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As the largest developing nation, China is currently experiencing rapid urban growth. Conducting a thorough scientific assessment of this expansion and its ecological consequences is of paramount importance for advancing China's ecological civilization and aligning with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. This study employs multi-source remote sensing data to investigate the spatiotemporal trends in Chinese urban development and explore its impact on the ecological environment. From 2013 to 2021, the findings indicate an increasing trend in China's total nocturnal light, with the southern and central regions exhibiting higher growth rates. This suggests a decade-long expansion of Chinese cities, especially in the southern and central regions. However, the impact of urban expansion on ecological quality varies. Beijing, Shenyang, and Xi'an have witnessed improved environmental quality, while Kunming and Shenzhen have experienced minimal changes, and Hefei and Wuhan have encountered a decline. The observed spatial heterogeneity underscores the intricate relationship between urban expansion and ecological shifts. This study reveals the spatiotemporal dynamics of China's urban expansion and its ecological impact, providing valuable insights and policy recommendations for fostering the harmonized development of urbanization and ecological preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building new industrial towns has become a popular strategy for the Chinese government, as part of its aim to disperse the population and create new concentrations of activity. However, relevant studies have shown that these development strategies often struggle to provide appropriate infrastructure and public services to residents. In this paper, we explore the case of Chenglingji new port area, which is an industrial new town in Yueyang City, Hunan Province. To understand the provision of public services in the area, we analyzed the construction of public service facilities using GIS software, while 939 questionnaires were distributed and collected from local residents and workers. The survey results confirm the low level of satisfaction with the livability of the area, and the lack and unevenness of public services to meet the needs of local residents and foreign workers. It further emphasizes that the provision of public services should be considered in the future planning of the Chenglingji new port area. We also provide some suggestions on the construction of industrial new towns of the same type as Chenglingji and other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a wavelet approach to examine the relationship between gold prices and the Chinese stock market over the past quarter-century. Our empirical study with weekly data shows that gold cannot be used as a short-term hedging tool in China in the full sample period, but it can be used as a long-term hedging tool in the sample period after 2005, concurrent with changes in Chinese government policy. This conclusion also emerges when weekly data are replaced by monthly or daily data. However, similar changes in the long-term hedging ability of gold are not observed in the UK and the US. Thus, this change in the ability of gold to serve as a hedge in China can probably be attributed to shifts in some important market policies, such as the reform in nontradable shares in the Chinese capital market and the exchange rate reform in 2005. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precisely identifying the shifting urban spatial structures produced by urban forms and functions contributes to an advanced understanding of morphological dynamics and related planning practices. By reconceptualizing urban evolution as a centrality process in which spatial and functional centrality processes co-evolve, this paper explores the transformation of urban centrality structures of Shanghai, as captured by the shifting interdependence between spatial centrality indices and delivered urban function connectivity metrics, generated in tandem by spatial network and land-use patterns. Four snapshots of street networks and Points-of-Interest (POIs) in history are selected as a spatio-temporal description of the urban transformation of Central Shanghai. The results demonstrate that the centrality structures hidden behind the spatial networks and land-use distributions have affected each other dynamically and the characteristics of urban developments at various stages can be distinguished according to modes of spatio-functional interaction at multi-scales. The findings also indicate that shifting complex interrelationships between the spatial network and land-use patterns are the major determinants of the (re)formation of the urban function regions. The proposed framework offers valuable insights into the morphological evolution process of cities as indicated by the configurational interplay between form and function, thereby representing a novel way to identify urban change explicitly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/purpose: The association between adverse mental health and unhealthy lifestyle behaviors in migrant workers remains poorly defined in Chinese rural-to-urban migrants.