Exploration for the Priority of HIV Intervention: Modelling Health Impact and Cost-Effectiveness - Six Cities, Eastern China, 2019-2028.

Introduction: In order to enhance the effectiveness of resource allocation, regions must tailor their responses to their specific epidemiological and economic situations. Methods: Utilizing Spectrum software, we projected the cost-effectiveness of 10 chosen HIV interventions in six cities in eastern China from 2019 to 2028. We assessed three scenarios - Base, Achievable, and Idealized - for each city. The analysis included the projected number of HIV infections and deaths averted, as well as the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios for each intervention in the six cities. Results: In Shijiazhuang, Wuxi, Yantai, and Zhenjiang, cities with initially low antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage, ART showed significant effectiveness, especially for males. Conversely, in Foshan and Ningbo, where ART coverage was notably high, oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for men who have sex with men (MSM) proved effective in the Idealized scenario. MSM outreach, ART for males, and ART for females demonstrated cost-effectiveness across all six cities in both Achievable and Idealized scenarios at the predefined thresholds for each city. Discussion: Maintaining an appropriate coverage rate for outreach to MSM can lead to cost-effectiveness. In cities with low ART coverage, scaling up ART remains a crucial intervention. In regions with high ART coverage, consideration may be given to the utilization of oral PrEP for MSM individuals, requiring budget allocation.

Computed tomography for the diagnosis of gastroesophageal varices and risk assessment in patients with cirrhosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography (CT) for gastroesophageal varices (GEVs) and identify high-risk GEVs in patients with cirrhosis. METHODS: A comprehensive search of databases identified 28 studies reporting on CT-based diagnosis for GEVs confirmed via endoscopy. Meta-analyses were conducted to calculate the pooled sensitivity (SEN) and pooled specificity (SPE), positive likelihood ratio (PLR) and negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and the area under the curve (AUC). RESULTS: Based on the number of patients (or varices), the pooled SEN, SPE, PLR, NLR, DOR, and AUC of CT-based diagnosis were estimated at 0.91 (0.92), 0.81 (0.45), 4.82 (1.67), 0.11 (0.17), 42.47 (10.26), and 0.93 (0.94), respectively, for any GEV and at 0.89 (0.89), 0.90 (0.79), 8.86 (4.28), 0.12 (0.14), 75.71 (30.19), and 0.95 (0.85), respectively, for high-risk GEVs. Subgroup analyses indicated that CT had a higher diagnostic accuracy for esophageal varices compared with gastric varices (AUC: 0.93 vs. 0.89, P < 0.05), and the 64-slice CT yielded superior SEN compared with 16-slice and <16-slice CT (AUC: 0.97 vs. 0.92 and 0.82, respectively, P < 0.05). Prospective studies demonstrated higher diagnostic accuracy than retrospective studies (AUC: 0.95 vs. 0.90, P < 0.05). Regarding variceal size, a cut-off of 3 mm and 5 mm discriminated between low- and high-risk individuals, respectively, with high diagnostic accuracy (AUC: 0.992 vs. 0.997, P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: CT demonstrates promising diagnostic accuracy for identifying GEVs and distinguishing high-risk GEVs in patients with cirrhosis. Further research validating optimal variceal size cut-offs is warranted to enhance clinical utility. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Such a high diagnostic accuracy of CT scans for predicting varices is clinically meaningful for patients with cirrhosis accompanied by portal hypertension. If high-risk varices are identified at CT scans, early intervention would be helpful to reduce the risk of variceal bleeding.

Characteristics of heavy metal migration during pyrolysis of typical oily wastes and environmental risk assessment of pyrolysis residues.

