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Background: Malaria was once widespread in Guangzhou, China. However, a series of control measures have succeeded in eliminating local malaria infections. Based on the analysis of the characteristics of malaria epidemics in Guangzhou, China, from 1950 to 2022, the changes and effectiveness of malaria control strategies and surveillance management in Guangzhou from 1950 to 2022 are described. Methods: Data on malaria prevention and treatment in Guangzhou from 1950 to 2022 were collected, and descriptive epidemiological methods were used to analyse the prevalence of malaria, preventive and control measures taken, and the effectiveness of prevention and treatment in different periods. Data on malaria cases were obtained from the Guangzhou Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the China Communicable Disease Reporting System. Results: The development of the malaria control system in Guangzhou has gone through four periods: 1. High malaria prevalence (1950–1979), 2. Intensive prevention and control stage (1980–2000), 3. Consolidating gains in malaria control (2001–2008), and 4. Preventing reestablishment of transmission (2009–2022). During Period 1, only medical institutions at all levels and the local CDCs, the Guangzhou CDC participated in the malaria prevention and control system, establishing a three-tier health system on malaria prevention and control. During Period 2, other types of organizations, including the agricultural sector, schools and village committees, the construction department and street committee, are involved in the malaria control system. During Period 3, more and more organizations are joining forces to prevent and control malaria. A well-established multisectoral malaria control mechanism and an improved post-elimination surveillance management system are in place. Between 1950 and 2022, a total of 420,670 cases of malaria were reported. During Period 1, there was an epidemic of malaria in the early 1950s, with an annual incidence rate of more than 10,000/100,000, including a high rate of 2887.98/100,000 in 1954. In Period 2 malaria was gradually brought under control, with the average annual malaria incidence rate dropping to 3.14/100,000. During Period 3, the incidence rate was kept below 1/100,000, and by 2009 local malaria infections were eliminated. Conclusion: For decades, Guangzhou has adopted different malaria control strategies and measures at different epidemic stages. Increased collaboration among civil organizations in Guangzhou in malaria control has led to a significant decline in the number of malaria cases and the elimination of indigenous malaria infections by 2009.The experience of Guangzhou can guide the development of malaria control strategies in other cities experiencing similar malaria epidemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Scrub typhus is an increasingly serious public health problem, which is becoming the most common vector‐borne disease in Guangzhou. This study aimed to analyse the correlation between scrub typhus incidence and potential factors and rank the importance of influential factors. Methods: We collected monthly scrub typhus cases, meteorological variables, rodent density (RD), Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and land use type in Guangzhou from 2006 to 2019. Correlation analysis and a random forest model were used to identify the risk factors for scrub typhus and predict the importance rank of influencing factors related to scrub typhus incidence. Results: The epidemiological results of the scrub typhus cases in Guangzhou between 2006 and 2019 showed that the incidence rate was on the rise. The results of correlation analysis revealed that a positive relationship between scrub typhus incidence and meteorological factors of mean temperature (Tmean), accumulative rainfall (RF), relative humidity (RH), sunshine hours (SH), and NDVI, RD, population density, and green land coverage area (all p < 0.001). Additionally, we tested the relationship between the incidence of scrub typhus and the lagging meteorological factors through cross‐correlation function, and found that incidence was positively correlated with 1‐month lag Tmean, 2‐month lag RF, 2‐month lag RH, and 6‐month lag SH (all p < 0.001). Based on the random forest model, we found that the Tmean was the most important predictor among the influential factors, followed by NDVI. Conclusions: Meteorological factors, NDVI, RD, and land use type jointly affect the incidence of scrub typhus in Guangzhou. Our results provide a better understanding of the influential factors correlated with scrub typus, which can improve our capacity for biological monitoring and help public health authorities to formulate disease control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population growth and urban expansion have led to increased demand for buildings. Optimizing the building façade design, using integrated photovoltaic (PV) shading and vertical farming (VF) can reduce building energy consumption while ensuring a partial food supply. However, the importance and prevalence of productive façades have not received significant attention. Furthermore, few studies have focused on the impact of productive façades on both indoor and outdoor environmental qualities. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the potential of integrating productive façades with residential façades in high-density cities. A typical community in Guangzhou, China was investigated. Thermal comfort, light comfort, electricity production, and crop yield were considered, and the optimal façade configuration was chosen from the established 146-model library. The integrated module can effectively improve the indoor lighting and thermal comfort of residential buildings. The module also mitigates the outdoor thermal environment to a certain extent, meeting 6.3–10.3% and 7.6–9.6% of the annual electricity and vegetable demands, respectively, in residential communities. This study can guide other densely populated cities with subtropical climates to advance the research and construction of productive façades, improving occupant comfort, reducing energy consumption, and mitigating food security and urban climate change issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, along with the rapid development of urban rail transit (URT) in China, the evaluation of operational efficiency and energy efficiency has become one of the most important topics. However, the extant literature regarding the efficiency of URT at the line level and considering carbon emissions is limited. To fill the gap, an evaluation model based on slacks-based measure (SBM) data envelopment analysis (DEA) is proposed to measure the efficiencies, which is applied to 61 URT lines in China's four megacities. The findings are summarized as follows: (1) The average operational efficiency and energy efficiency of URT lines are low, and both have great room for improvement. (2) There are significant disparities in the efficiency of URT lines in the case cities. For instance, the average operational efficiency of URT lines in Guangzhou is higher than that of other cities, while the average energy efficiency of URT lines in Shanghai is higher than that of other cities. (3) The URT lines operated by state-owned enterprises have higher average operational efficiency, while the lines operated by joint ventures have higher average energy efficiency. Finally, some suggestions are provided to improve the efficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The marketization of municipal services in China's cities from the 1990s triggered a wave of strikes beginning in the 2000s that provided an impetus towards standardization and the re‐regulation of employment conditions. On the basis of a study of the sanitation and taxi industries in the cities of Wenzhou and Guangzhou, the authors find that local governments have utilized three strategies in promoting standardization: unionization, public policy implementation and business consolidation. Although outcomes vary across the cases considered, institutionalization remains weak at best and conflicts persist. The article concludes by presenting a schema for comparing the different strategies identified in these cases and those historically institutionalized in the West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the SARS-CoV-2 contamination of environmental surfaces and air in non-health care settings among COVID-19 cases. We explored the SARS-CoV-2 contamination of environmental surfaces and air by collecting air and swabbing environmental surfaces among 39 COVID-19 cases in Guangzhou, China. The specimens were tested on RT-PCR. The information collected for COVID-19 cases included basic demographic, clinical severity, symptoms at onset, radiological testing, laboratory testing and hospital admission. A total of 641 environmental surfaces and air specimens were collected among 39 COVID-19 cases before disinfection. Among them, 20 specimens (20/641, 3.1%) were tested positive from 9 COVID-19 cases (9/39, 23.1%), with 5 (5/101, 5.0%) positive specimens from 3 asymptomatic cases, 5 (5/220, 2.3%) from 3 mild cases, and 10 (10/374, 2.7%) from 3 moderate cases. All positive specimens were collected within 3 days after diagnosis, and 10 (10/42, 23.8%) were found in toilet (5 on toilet bowl, 4 on sink/faucet/shower, 1 on floor drain), 4 (4/21, 19.0%) in anteroom (2 on water dispenser/cup/bottle, 1 on chair/table, 1 on TV remote), 1 (1/8, 12.5%) in kitchen (1 on dining-table), 1 (1/18, 5.6%) in bedroom (1 on bed/sheet pillow/bedside table), 1 (1/5, 20.0%) in car (1 on steering wheel/seat/handlebar) and 3 (3/20, 21.4%) on door knobs. Air specimens in room (0/10, 0.0%) and car (0/1, 0.0%) were all negative. SARS-CoV-2 was found on environmental surfaces especially in toilet, and may survive for several days. We provided evidence of potential for SARS-CoV-2 transmission through contamination of environmental surfaces. Author summary: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has precipitated a global crisis. It is important to understanding the SARS-CoV-2 contamination of environmental surfaces and air in non-health care settings among COVID-19 cases. In this study, we explored the SARS-CoV-2 contamination of environmental surfaces and air by collecting air and swabbing environmental surfaces among 39 COVID-19 cases in Guangzhou, China. We found that 20 specimens were tested positive from 9 COVID-19 cases. All positive specimens were collected within 3 days after diagnosis, and 10 were found in toilet. Air specimens in room and car were all negative. SARS-CoV-2 was found on environmental surfaces especially in toilet, and may survive for several days. We provided evidence of potential for SARS-CoV-2 transmission through contamination of environmental surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]