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted regarding health-related behaviors in 5484 migrants (51.3% males) employed in Shanghai for at least 6 months. The Chinese version of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) was used to assess migrant mental health status. Logistic regression was applied to determine the contribution of adverse mental health to lifestyle behaviors.Results: Of the 5484 migrants, 21.1% had potential mental health problems and 63.1% had an unhealthy lifestyle. The three most prevalent mental disorders were obsessions-compulsions (O-C; 13.7%; 751/5484), interpersonal sensitivity (I-S; 11.0%; 603/5484), and hostility (HOS; 10.8%; 590/5484). Compared with the male participants, the female participants exhibited significantly increased mean scores for phobic anxiety (PHOB) and anxiety (ANX) (p < 0.001). Logistic regression indicated that after adjustment for potential confounding factors in both genders, an unhealthy lifestyle score was significantly associated with all nine subscales of the SCL-90-R. The male participants with psychoticism [PSY; odds ratio (OR) = 4.908, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.474-9.735], ANX (OR = 4.022, 95% CI 2.151-7.518), or depression (DEP; OR = 3.378, 95% CI 2.079-5.487) were the most likely to have an unhealthy lifestyle. In the female participants, an unhealthy lifestyle was most associated with HOS (OR = 2.868, 95% CI 2.155-3.819), PSY (OR = 2.783, 95% CI 1.870-4.141), or DEP (OR = 2.650, 95% CI 1.960-3.582).Conclusion: Lifestyle behaviors were significantly associated with mental health in rural-to-urban migrant workers, and these findings indicate the need to develop targeted psychological interventions to foster healthy lifestyles in migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The increasing rural-to-urban migrant population in China may be linked to the susceptibility to tobacco use. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of smoking among rural-to-urban migrants in China. Methods: Major English and Chinese databases were searched for original studies on smoking prevalence among rural-to-urban migrants in China. A validated quality assessment tool was used to evaluate these studies. Subsequently, data were extracted to calculate the overall pooled estimate of prevalence using random effect model, and then stratified by gender, definition, location, and occupation. Meta-regression analysis was used to identify the source of heterogeneity among variables. Results: We identified 17 eligible studies involving 32,694 migrants. The overall pooled prevalence estimate of smoking among rural-to-urban migrants was 27.25% (95% CI: 23.34, 31.34), with significant heterogeneity (I2 = 98.2, p <.01). In stratified analysis, specific pooled prevalence estimates were 46.71% for male (95% CI: 40.51, 52.97) and 5.34% for female (95% CI: 2.90, 8.45); 26.71% (95% CI: 17.00, 37.71), and 24.96% (95% CI: 18.65, 31.86) in current and daily smoking group, respectively; 21.89% (95% CI: 15.80, 28.66) and 30.59% (95% CI: 20.04, 42.28) for migrants in North and South China, respectively; 48.34% (95% CI: 24.63, 72.46) in construction industry, 31.77% (95% CI: 15.54, 50.67) in manufacturing industry and 18.69% (95% CI: 11.37, 27.32) in service industry, respectively. Meta-regression analysis revealed that gender and occupation differences contributed to high heterogeneity. Conclusion: Cigarette smoking is still prevalent among rural-to-urban migrants, which may be influenced by gender and occupations. Policies should be designed and conducted to control smoking prevalence among these populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a vital indicator for measuring urban development, urban areas are expected to be identified explicitly and conveniently with widely available data sets, thereby benefiting planning decisions and relevant urban studies. Existing approaches to identifying urban areas are normally based on midresolution sensing data sets, lowresolution socioeconomic information (e.g., population density) in space (e.g., cells with several square kilometers or even larger towns or wards). Yet, few of these approaches pay attention to defining urban areas with high-resolution microdata for large areas by incorporating morphological and functional characteristics. This article investigates an automated framework to delineate urban areas at the block level, using increasingly available ordnance surveys for generating all blocks (or geounits) and ubiquitous points of interest (POIs) for inferring density of each block. A vector cellular automata model was adopted for identifying urban blocks from all generated blocks, taking into account density, neighborhood condition, and other spatial variables of each block. We applied this approach for mapping urban areas of all 654 Chinese cities and compared them with those interpreted from midresolution remote sensing images and