The effect of contraceptive methods on reproductive tract infections risk: a cross-sectional study having a sample of 52,481 women.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between specific contraceptives use and reproductive tract infections (RTIs). STUDY DESIGN: Participants consisted of 52,481 rural married women of reproductive age identified from a cross-sectional study in Anhui Province of China. The questionnaire, gynecological examination, and laboratory inspection were used to collect data. The subgroup analysis was performed to estimate the effect of the specific contraceptives on the specific RTIs. RESULTS: A total of 49,970 (95.2 %) women used contraceptive methods and 31,390 (59.8 %) women had at least one RTI. Overall, use of intrauterine device (IUD), condom, female sterilisation, rhythm method, and oral contraceptive (OC) were associated with RTIs. In the subgroup analysis, IUD use was a risk factor for endocervicitis, bacterial vaginosis (BV), and trichomoniasis; condom, rhythm method, and OC were associated with endocervicitis; female sterilisation was associated with endocervicitis and trichomoniasis. Moreover, male sterilisation was associated with endocervicitis; withdrawal was a protective factor for endocervicitis and a risk factor for trichomoniasis; subdermal implant was associated with candidiasis and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). CONCLUSIONS: All the contraceptive methods may lead to the RTIs. A properly assessment for contraceptive methods use is needed for female reproductive health.

Willingness to receive SARS-CoV-2 vaccine among healthcare workers in public institutions of Zhejiang Province, China.

This study aims to investigate healthcare workers' (HCWs) willingness to receive SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in Zhejiang and to discover the related influential factors. The survey was conducted in six regions of Zhejiang Province, China, and 13 hospitals and 12 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were incorporated into the survey research. Participants were healthcare workers and a total of 3726 questionnaires were collected online, of which 3634 (97.53%) were analyzed. The relationships between the factors and the willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19 were computed as odds ratios (ORs) by means of multi-factor non-conditional logistic regression analysis. Of the 3634 participants, 2874 (79.09%) HCWs expressed their willingness to get vaccinated if the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine becomes available. Respondents who were younger than 50 years (OR = 1.502, 95% CI: 1.047-2.154), those who believed that they were somewhat likely (OR = 1.658, 95% CI: 1.297-2.120) or likely (OR = 1.893, 95% CI: 1.334-2.684) to get infected by SARS-COV-2 and those with a positive attitude toward the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine were more willing to get vaccinated. Furthermore, compared to doctors, nurses were more reluctant to get vaccinated. In addition, it was found that higher the education level, lower the willingness to get vaccinated. This study revealed that HCWs in Zhejiang Province had a high willingness to get vaccinated. Awareness about the vaccine's effectiveness and safety and the disease severity should be promoted among HCWs over 50 years of age and nurses to increase the willingness to get vaccinated.

[Method for optimal sensor placement in water distribution systems with nodal demand uncertainties].

The notion of identification fitness was proposed for optimizing sensor placement in water distribution systems. Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II was used to find the Pareto front between minimum overlap of possible detection times of two events and the best probability of detection, taking nodal demand uncertainties into account. This methodology was applied to an example network. The solutions show that the probability of detection and the number of possible locations are not remarkably affected by nodal demand uncertainties, but the sources identification accuracy declines with nodal demand uncertainties.

Hypolipidaemic effects and mechanisms of the main component of Opuntia dillenii Haw. polysaccharides in high-fat emulsion-induced hyperlipidaemic rats.

The antihyperlipidaemic effects of ODP-Ia, one of the main components of Opuntia dillenii Haw. polysaccharides, were studied. Gavage administration of ODP-Ia was observed to significantly decrease serum lipid levels and to increase serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level in hyperlipidaemic rats. Similar suppressive patterns were also seen in hepatic total cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Moreover, the ODP-Ia administration significantly increased serum lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase activity, increased the production of serum NO, inhibited hepatic HMG-CoA reductase activity, augmented serum and hepatic superoxide dismutase activities and decreased the serum and hepatic malondialdehyde contents in hyperlipidaemic rats. In addition, a histopathological examination revealed that ODP-Ia administration significantly suppressed inflammatory cell infiltration and the expression of VCAM-1. Together, these results indicate that ODP-Ia is a potential natural product for the treatment of hyperlipidaemia-related diseases by improving antioxidant levels, modulating the activities of enzymes involved in cholesterol metabolism, promoting the production of NO and suppressing the expression of VCAM-1, thereby suppressing lipid accumulation and inflammatory cell infiltration.