Multilevel factors associated with HIV-related stigma among women living with HIV in Guangdong Province, China: a social-ecological model-informed study.

BACKGROUND: HIV-related stigma continues to hinder optimal HIV care, and its determinants should be understood at multiple levels. Based on the social-ecological model, this study aimed to explore factors associated with HIV-related stigma among women living with HIV in Guangdong Province, China. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from July to August 2022 to recruit newly reported women living with HIV with a history of pregnancy or current pregnancy in 2021 in 21 cities in Guangdong Province. HIV-related stigma was assessed using an abbreviated Chinese version of Berger's HIV Stigma Scale. Univariate and multivariable hierarchical regression analyses based on the social-ecological model were conducted to explore factors associated with HIV-related stigma and its four dimensions (personalized stigma, disclosure concerns, negative self-image and concerns about public attitudes) at the community/hospital, interpersonal, and individual levels. RESULTS: A moderate level of HIV-related stigma was found among the 360 participants included, with a mean score of 45.26. Multivariable hierarchical regression analysis showed that at the community/hospital-level, individuals were more likely to experience high levels of HIV-related stigma if they had experienced the discriminatory behaviors from health care workers (aOR = 2.34, 95%CI: 1.48-3.70) and if they rated serostatus disclosure services as less helpful (aOR = 0.69, 95%CI: 0.48-0.98). At the interpersonal-level, individuals with an HIV-positive partner (aOR = 1.71, 95%CI: 1.01-2.90) were more likely to experience high levels of HIV-related stigma than those with an HIV-negative or unknown partner. Individuals with high resilience (aOR = 0.22, 95%CI: 0.13-0.35) had lower levels of HIV-related stigma at the individual-level. In addition, ever experiencing discriminatory behaviors from health care workers, thinking serostatus disclosure services helpful, having ever seen publicity about personal interest protection services and complaint channels for people living with HIV(PLHIV), knowing about care and support services for PLHIV from social organizations at the community/hospital-level, partner notification and support at the interpersonal-level, and violations of personal interests, resilience at the individual-level were also associated with different dimensions of HIV-related stigma. CONCLUSIONS: HIV-related stigma was moderate among women living with HIV. The social-ecological model can facilitate a better understanding of factors associated with HIV-related stigma. Multilevel intervention strategies need to be tailored to reduce HIV-related stigma.

Development and validation of an individualised nomogram to predict mother-to-child transmission in pregnant women with syphilis in China: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: The elimination of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of syphilis has been set as a public health priority. However, an instrument to predict the MTCT of syphilis is not available. We aimed to develop and validate an intuitive nomogram to predict the individualised risk of MTCT in pregnant women with syphilis in China. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Data was acquired from the National Information System of Prevention of MTCT of Syphilis in Guangdong province between 2011 and 2020. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 13 860 pregnant women with syphilis and their infants were included and randomised 7:3 into the derivation cohort (n=9702) and validation cohort (n=4158). PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Congenital syphilis. RESULTS: Among 13 860 pregnant women with syphilis and their infants included, 1370 infants were diagnosed with congenital syphilis. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression and multivariable logistic regression showed that age, ethnicity, registered residence, marital status, number of pregnancies, transmission route, the timing of syphilis diagnosis, stage of syphilis, time from first antenatal care to syphilis diagnosis and toluidine red unheated serum test titre were predictors of MTCT of syphilis. A nomogram was developed based on the predictors, which demonstrated good calibration and discrimination with an area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic of 0.741 (95% CI: 0.728 to 0.755) and 0.731 (95% CI: 0.710 to 0.752) for the derivation and validation cohorts, respectively. The net benefit of the predictive models was positive, demonstrating a significant potential for clinical decision-making. We have also developed a web calculator based on this prediction model. CONCLUSIONS: Our nomogram exhibited good performance in predicting individualised risk for MTCT of syphilis, which may help guide early and personalised prevention for MTCT of syphilis.

Student engagement in voluntary service in response to COVID-19 in Guangzhou, China: Implications for disease control and public health education from a cross-sectional study.