inferred by population density and road intersections. Our proposed framework is proven to be more straightforward, time-saving, and fine-scaled com' pared with other existing ones. It asserts the need for consistency, efficiency, and availability in defining urban areas with consideration of omnipresent spatial and functional factors across cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rapid urbanization of China has resulted in significant domestic migration. The purpose of the present study was to survey the sexual behavior of migrant workers in Shanghai and determine the risk factors for unprotected sex.Methods: A cross-sectional study of the sexual behavior of 5996 migrant workers was conducted in 7 administrative regions of Shanghai in 2012 from August to October. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data.Results: Five thousand seven hundred seventy two out of the 5996 migrants enrolled into the present study were primarily young adults aged 34.3 ± 10.6 years. Of them, 73.5 % were married, 51.1 % graduated from junior high school, 46.0 % earned 1500-2500 yuan (RMB) monthly. The majority (82.3 %) of the migrants engaged in sexual behavior, and 58.0 % did not use condoms in sexual intercourse. Some of the participants (15.2 %) had casual extramarital partners within the previous 12 months; among them, 76.2 % never or only occasionally used condoms. The results of the multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that condom use was associated with age, occupation, monthly income, education, and housing conditions. Having temporary sexual partners was significantly associated with several factors such as unmarried (OR: 0.47, 95 % CI: 0.38-0.57), working at domestic (OR: 1.65,95 % CI: 1.17-2.34), working at wholesale/retail(OR: 1.65, 95 % CI: 1.13-2.13), and male migrants (OR: 2.37, 95 % CI: 1.96-2.85), but not with other factors such as age, monthly income, or education. Having casual extramarital partners was significantly associated with female migrants working at domestic (OR: 1.89, 95 % CI: 1.09-3.28), unmarried male migrants (OR: 0.51, 95 % CI: 0.36-0.74).Conclusion: Closer attention should be paid to sexual health education among migrant workers, especially women and those working in domestic and wholesale/retail occupations. The use of condoms should be promoted for older (>35 y), low-income, and less-educated individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chilling injury poses a serious threat to seed emergence of spring-sowing maize in China, which has become one of the main climatic limiting factors affecting maize production in China. It is of great significance to mine the key genes controlling low-temperature tolerance during seed germination and study their functions for breeding new maize varieties with strong low-temperature tolerance during germination. In this study, 176 lines of the intermated B73 × Mo17 (IBM) Syn10 doubled haploid (DH) population, which comprised 6618 bin markers, were used for QTL analysis of low-temperature germination ability. The results showed significant differences in germination related traits under optimum-temperature condition (25 °C) and low-temperature condition (10 °C) between two parental lines. In total, 13 QTLs were detected on all chromosomes, except for chromosome 5, 7, 10. Among them, seven QTLs formed five QTL clusters on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 9 under the low-temperature condition, which suggested that there may be some genes regulating multiple germination traits at the same time. A total of 39 candidate genes were extracted from five QTL clusters based on the maize GDB under the low-temperature condition. To further screen candidate genes controlling low-temperature germination, RNA-Seq, in which RNA was extracted from the germination seeds of B73 and Mo17 at 10 °C, was conducted, and three B73 upregulated genes and five Mo17 upregulated genes were found by combined analysis of RNA-Seq and QTL located genes. Additionally, the variations of Zm00001d027976 (GLABRA2), Zm00001d007311 (bHLH transcription factor), and Zm00001d053703 (bZIP transcription factor) were found by comparison of amino sequence between B73 and Mo17. This study will provide a theoretical basis for marker-assisted breeding and lay a foundation for further revealing molecular mechanism of low-temperature germination tolerance in maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the largest developing country, China has experienced dramatic urban expansion since the "reform and opening-up" policy started at the end of the 1970s. In this paper, we monitor three decades of urban expansion in China's 36 major cities, based on the spectral mixture analysis of remotely sensed satellite images. The results demonstrated that these major cities have expanded by 5.85 times from 1986 to 2015, with 15.51 km2 average expansion area per city per year. We found the urban expansion trajectories showed three different modes, i.e., exponential, linear and s-shaped, which were closely related to the city development level. In the old city zones, however, there