Solid-phase residues from pyrolysis of oily wastes (OS) are widely used due to their rich pore structure and strong adsorption capacity. In this study, pyrolysis residues (OS-P) were obtained from the pyrolysis treatment of four typical OS in Karamay, Xinjiang. The results indicate that the crystalline substances in OS-P mainly were SiO2, BaSO4, and graphite. The heavy metals of OS-P were higher than that of OS in the following order: Zn > Cu > Ni > Cr > Pb > Cd. The results of the improvement of Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) sequential extraction showed that the proportion of Cu, Ni and Cr in OS1-P in the residual fraction was higher than that of the other three OS. The residual fraction of Cu, Ni, and Cr in OS1-P increased from 16.0 %, 30.0 %, and 11.0 % to 66.1 %, 81.9 %, and 89.2 %, respectively. After pyrolysis treatment, the leaching concentration of heavy metals in the residue was reduced. Referring to the requirements for heavy metal control limits (GB 4284-2018), all heavy metals in OS-P showed low risk. Their potential ecological risk indices were 4.11, 3.13, 4.87 and 5.35, respectively, indicating that the potential ecological hazards of heavy metals from OS-P were slight. There was no significant effect on the histopathological changes of kidney, lung, liver, ovary and testis of mice, showing that the rational use of OS-P in production will not produce toxic effects on target animals. Based on risk assessment and safety evaluation, the application of OS-P is controllable, safe and reliable for resource utilization.

Assessment and factors affecting quality of life among patients with Wilson's disease.

Wilson's disease is caused by abnormal copper metabolism resulting in deposition in various organs, including the brain, liver, and cornea, thus disrupting organ function. It is characterized by encephalopathy, extrapyramidal symptoms, progressive liver failure, and copper ring deposition in the cornea. Management of this disease should include quality of life maintenance; however, relevant studies on this topic are lacking. This study aimed to assess the factors affecting the quality of life (QoL) of patients with Wilson's disease. A cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling was conducted between July 2020 and March 2021 at the hospital. Data on patient characteristics, 36-item Short-Form General Health Survey, Uniform Wilson Disease Rating Scale, and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores were collected. Associations among quality of life depression, anxiety, and Wilson's disease progression were examined using Pearson correlation analysis. Factors affecting the quality of life of patients, including depression, anxiety, liver function, clinical symptoms, diet, liver function, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, disease duration, Barthel Index, and Morse scores were examined using multivariate linear regression analysis. This study included 134 patients with Wilson's disease whose mean age was 29.12 ± 8.59 years. The mean QoL score in the patient group was 71.38 ± 9.55 points and was negatively correlated with anxiety (r = - 0.883, P = 0.000), depression (r = - 0.852 P = 0.000), and clinical symptoms (r = - 0.542, P = 0.000) scores. Anxiety, depression, and clinical symptoms severity are vital factors for the QoL of patients with Wilson's disease. The study provides foundational evidence to design novel interventions, including symptom management, diet, and self-care ability, which can help in improving the quality of life in patients with Wilson's disease and decreasing the burden associated with this disease.

The Development of an Oral Solution Containing Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir and Assessment of Its Pharmacokinetics and Stability.

Paxlovid®, a co-packaged medication comprised of separate tablets containing two active ingredients, nirmatrelvir (NRV) and ritonavir (RTV), exhibits good effectiveness against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the size of the NRV/RTV tablets makes them difficult for some patients to swallow, especially the elderly and those with dysphagia. Therefore, an oral liquid formulation that can overcome this shortcoming and improve patient compliance is required. In this study, we developed a liquid formulation containing NRV and RTV by adopting strategies that used co-solvents and surfactants to enhance the solubility and inhibit possible recrystallization. The in vitro release results showed that NRV and RTV could be maintained at high concentrations in solution for a certain period in the investigated media. In vivo studies in rats showed that the oral bioavailability of NRV/RTV solution was significantly enhanced. Compared to Paxlovid® tablets, the AUC(0-t) of NRV and RTV increased by 6.1 and 3.8 times, respectively, while the Cmax increased by 5.5 times for both. Furthermore, the promoting effect of the absorption of RTV on the bioavailability of NRV was confirmed. Experiments with a beagle showed a similar trend. Stability studies were also conducted at 4 °C, 25 °C, and 40 °C for 90 days, indicating that the oral liquid formulation was physically and chemically stable. This study can be used as a valuable resource for developing and applying oral liquid NRV/RTV formulations in a clinical context.

Recalling the reported toxicity assessment of deoxynivalenol, mitigating strategies and its toxicity mechanisms: Comprehensive review.

