Determinants of Air Quality in Building Environments: A Multi-Regression Analysis and Implications for Open Teaching Practices

In the ever-evolving educational milieu, the integration of innovative teaching methodologies is increasingly crucial to meet the changing needs of modern learners. This research meticulously explores the application of open teaching practices in the fields of building environment and energy application engineering. Through an in-depth examination of multi-regression data pertaining to various environmental factors, this study reveals significant correlations and patterns that are relevant to both educators and environmental specialists. Emphasis is placed on the student-centric ethos of this approach, combining the dual concepts of environmental science and pedagogical progression. The relationship between environmental variables, such as PM2.5, PM10, temperature, and humidity, and the air quality index (AQI) is rigorously analyzed. Such analysis underscores the educational improvements brought about by open teaching strategies. The presented findings not only offer nuanced insights into how the aforementioned variables influence air quality but also highlight the benefits and potential of open teaching methodologies in creating a more interactive and enlightening academic environment

Multilevel and spatial analysis of syphilis in Shenzhen, China, to inform spatially targeted control measures

The present study investigates the varied spatial distribution of syphilis cases in Shenzhen, China, and explores the individual-, neighbourhood- and district-level factors affecting the distribution

A global assessment of the impact of school closure in reducing COVID-19 spread.

Prolonged school closure has been adopted worldwide to control COVID-19. Indeed, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization figures show that two-thirds of an academic year was lost on average worldwide due to COVID-19 school closures. Such pre-emptive implementation was predicated on the premise that school children are a core group for COVID-19 transmission. Using surveillance data from the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Anqing together, we inferred that compared with the elderly aged 60 and over, children aged 18 and under and adults aged 19-59 were 75% and 32% less susceptible to infection, respectively. Using transmission models parametrized with synthetic contact matrices for 177 jurisdictions around the world, we showed that the lower susceptibility of school children substantially limited the effectiveness of school closure in reducing COVID-19 transmissibility. Our results, together with recent findings that clinical severity of COVID-19 in children is lower, suggest that school closure may not be ideal as a sustained, primary intervention for controlling COVID-19. This article is part of the theme issue 'Data science approach to infectious disease surveillance'

Psychometric assessment of HIV/STI sexual risk scale among MSM: A Rasch model approach

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little research has assessed the degree of severity and ordering of different types of sexual behaviors for HIV/STI infection in a measurement scale. The purpose of this study was to apply the Rasch model on psychometric assessment of an HIV/STI sexual risk scale among men who have sex with men (MSM).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study using respondent driven sampling was conducted among 351 MSM in Shenzhen, China. The Rasch model was used to examine the psychometric properties of an HIV/STI sexual risk scale including nine types of sexual behaviors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The Rasch analysis of the nine items met the unidimensionality and local independence assumption. Although the person reliability was low at 0.35, the item reliability was high at 0.99. The fit statistics provided acceptable infit and outfit values. Item difficulty invariance analysis showed that the item estimates of the risk behavior items were invariant (within error).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The findings suggest that the Rasch model can be utilized for measuring the level of sexual risk for HIV/STI infection as a single latent construct and for establishing the relative degree of severity of each type of sexual behavior in HIV/STI transmission and acquisition among MSM. The measurement scale provides a useful measurement tool to inform, design and evaluate behavioral interventions for HIV/STI infection among MSM.</p

Identification of miRs-143 and -145 that Is Associated with Bone Metastasis of Prostate Cancer and Involved in the Regulation of EMT

The principal problem arising from prostate cancer (PCa) is its propensity to metastasize to bone. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role in many tumor metastases. The importance of miRNAs in bone metastasis of PCa has not been elucidated to date. We investigated whether the expression of certain miRNAs was associated with bone metastasis of PCa. We examined the miRNA expression profiles of 6 primary and 7 bone metastatic PCa samples by miRNA microarray analysis. The expression of 5 miRNAs significantly decreased in bone metastasis compared with primary PCa, including miRs-508-5p, -145, -143, -33a and -100. We further examined other samples of 16 primary PCa and 13 bone metastases using real-time PCR analysis. The expressions of miRs-143 and -145 were verified to down-regulate significantly in metastasis samples. By investigating relationship of the levels of miRs-143 and -145 with clinicopathological features of PCa patients, we found down-regulations of miRs-143 and -145 were negatively correlated to bone metastasis, the Gleason score and level of free PSA in primary PCa. Over-expression miR-143 and -145 by retrovirus transfection reduced the ability of migration and invasion in vitro, and tumor development and bone invasion in vivo of PC-3 cells, a human PCa cell line originated from a bone metastatic PCa specimen. Their upregulation also increased E-cadherin expression and reduced fibronectin expression of PC-3 cells which revealed a less invasive morphologic phenotype. These findings indicate that miRs-143 and -145 are associated with bone metastasis of PCa and suggest that they may play important roles in the bone metastasis and be involved in the regulation of EMT Both of them may also be clinically used as novel biomarkers in discriminating different stages of human PCa and predicting bone metastasis

Additional file 1: of Lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation among men who have sex with men: a meta-analysis

PRISMA Checklist. Description of data: details of PRISMA Checklist. (DOC 64 kb

Acceptability of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) among Male Sexually Transmitted Diseases Patients (MSTDP) in China.

Voluntary Medical Male circumcision (VMMC) is an evidence-based, yet under-utilized biomedical HIV intervention in China. No study has investigated acceptability of VMMC among male sexually transmitted diseases patients (MSTDP) who are at high risk of HIV transmission. A cross-sectional survey interviewed 350 HIV negative heterosexual MSTDP in Shenzhen, China; 12.0% (n = 42) of them were circumcised at the time of survey. When the uncircumcised participants (n = 308) were informed that VMMC could reduce the risk of HIV infection via heterosexual intercourse by 50%, the prevalence of acceptability of VMMC in the next six months was 46.1%. Adjusted for significant background variables, significant factors of acceptability of VMMC included: 1) emotional variables: the Emotional Representation Subscale (adjusted odds ratios, AOR = 1.13, 95%CI: 1.06-1.18), 2) cognitive variables derived from Health Belief Model (HBM): perceived some chance of having sex with HIV positive women in the next 12 months (AOR = 2.48, 95%CI: 1.15-5.33) (perceived susceptibility), perceived severity of STD infection (AOR = 1.06, 95%CI: 1.02-1.10), perceived benefit of VMMC in risk reduction (AOR = 1.29, 95%CI: 1.16-1.42) and sexual performance (AOR = 1.45, 95%CI: 1.26-1.71), perceived barriers against taking up VMMC (AOR = 0.88, 95%CI: 0.81-0.95), and perceived cue to action (AOR = 1.41, 95%CI: 1.23-1.61) and self-efficacy (AOR = 1.38, 95%CI: 1.26-1.35) related to taking up VMMC. The association between perceived severity of STD infection and acceptability was fully mediated by emotional representation of STD infection. The relatively low prevalence of circumcision and high acceptability suggested that the situation was favorable for implementing VMMC as a means of HIV intervention among MSTDP in China. HBM is a potential suitable framework to guide the design of future VMMC promotion. Future implementation programs should be conducted in STD clinic settings, taking the important findings of this study into account