was an interesting common tendency of the impervious surface area (ISA) first increasing and then decreasing, which could be largely attributed to the phenomenon of urban village reconstruction in China's cities. Based on the Granger Causality Test (GCT), the interaction between urban ISA and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita (GDPPC) suggested that the former was the driver of the latter. Meanwhile, taking the Yangtze River as the division between north and south China, there exists a north–south territorial differentiation for the interaction between ISA and total population at the year-end (TP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-treatment recurrence remains a challenge for the global control of tuberculosis (TB). This study investigated longitudinal data on pulmonary TB recurrence rates and risk factors for recurrence among successfully treated smear-positive tuberculosis cases in China. Between 1st January 2009 and 31st December 2016 we evaluated 33 441 treatment-naïve patients diagnosed with sputum-smear-positive, non-multidrug-resistant TB in Hangzhou, China. We included the data of 9828 patients with TB who were treated successfully. A total of 4.9% of the cases were recurrent (479/9828), identified within a median observation period lasting 1565 days. Altogether, 51.1% (245/479) of the recurrences occurred within 1 year. The cumulative 2- and 5-year recurrence rates were 3.90% (95% confidence interval (CI) 3.3–4.5%) and 5.4% (95%CI 4.8–6.0%), respectively. Prolonged treatment (over 7 months) occurred in 64.7% (6363/9828), with a median treatment duration of 242 days (interquartile range 195–348 days). Male sex (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) (95%CI) 1.61 (1.30–2.00), p < 0.001), age 60 years old or older (aHR (95%CI) 2.03 (1.70–2.44), p < 0.001), pulmonary cavity (aHR (95%CI) 1.51 (1.25–1.82), p < 0.001) and sputum positivity at 2 months (aHR (95%CI) 1.39 (1.05–1.81), p 0.02) all increased the risk of TB recurrence. Prolonged treatment was associated with reduced TB recurrence (aHR (95%CI) 0.73 (0.61–0.88), p 0.001). Recurrence remains a problem for successfully treated patients with sputum-smear-positive pulmonary TB, especially those with independent risk factors. Further analysis of prolonged treatment is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habitat changes can alter animal behaviors, especially of large-bodied animals. Landfowl (Galliformes) are a phylogenetically diverse group of large-bodied ground-dwelling birds that are generally considered reluctant flyers. However, some species of landfowl have also been found to forage in arboreal habitats, which could be particularly advantageous under declining habitat quality. However, the prevalence of arboreal foraging behavior (AFB) and how it relates to habitat changes are still unexplored. Here, we reviewed life-history traits associated with foraging behaviors in 305 species of landfowl worldwide and examined the prevalence of AFB across the global landfowl phylogeny. We also collected data from arboreal camera traps on 22 subtropical reservoir islands and six nearby mainland sites in the Thousand Island Lake region of China to assess AFB of Silver Pheasant (Lophura nycthemera), the largest landfowl in this lake system, with island area and isolation. Globally, at least 84 species of landfowl (28%) showed evidence of AFB, with a strong phylogenetic signal. Camera trapping revealed that Silver Pheasant tended to have AFB on small and isolated islands, as evidenced by the increased arboreal sampling efforts. Our study reveals that landfowl's AFB is much more widespread than previously recognized, and suggests the importance of prioritizing large, connected habitats for the conservation of large-bodied animals like Silver Pheasant in the fragmented landscape. Finally, camera trapping emerges as a promising tool for recording landfowl's life history and uncommon behaviors that can help us understand landfowl's threats and aid conservation programs. • Arboreal foraging behavior is widespread in Galliformes worldwide. • Large and connected habitats should be prioritized for conservation actions. • Camera trapping emerges as a promising tool for understanding landfowl's threats and aiding conservation programs. • Fundamental research on life history are still needed for wildlife conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Banxia Xiexin Decoction (BXD) was first recorded in a Chinese medical classic, Treatise on Febrile Diseases and Miscellaneous Diseases , which was written in the Eastern Han dynasty of China. This ancient prescription consists of seven kinds of Chinese herbal medicine, namely, Pinellia ternata , Rhizoma Coptidis , Radix scutellariae , Rhizoma Zingiberis , Ginseng , Jujube, and Radix Glycyrrhizaepreparata. In clinic practice, its original application in China mainly has focused on the treatment of chronic gastritis for several hundred years. BXD is also effective in treating other gastrointestinal diseases (GIDs) in modern medical application. Despite available literature