Mycotoxins frequently contaminate a variety of food items, posing significant concerns for both food safety and public health. The adverse consequences linked to poisoning from these substances encompass symptoms such as vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, the potential for cancer development, impairments to the immune system, disruptions in neuroendocrine function, genetic damage, and, in severe cases, fatality. The deoxynivalenol (DON) raises significant concerns for both food safety and human health, particularly due to its potential harm to vital organs in the body. It is one of the most prevalent fungal contaminants found in edible items used by humans and animals globally. The presence of harmful mycotoxins, including DON, in food has caused widespread worry. Altered versions of DON have arisen as possible risks to the environment and well-being, as they exhibit a greater propensity to revert back to the original mycotoxins. This can result in the buildup of mycotoxins in both animals and humans, underscoring the pressing requirement for additional investigation into the adverse consequences of these modified mycotoxins. Furthermore, due to the lack of sufficient safety data, accurately evaluating the risk posed by modified mycotoxins remains challenging. Our review study delves into conjugated forms of DON, exploring its structure, toxicity, control strategies, and a novel animal model for assessing its toxicity. Various toxicities, such as acute, sub-acute, chronic, and cellular, are proposed as potential mechanisms contributing to the toxicity of conjugated forms of DON. Additionally, the study offers an overview of DON's toxicity mechanisms and discusses its widespread presence worldwide. A thorough exploration of the health risk evaluation associated with conjugated form of DON is also provided in this discussion.

Automatic liver segmentation and assessment of liver fibrosis using deep learning with MR T1-weighted images in rats.

OBJECTIVES: To validate the performance of nnU-Net in segmentation and CNN in classification for liver fibrosis using T1-weighted images. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective study, animal models of liver fibrosis were induced by injecting subcutaneously a mixture of Carbon tetrachloride and olive oil. A total of 99 male Wistar rats were successfully induced and underwent MR scanning with no contrast agent to get T1-weighted images. The regions of interest (ROIs) of the whole liver were delineated layer by layer along the liver edge by 3D Slicer. For segmentation task, all T1-weighted images were randomly divided into training and test cohorts in a ratio of 7:3. For classification, images containing the hepatic maximum diameter of every rat were selected and 80% images of no liver fibrosis (NLF), early liver fibrosis (ELF) and progressive liver fibrosis (PLF) stages were randomly selected for training, while the rest were used for testing. Liver segmentation was performed by the nnU-Net model. The convolutional neural network (CNN) was used for classification task of liver fibrosis stages. The Dice similarity coefficient was used to evaluate the segmentation performance of nnU-Net. Confusion matrix, ROC curve and accuracy were used to show the classification performance of CNN. RESULTS: A total of 2628 images were obtained from 99 Wistar rats by MR scanning. For liver segmentation by nnU-Net, the Dice similarity coefficient in the test set was 0.8477. The accuracies of CNN in staging NLF, ELF and PLF were 0.73, 0.89 and 0.84, respectively. The AUCs were 0.76, 0.88 and 0.79, respectively. CONCLUSION: The nnU-Net architecture is of high accuracy for liver segmentation and CNN for assessment of liver fibrosis with T1-weighted images.

A Nomogram of Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Preoperative Assessment of Microvascular Invasion and Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Microvascular invasion (MVI) is a predictor of recurrence and overall survival in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the preoperative diagnosis of MVI through noninvasive methods play an important role in clinical treatment. AIMS: To investigate the effectiveness of radiomics features in evaluating MVI in HCC before surgery. METHODS: We included 190 patients who had undergone contrast-enhanced MRI and curative resection for HCC between September 2015 and November 2021 from two independent institutions. In the training cohort of 117 patients, MVI-related radiomics models based on multiple sequences and multiple regions from MRI were constructed. An independent cohort of 73 patients was used to validate the proposed models. A final Clinical-Imaging-Radiomics nomogram for preoperatively predicting MVI in HCC patients was generated. Recurrence-free survival was analyzed using the log-rank test. RESULTS: For tumor-extracted features, the performance of signatures in fat-suppressed T1-weighted images and hepatobiliary phase was superior to that of other sequences in a single-sequence model. The radiomics signatures demonstrated better discriminatory ability than that of the Clinical-Imaging model for MVI. The nomogram incorporating clinical, imaging and radiomics signature showed excellent predictive ability and achieved well-fitted calibration curves, outperforming both the Radiomics and Clinical-Radiomics models in the training and validation cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: The Clinical-Imaging-Radiomics nomogram model of multiple regions and multiple sequences based on serum alpha-fetoprotein, three MRI characteristics, and 12 radiomics signatures achieved good performance for predicting MVI in HCC patients, which may help clinicians select optimal treatment strategies to improve subsequent clinical outcomes.

