be helpful for further investigation of electromagnetic radiation on biological neuronal system