support and clinical experience, the treatment mechanisms or their relationships with the bioactive compounds in BXD responsible for its pharmacological actions, still need further explorations in more diversified channels. According to the analysis based on the five-flavor theory of TCM, BXD is traditionally viewed as the most representative prescription for pungent-dispersion, bitter-purgation and sweet-tonification. Consequently, based on the flavor-oriented analysis, the compositive herbs in BXD can be divided into three flavor groups, namely, the pungent, bitter, and sweet groups, each of which has specific active ingredients that are possibly relevant to GID treatment. This paper summarized recent literatures on BXD and its bioactive components used in GID treatment, and provided the pharmacological or chemical basis for the further exploration of the ancient prescription and the relative components. ology: Relevant literature was collected from various electronic databases such as Pubmed, Web of Science, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Citations were based on peer-reviewed articles published in English or Chinese during the last decade. Multiple components were found in the pungent, bitter, and sweet groups in BXD. The corresponding bioactive components include gingerol, shogaol, stigmasterol, and β-sitosterol in the pungent group; berberine, palmatine, coptisine, baicalein, and baicalin in the bitter group; and ginsenosides, polysaccharides, liquiritin, and glycyrrhetinic acid in the sweet group. These components have been found directly or indirectly responsible for the remarkable effects of BXD on GID. This review provided some valuable reference to further clarify BXD treatment for GID and their possible material basis, based on the perspective of the flavor-oriented analysis. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi is a well-known medicinal plant widely used in China and other East Asian countries. High performance liquid chromatography combined with diode array detection and electrospray ion trap mass spectrometry was used to determine the flavonoid profile of S. baicalensis. Under the optimized experiment conditions, 32 flavonoids were clearly detected. Eighteen main ones were doubtless identified by comparing their retention time, UV and MS (MS n ) data with isolated or commercial standards. The UV characteristics of these 18 known standards were studied in detail. The rules summarized provided valuable indications for the subsequent on-line identification processes. By interpreting both the MS and the UV data in detail, other 13 minor flavonoids in S. baicalensis were on-line identified successfully. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Introduction: The aim of the study was to describe psittacosis pneumonia and to assess the predictive value of the C-reactive protein/albumin ratio in psittacosis pneumonia for severity., Methods: Data on psittacosis pneumonia cases diagnosed using metagenomic sequencing were collected from three hospitals in Shanghai, China from Oct. 2019 to Oct. 2022. Serum levels of C-reactive protein and albumin were measured and the C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR) was calculated. Spearman's correlation analysis, ordered logistic regression analysis, and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were conducted to examine the correlation and predictive ability of the three indicators on the severity of the disease., Results: A total of 27 patients with psittacosis pneumonia were enrolled, with an average age of 62 years and 70.4% being male. 44.4% of patients had a clear history of contact with poultry or birds. The predominant symptom was fever (100%). Patients treated in the respiratory intensive care unit (RICU) had a higher likelihood of experiencing wheezing (88.9% versus 33.3%, P=0.013) and chest tightness (88.9% vs. 33.3%, P=0.013) than those in the general ward (Non-RICU). The proportion of patients with pleural effusion was significantly higher in the RICU compared to the Non-RICU (88.9% vs. 38.9%, P=0.019). The RICU group had a significantly higher CAR than the Non-RICU group (9.41 vs. 4.05, P=0.017). This result was accompanied by higher intubation and ventilator support (33.3% vs. 0.0%, P=0.029), higher PCT and CRP levels and lower albumin and PaCO2 levels in the RICU than in the Non-RICU. Logistic regression analysis indicated that CAR (OR 1.49; 95% CI 1.07-2.06, P=0.017) was risk factor for prolonged hospitalization (> 14 days)., Discussion: Elevated serum CAR levels were found to be associated with a greater risk of severe psittacosis pneumonia. Consequently, it may serve as an uncomplicated and useful diagnostic tool for clinicians to promptly and precisely ascertain the severity of psittacosis pneumonia, ultimately aiding them in devising the most optimal therapeutic plan., Competing Interests: Author MS is an employee of the company Nanjing Dinfectome Technology Inc., China. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Shi, Yu, Shen, Shen, Du, Zhang, Mei, Ding, Feng, Zhu, Ge, Zhao, Wang and Jie.)