Public health students have been seen as a potential force to meet the demand for health workers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, few studies have provided empirical data. This study was conducted to summarize the experiences of public health students who engaged in voluntary service in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Guangzhou, China. A cross-sectional study was conducted among postgraduate and undergraduate students at the School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, in August 2021. A self-designed online questionnaire was used to collect data on the experience of voluntary service during the early stage of the outbreak (in February 2020) and during the normalization stage of the prevention and control of COVID-19 (in June 2021) in China. Among the 96 students, 40 (41.7%) participated in voluntary service in February 2020, and 56 (58.3%) participated in voluntary service in June 2021. Most of the students participated in the voluntary service due to the motivations to help others (55.2%), to apply theoretical knowledge to practice (74.0%), to improve their fieldwork skills (72.9%), and to gain the experience for future careers (80.2%). Most volunteers were driven by professional responsibility (81.3%). More than half (53.1%) of the students felt anxious during their voluntary service. A lower proportion of students felt anxious in June 2021 than in February 2020 (44.6% vs 65.0%, P = .049), while a higher proportion of students found voluntary service harder than expected in June 2021 than in February 2020 (33.9% vs 7.5%, P = .002). Most students improved their knowledge and skills about COVID-19 after the training, but some knowledge and skills still needed improvement after their voluntary service. Public health students could help support the health system during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing adequate training and protection. More efforts should be made to provide psychological support for student volunteers and to optimize the curriculum to bridge the gap in public health education between theoretical knowledge and practical skills in responding to public health emergencies.

Analysis of associated factors of the inconsistency for knowledge and behavior in condom use among college students in Zhuhai City / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To examine the prevalence and factors influencing the inconsistency for knowledge and behavior in condom use among college students, so as to provide suggestions for AIDS prevention and education in universities.@*Methods@#From October to December 2019, a multistage cluster sampling method was employed to collect data relating to inconsistency for knowledge and behavior in condom use and other related factors among 1 303 students from six colleges in Zhuhai, China. Chi square test and Logistic regression were performed to analyze the influencing factors and moderating effect.@*Results@#The reporting rate of in consistency of knowledge and behavior in condom use among college students was 41.1%. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that seeking sexual partners offline was negatively correlated with inconsistency for knowledge and behavior in condom use ( OR=0.70, 95%CI =0.51-0.95). However, condom nonuse during the first sexual experience (OR=7.11, 95%CI=5.23-9.67), smoking before sex ( OR=1.47, 95%CI =1.07-2.02), drinking before sex ( OR=1.44, 95%CI =1.09-1.91), history of intimate partner violence ( OR=1.53, 95%CI =1.13-2.07), and having multiple sexual partners ( OR=1.69, 95%CI =1.25-2.29) were positively correlated with inconsistency for knowledge and behavior in condom use ( P <0.05). The moderating effect analysis showed that condom use during the first sexual experience had a moderating effect on smoking before sex and inconsistency for knowledge and behavior in condom use ( β=0.92, P <0.05). Among students who did not use condoms during the first sexual experience, a positive correlation was observed between smoking before sex and inconsistency for knowledge and behavior in condom use ( OR= 2.76 , 95%CI=1.09-6.99, P <0.05). However, no correlation was found between smoking before sex and inconsistency for knowledge and behavior in condom use ( OR=1.32, 95%CI=0.92-1.88, P >0.05) among students who used condoms during the first sexual experience.@*Conclusion@#High levels of inconsistency for knowledge and behavior in condom use are found among college students in Zhuhai City. Colleges should carry out sex education activities as soon as possible, and explore new health education models to promote the transformation of their knowledge into behavior.

Rational Design of a N,S Co-Doped Supermicroporous CoFe-Organic Framework Platform for Water Oxidation.

It remains a challenge to rational design of a new metal-organic framework (MOF) as highly efficient direct electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, we developed a simple and effective method to explore a new pillared-layered MOF with syringic acid as a promising OER electrocatalyst. The isostructural mono-, heterobimetallic MOF and N,S co-doped MOF by mixing thiourea were quickly synthesized in a high yield under solvothermal condition. Moreover, the optimized N,S co-doped MOF exhibits the lowest overpotential of 254 mV at 10 mA cm-2 on a glass carbon electrode and a small Tafel slope of 50 mV dec-1 , especially, this catalyst also possesses long-term electrochemical durability for at least 16 h. According to the characterization, the incorporation of N and S atoms into this heterobimetallic CoFe-based MOF could modify its pore structure, tune the electronic structure, accordingly, improve the mass and electron transportation, and facilitate the formation of active species, as a consequence, the improved activity of this new N,S co-doped MOF for OER should be mainly be ascribed to higher electrochemical activation toward the active species via in situ surface modification during the OER process.

[Expression Level of TGFß1 and VEGF Gene in Acute Myeloid Patients and Its Clinical Prognostic Value].