Biopsy-free AI-aided precision MRI assessment in prediction of prostate cancer biochemical recurrence.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the predictive ability of high-throughput MRI with deep survival networks for biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer (PCa) after prostatectomy. METHODS: Clinical-MRI and histopathologic data of 579 (train/test, 463/116) PCa patients were retrospectively collected. The deep survival network (iBCR-Net) is based on stepwise processing operations, which first built an MRI radiomics signature (RadS) for BCR, and predicted the T3 stage and lymph node metastasis (LN+) of tumour using two predefined AI models. Subsequently, clinical, imaging and histopathological variables were integrated into iBCR-Net for BCR prediction. RESULTS: RadS, derived from 2554 MRI features, was identified as an independent predictor of BCR. Two predefined AI models achieved an accuracy of 82.6% and 78.4% in staging T3 and LN+. The iBCR-Net, when expressed as a presurgical model by integrating RadS, AI-diagnosed T3 stage and PSA, can match a state-of-the-art histopathological model (C-index, 0.81 to 0.83 vs 0.79 to 0.81, p > 0.05); and has maximally 5.16-fold, 12.8-fold, and 2.09-fold (p < 0.05) benefit to conventional D'Amico score, the Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment (CAPRA) score and the CAPRA Postsurgical score. CONCLUSIONS: AI-aided iBCR-Net using high-throughput MRI can predict PCa BCR accurately and thus may provide an alternative to the conventional method for PCa risk stratification.

Extensible Integrated System for Real-Time Monitoring of Cardiovascular Physiological Signals and Limb Health.

In recent decades, the rapid growth in flexible materials, new manufacturing technologies, and wearable electronics design techniques has helped establish the foundations for noninvasive photoelectric sensing systems with shape-adaptability and "skin-like" properties. Physiological sensing includes humidity, mechanical, thermal, photoelectric, and other aspects. Photoplethysmography (PPG), an important noninvasive method for measuring pulse rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen, uses the attenuated signal obtained by the light absorbed and reflected from living tissue to a light source to realize real-time monitoring of human health status. This work illustrates a patch-type optoelectronic system that integrates a flexible perovskite photodetector and all-inorganic light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to realize the real-time monitoring of human PPG signals. The pulse rate of the human body and the swelling degree of finger joints can be extracted and analyzed using photodetectors, thus monitoring human health for the prevention and early diagnosis of certain diseases. Specifically, this work develops a 3D wrinkled-serpentine interconnection wire that increases the shape adaptability of the device in practical applications. The PPG signal sensor reported in this study has considerable potential for future wearable intelligent medical applications.

Diagnostic value of cervical vertebral maturation stages for midpalatal suture maturation assessment: a study in the Chinese population.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the correlation between cervical vertebral maturation stages (CVMS) and midpalatal suture maturation stages (MPSMS), and to analyze the diagnostic value of CVMS for the assessment of MPSMS. METHODS: Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of 233 subjects (8-20 years) were selected. The CVMS was determined using the McNamara and Franchi method, while the MPSMS was evaluated using the Angelieri method. Spearman rank correlation was used to analyze the results, and positive likelihood ratios were calculated to evaluate the diagnostic value of CVMS in identifying MPSMS. RESULTS: Spearman rank correlation results showed a strong positive correlation (r = 0.867, P < 0.001) between CVMS and MPSMS. The positive likelihood ratios of CS12, CS4, and CS56 for the identification of stages AB, C, and DE were 12.17, 7.64, and 7.79, respectively. The values of the positive likelihood ratios of the other groups were less than five. CONCLUSION: CS12 of the CVMS can be used as a reliable indicator for the assessment of MPSMS stage AB. From CVMS stage 4 forward, midpalatal suture maturation should be evaluated using CBCT.