Limited follow-up data is available on the recovery of Omicron COVID-19 patients after acute illness. It is also critical to understand persistence of neutralizing antibody (NAb) and of T-cell mediated immunity and the role of hybrid immunity in preventing SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. This prospective cohort study included Omicron COVID-19 individuals from April to June 2022 in Shanghai, China, during a large epidemic caused by the Omicron BA.2 variant. A total of 8945 patients from three medical centres were included in the follow up programme from November 2022 to February 2023. Of 6412 individuals enrolled for the long COVID analysis, 605 (9.4%) individuals experienced at least one sequelae, mainly had fatigue and mental symptoms specific to Omicron BA.2 infection compared with other common respiratory tract infections. During the second-visit, 548 (12.1%) cases of Omicron reinfection were identified. Hybrid immunity with full and booster vaccination had reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection by 0.29-fold (95% CI: 0.63-0.81) and 0.23-fold (95% CI: 0.68-0.87), respectively. For 469 participants willing to the hospital during the first visit, those who received full (72 [IQR, 36-156]) or booster (64 [IQR, 28-132]) vaccination had significantly higher neutralizing antibody titers than those with incomplete vaccination (36 [IQR, 16-79]). Moreover, non-reinfection cases had higher neutralizing antibody titers (64 [IQR, 28-152]) compared to reinfection cases (32 [IQR, 20-69]).

Objective: The aim was to evaluate the efficacy, safety and completion rate of 3-month, once-weekly rifapentine and isoniazid for tuberculosis (TB) prevention among Chinese silicosis patients., Methods: Male silicosis patients without human immunodeficiency virus infection, aged 18 years to 65 years, with or without latent TB infection, were randomized 1:1 to receive rifapentine/isoniazid under direct observation (3RPT/INH group) or were untreated (observation group). Active TB incidence was compared between the two groups with 37 months of follow-up. Safety profile and complete rates were evaluated., Results: A total of 1227 adults with silicosis were screened; 513 eligible participants were enrolled and assigned to 3RPT/INH (n = 254) vs. observation (n = 259). Twenty-eight participants were diagnosed with active TB, and 9 and 19 in the 3RPT/INH group and observation groups, respectively. In the intention-to-treat analysis, the cumulative active TB rate was 3.5% (9/254) in the 3RPT/INH group and 7.3% (19/259) in the observation group (log rank p 0.055). On per protocol analysis, the cumulative active TB rates were 0.7% (1/139) and 7.3% (19/259), respectively (log rank p 0.01). Owing to an unexpected high frequency of adverse events (70.4%) and Grade 3 or 4 AEs (7.9%), the completion rate of the 3RPT/INH regimen was 54.7% (139/254). Twenty-six (10.8%) participants had flu-like systemic drug reactions; five (2.1%) experienced hepatotoxicity., Discussion: Weekly rifapentine/isoniazid prophylaxis prevented active TB among Chinese people with silicosis when taken, irrespective of LTBI screening; efficacy was reduced by lack of compliance. The regimen must be used with caution because of the high rates of adverse effects., Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT02430259., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Urban public spaces facilitate social interactions between people, reflecting the shifting functionality of spaces. There is no commonly-held consensus on the quantification methods for the dynamic interplay between spatial geometry, urban movement, and face-to-face encounters. Using anonymized social media check-in records from Shanghai, China, this study proposes pipelines for quantifying physical face-to-face encounter potential patterns through public space networks between local and non-local residents sensed by social media over time from space to space, in which social difference, cognitive cost, and time remoteness are integrated as the physical co-presence intensity index. This illustrates the spatiotemporally different ways in which the built environment binds various groups of space users configurationally via urban streets. The variation in face-to-face interaction patterns captures the fine-resolution patterns of urban flows and a new definition of street hierarchy, illustrating how urban public space systems deliver physical meeting opportunities and shape the spatial rhythms of human behavior from the public to the private. The shifting encounter potentials through streets are recognized as reflections of urban centrality structures with social interactions that are spatiotemporally varying, projected in the configurations