OBJECTIVE: To study the expression level of TGFß1 and VEGF gene in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and its clinical prognostic value. METHODS: Seventy-eight AML patients treated in our hospital from July 2016 to September 2018 were selected. After isolation of bone marrow mononuclear cells from the patients, the levels of TGFß1 and VEGF genes were detected by RT-PCR, and the correlation of TGFß1 with VEGF genes and clinical characteristics of AML patients was analyzed. OS and EFS of the patients were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier, and Cox risk ratio model was used to analyze the prognostic risk factors of AML patients. RESULTS: The relative expression level of TGFß1 gene in AML patients was 0.32±0.04, which was significantly lower than that in control group (P<005). The relative expression level of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) gene in the patients was 2.65±0.15, which was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). The levels of TGFß1 and VEGF genes significantly correlated with leukocyte count, hemoglobin, platelet and peripheral blast levels in AML patients (P<0.05). The level of TGFß1 in AML patients with complete remission was higher than that in patients with partial remission or non-remission (P<0.05). The level of TGFß1 in AML patients with partial remission was significantly higher than that in patients with non-remission (P<0.05). The level of VEGF in AML patients with complete remission was lower than at in patients with partial remission or non-remission (P<0.05). The level of VEGF in AML patients with partial remission was significantly lower than that in patients with non-remission (P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that OS and DFS in AML patients with high expression of TGFß1 were better than those in patients with low expression of TGFß1 (P<0.05), OS and DFS in AML patients with low expression of VEGF were better than those in patients with high expression of VEGF (P<0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that platelet, TGFß1 and VEGF gene were independent influencing factors of OS (P<0.05). Leukocyte, TGFß1 and VEGF gene were independent influencing factors of DFS (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Decreased expression of TGFß1 and increased expression of VEGF gene in AML patients closely relate to the poor prognosis of AML patients, which can provide reference for improving clinical efficacy of AML patients.

New lead-free perovskite Rb7Bi3Cl16 nanocrystals with blue luminescence and excellent moisture-stability.

The development of nontoxic and stable all-inorganic perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) represents a major challenge to unlock widely practical applications in photoelectric fields. It is an effective strategy to discover nontoxic metal perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) with excellent optical properties. In addition, it has been proved that alkali metals such as rubidium (Rb) and potassium (K) have a good influence on improving the optical performance of perovskites. Hence, we reported new lead-free perovskite Rb7Bi3Cl16 single crystals, which displayed a zero-dimensional cluster structure and were composed of two kinds of octahedra with different distortions. At the same time, we synthesized its NCs, which showed a blue emission at 437 nm with a PLQY of 28.43% and presented a good optical and moisture stability for one month. The excellent moisture-stability might be attributed to their much higher ratio of Rb atoms and the ideal [BiCl6]3- octahedra on the surface, which are beneficial to form an inorganic BiOCl shell to protect the Rb7Bi3Cl16 NCs from moisture attack.

[Effects of sodium ozagrel in primary thrombocytosis combined with thrombosis].

This study was aimed to investigate the incidence of thrombosis in patients with primary thrombocytosis (PT) and its correlation with function changes of platelets, and to explore the effect of thromboxane A2 (TXA2) inhibitor-ozagrel sodium on platelet activity and its efficacy for prevention and treatment of thrombosis. The CD62P and PAC-1 levels on platelet surface were detected by flow cytometry; the levels of TXB2 (metabolic product of TXA2) and 6-keto-PGFIalpha (metabolic product of prostacyclin) were detected by FLISA. The function change of platelets and its correlation with thrombosis were observed and compared in PT patients with and without thrombosis. The results indicated that the TXB2, PAC-1 and CD62P level, and TXB2/6-keto-PGF1alpha ratio in PT patients with thrombosis were higher than those in PT patients without thrombosis before treatment with ozagrel sodium (p<0.01). After treatment with ozagrel sodium, the function indexes of platelets such as CD62P, PAC-1, TXB2 and TXB2/6-keto-PGF1alpha except 6-keto-PGF1alpha in PT patients with and without thrombosis decreased obviously (p<0.01), but there was no significant difference in TXB2, 6-keto-PGF1alpha and TXB2/6-keto-PGF1alpha levels between PT patients with and without thrombosis except CD62P and PAC-1. It is concluded that the multi-index of platelets in PT patients with thrombosis are higher than that in PT patients without thrombosis, the activation of platelet function is a high risk factor for thrombosis of PT patients. The ozagrel sodium can obviously reduce the platelet activation, decrease the production of TXA2 and ameliorate the TXB2/6-keto-PGF1alpha ratio. The ozagrel sodium not only possesses therapeutic effect, but also preventive efficacy for thrombosis.