In-vitro assessment of a novel plant rhizobacterium, Citrobacter freundii, for degrading and biocontrol of food mycotoxin deoxynivalenol.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the most harmful and well-known toxins present in food and animal feed throughout the world. Citrobacter freundii (C. freundii-ON077584), a novel DON-degrading strain, was isolated from rice root-linked soil samples. The degrading properties, including DON concentrations, incubation pH, incubation temperatures, bacterial concentrations, and acid treatment effect on degradation, were evaluated. At pH 7 and an incubation temperature of 37 °C, C. freundii demonstrated the capability to degrade more than 90% of DON. The degraded products of DON were identified as 3-keto-DON and DOM-1, which were confirmed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography hyphenated with Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) analyses. The mechanism of DON degradation into 3-keto-DON and DOM-1 by this bacterial strain will be further explored to identify and purify novel degrading enzymes that can be cloned to the microorganism and added to the animal feed to degrade the DON in the digestion tract.

Changes in the disease burden of breast cancer along with attributable risk factors in China from 1990 to 2019 and its projections: An analysis of the global burden of disease study 2019.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the secular trends in breast cancer burden with attributable risk factors, and make projections over time, which would contribute to the control and prevention of breast cancer. METHODS: We extracted detailed data on breast cancer incident cases and age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), deaths and age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR), disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and age-standardized DALYs rate (ASDR), as well as the attributable risk factors in China from the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2019. The estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) was calculated to quantify the changing trends. The national DALYs attributable to Socio-demographic Index (SDI) values were also presented. Projections to 2030 were estimated using the Bayesian age-period-cohort model. RESULTS: From 1990 to 2019, the number of breast cancer incident cases increased fourfold to 375,484, with deaths and DALYs over doubling to 96.306 and 2,957,454, respectively. The ASIR (EAPC = 2.84; 95% CI, 2.74-2.95) and ASMR (EAPC = 0.06; 95% CI, 0.00-0.12) increased, while the ASDR decreased with the EAPC of -0.13 (95% CI, -0.19 to -0.06) at the same period. The ASDR varied across provincial regions, which appeared to be in a wave-like upcurve with SDI values increasing. High body mass index became the first contribution to breast cancer DALYs for females in 2019, and alcohol use for males. Breast Cancer incident cases and deaths would increase to 587.7 and 125.6 thousand in 2030, of which there will be 577.1 and 122.7 thousand for females, and 10.6 and 2.9 thousand for males, respectively. CONCLUSION: Breast cancer remains a major public health problem in China. The absolute burden has been increasing over time, and varied across sex and regions. To control the potential risk factors and develop specific strategies will help to reduce the disease burden.

Cost-effective high-speed, three-dimensional live-cell imaging of HIV-1 transfer at the T cell virological synapse.

The availability of cost-effective, highly portable, and easy to use high-resolution live-cell imaging systems could present a significant technological break-through in challenging environments, such as high-level biosafety laboratories or sites where new viral outbreaks are suspected. We describe and demonstrate a cost-effective high-speed fluorescence microscope enabling the live tracking of virus particles across virological synapses that form between infected and uninfected T cells. The dynamics of HIV-1 proteins studied at the cellular level and the formation of virological synapses in living T cells reveals mechanisms by which cell-cell interactions facilitate infection between immune cells. Dual-color 3D fluorescence deconvolution microscopy of HIV-1 particles at frames rates of 100 frames per second allows us to follow the transfer of HIV-1 particles across the T cell virological synapse between living T cells. We also confirm the successful transfer of virus by imaging T cell samples fixed at specific time points during cell-cell virus transfer by super-resolution structured illumination microscopy.

Evolving trend change during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused unimaginable damage to public health and socio-economic structures worldwide; thus, an epidemiological depiction of the global evolving trends of this disease is necessary. As of March 31, 2022, the number of cases increased gradually over the four waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating the need for continuous countermeasures. The highest total cases per million and total deaths per million were observed in Europe (240,656.542) and South America (2,912.229), despite these developed countries having higher vaccination rates than other continents, such as Africa. In contrast, the lowest of the above two indices were found in undeveloped African countries, which had the lowest number of vaccinations. These data indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic is positively related to the socio-economic development level; meanwhile, the data suggest that the vaccine currently used in these continents cannot completely prevent the spread of COVID-19. Thus, rethinking the feasibility of a single vaccine to control the disease is needed. Although the number of cases in the fourth wave increased exponentially compared to those of the first wave, ~43.1% of deaths were observed during the first wave. This was not only closely linked to multiple factors, including the inadequate preparation for the initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the gradual reduction in the severity of additional variants, and the protection conferred by prior infection and/or vaccination, but this also indicated the change in the main driving dynamic in the fourth wave. Moreover, at least 12 variants were observed globally, showing a clear spatiotemporal profile, which provides the best explanation for the presence of the four waves of the pandemic. Furthermore, there was a clear shift in the trend from multiple variants driving the spread of disease in the early stage of the pandemic to a single Omicron lineage predominating in the fourth wave. These data suggest that the Omicron variant has an advantage in transmissibility over other contemporary co-circulating variants, demonstrating that monitoring new variants is key to reducing further spread. We recommend that public health measures, along with vaccination and testing, are continually implemented to stop the COVID-19 pandemic.

Characterisation and Risk Assessment of Metal Contaminants in the Dust Fall in the Vicinity of a Construction Waste Dump in Beijing.

In this study, a large construction waste dump in Beijing, China, was used as the study area. Nineteen effective atmospheric dust samples were collected. The mass fractions of 14 metal elements (Ca, Fe, Al, Mg, Mn, Zn, Cr, Cu, V, Pb, Ni, As, Co, and Cd) were determined for the samples using ICP-MS. The pollutants and the potential ecological risk levels of 10 different heavy metals were evaluated using the enrichment factor, geo-accumulation index, and a potential ecological risk assessment method. The results showed that the Ca, Fe, Al, and Mg contents in the dust fall were considerably high and accounted for 98.81% of the total mass of the analysed metals. Cd and Zn were the main metal contaminants in the dust fall in the vicinity of the construction waste dump, followed by Cu and Mn. The Cd, Zn, Cu, and Mn contents in the construction waste had a significant impact on atmospheric pollution within 250 m of the dump. Moreover, Cd had the largest contribution to the comprehensive ecological risk posed by the heavy metals in the dust fall and was determined to be the primary ecological risk factor in the atmospheric environment in the vicinity of the construction waste dump.

Analysis of Pyrolysis Characteristics of Oily Sludge in Different Regions and Environmental Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Pyrolysis Residue.

As a resource treatment method, pyrolysis realizes the recovery of oil and immobilization of heavy metals in oily sludge (OS). The results showed that the composition of OS had little effect on the trend of the whole pyrolysis process, but it had different effects on the mass loss and maximum weight loss rate at each pyrolysis stage. SEM-EDS results showed that the pyrolysis residue had a porous internal structure, which was similar to that of activated carbon. The elements S, Ca, O, Fe, Al, and Si were embedded in the carbon skeleton. After OS pyrolysis, the oil content of the solid residue was far less than 2%, which met the pollution control requirements for comprehensive utilization specified in China's oil and gas industry standard. At the same time, the ratio of exchangeable fraction decreased and the ratio of residual fraction increased after OS pyrolysis. The potential ecological hazard coefficient (E r) of Cd in OS2, OS2-500, and OS2-600 was greater than 40, which were strong and medium hazards. The E r values of OS2-700 and other metals were far lower than 40, which were low hazards. With the increase of pyrolysis temperature, the comprehensive ecological hazard index (RI) of heavy metals in the residue gradually decreased and the RI value of OS2-700 decreased to 28.01. Therefore, the pyrolysis residue had an internal porous structure and controllable environmental risk. It could be used as an adsorption material for heavy metals to realize the comprehensive utilization of OS.

How does academia respond to the burden of infectious and parasitic disease?

BACKGROUND: Academic research is one of the main avenues through which humans can fight the threat of infectious diseases. However, there have been concerns regarding whether the academic system has provided sufficient efforts to fight infectious diseases we potentially face. Answering these questions could contribute to evidence-based recommendations for setting research priorities and third-mission policies. METHODS: With a focus on one of the most common categories of communicable diseases, infectious and parasitic diseases (IPDs), we searched Web of Science for articles and reviews relevant to IPDs published during the period 2000-2019 and retrieved WHO data on disease burden in corresponding years. The academic response patterns were explored by IPD subcategory and by human development level (an index established by the United Nations). We conduct the analysis in particular to gain insight into the dynamic relationship between disease burden and research effort on IPDs, scientific efforts contributed by countries with different development levels, and the variation trends in international joint efforts. RESULTS: The greatest burden of IPDs is clustered in the developing regions of Africa, but has received academic response from both developed and developing countries. Highly developed countries dominate the ranks of academic research in this area, yet there is also a clear increase in research efforts from the countries most affected, despite their low human development scale. In fact, the overall analysis reveals an improved capability for addressing local problems from African regions. In terms of international collaboration, highly developed countries such as the United States and United Kingdom have commonly collaborated with needy regions, whereas prolific but developing nations, like China, have not. CONCLUSIONS: From a global perspective, academia has positively responded to health needs caused by IPDs. Although the relevant research output contribution is primarily from the highly developed countries, concentrated and specialized efforts from the undeveloped regions to ease their local burden can be clearly observed. Our findings also indicate a tendency to focus more on local health needs for both developed and undeveloped regions. The insights revealed in this study should benefit a more informed and systemic plan of research priorities.

Estimating Costs of the HIV Comprehensive Intervention Using the Spectrum Model - China, 2015-2019.

Introduction: In order to facilitate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment and prevention, the resource needs for HIV national strategic planning in developing regions were estimated based on Spectrum, the universal HIV cost-effectiveness analysis software. Methods: Based on the theoretical framework of Spectrum, the study developed a cost measurement tool for HIV, and calculated the cost of HIV prevention and control in 6 sampled cities in China during 2015-2019 using the Spectrum model. Results: From 2015 to 2019, the average annual costs for HIV prevention and control for Shijiazhuang, Yantai, Ningbo, Zhenjiang, Foshan, and Wuxi cities were 46.78, 47.55, 137.49, 24.73, 74.37, and 58.30 million Chinese yuan (CNY), respectively. The per capita costs were 4.37, 6.73, 17.33, 7.77, 17.56, and 8.91 CNY, respectively. In terms of the cost structure, the ratio of preventive intervention funds to therapeutic intervention funds (antiviral treatment) varied in sampled cities. Discussion: Developing comprehensive and systematic HIV fund calculation methods can provide a research basis for rational resource allocation in the field of HIV.

[Geographical Detection of Spatial Heterogeneity and Drivers of PM2.5 in the Yangtze River Economic Belt].

Based on ground monitoring data, we explored the spatiotemporal characteristics and drivers of PM2.5 in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) in 2018 using spatial autocorrelation analysis and geodetector modeling methods. The results showed that:① the PM2.5 concentration in the YREB posed the obvious characteristics of low values in summer and high values in winter, seasonal variation in spring and autumn, monthly U-shaped variation, and daily pulse variation. The low value area was mainly concentrated in the south bank of the upper reaches, whereas the high value area was located in the north of the middle-lower reaches of the YREB. ② PM2.5 pollution in the YREB had a stable positive spatial correlation, and the local association pattern showed a significant HH and LL spatial convergence. ③ The spatial correlation of PM2.5 in the YREB decreased with the increase in geographical distance, and its spatial autocorrelation threshold was approximately 870 km, within which the spatial agglomeration of PM2.5 pollution was strong. ④ The influences of natural and anthropogenic factors on PM2.5 had significant spatial differences. Altitude, relief, and population density were the high impact factors of PM2.5 pollution in the YREB. The interaction of factors had a far greater explanatory power on PM2.5 pollution than that of single factors. The dominant interaction factor was industrial structure ∩ altitude, which reflected the complexity of the drivers of air pollution in the YREB.