of urban forms and functions. The results indicate that the occurrence probability of face-to-face encounters is more geometrically scaled than predicted based on the co-location probability of two people using metric distance alone. By adding temporal and social dimensions to urban morphology studies, and the field of space syntax research in particular, we suggest a new approach of analyzing the temporal urban centrality structures of the physical interaction potentials based on trajectory data, which is sensitive to the transformation of the spatial grid. It sheds light on how to adopt urban design as a social instrument to facilitate the dynamically changing social interaction potential in the new data environment, thereby enhancing spatial functionality and the social well-being., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a highly lethal cancer, and its underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. Recent large-scale genome-wide association studies in Chinese Han populations have identified an ESCC susceptibility locus within the SLC39A6 gene. Here, we sought to explore the expression and biological function of SLC39A6 in ESCC., Methods: Multiethnic validation of SLC39A6 protein expression was performed in different cohorts of patients from Chinese Han and Kazakh populations in the Xinjiang region by immunohistochemistry. The associations among SLC39A6 expression, clinicopathological parameters, and prognosis outcomes of ESCC were analyzed. And the effects of SLC39A6 silencing by siRNA on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and invasiveness, as well as the proteins involved in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of esophageal cancer cells, were studied., Results: SLC39A6 protein expression increased progressively from normal esophageal epithelium (NEE) to low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia to ESCC, and finally reached the highest in high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia from Han ethnic. Similarly, SLC39A6 protein was significantly overexpressed in Kazakh ethnic ESCC compared with that in NEE. Increased expression of SLC39A6 was found to be closely correlated with histological grade and early Tumor-Node-Metastasis stage I/II. High tumorous SLC39A6 expression was significantly correlated with shorter overall survival (OS). Cox regression analysis confirmed that SLC39A6 expression was an independent prognostic factor for poor OS in ESCC. Experimentally, the suppression of SLC39A6 expression promoted ESCC cell apoptosis but abrogated proliferation and invasion, and induced an EMT phenotype that included enhanced expression of E-cadherin, loss of vimentin, and morphological changes in ESCC cells in vitro., Conclusions: Combined, our findings highlight a tumor-promoting role for SLC39A6 in ESCC, suggesting that SLC39A6 could serve as an early detector of high-risk subjects and prognostic biomarker. The targeting of SLC39A6 might be a potential therapeutic strategy for blocking ESCC.

Background: Lifestyle behaviors significantly impact health, yet remain poorly defined in Chinese rural-to-urban migrants., Methods: In a cross-sectional study of health-related behaviors of 5484 rural-to-urban migrants who had worked in Shanghai for at least six months, we assessed the contribution of demographics and physical and mental health to lifestyle behaviors in male and female participants by multiple stepwise cumulative odds logistic regression., Results: Respondents were 51.3% male. 9.9% exhibited abnormal blood pressure; 27.0% were overweight or obese; 11.2% reported abnormal mental health; 36.9% reported healthy lifestyle. Multiple stepwise cumulative odds logistic regression indicated that men working in manufacturing reported less unhealthy lifestyle than those in hospitality (cumulative odds ratio (COR) = 1.806, 95%CI 1.275-2.559) or recreation/leisure (COR = 3.248, 95%CI 2.379-4.435); and women working in manufacturing and construction reported less unhealthy lifestyle than those in all other sectors. Unhealthy lifestyle was associated with small workplaces for men (COR = 1.422, 95%CI 1.154-1.752), working more than 8 or 11 hours per day for women and men, respectively, and earning over 3500 RMB in women (COR = 1.618, 95%CI 1.137-2.303). Single women and women who had previously resided in three or more cities were more likely to report unhealthy lifestyle (COR = 2.023, 95%CI 1.664-2.461, and COR = 1.311, 95%CI 1.072-1.602, respectively). Abnormal mental status was also correlated with unhealthy lifestyle in men (COR = 3.105, 95%CI 2.454-3.930) and women (COR = 2.566, 95%CI 2.024-3.252)., Conclusions: There were different risk factors of unhealthy lifestyle score in male and female rural-to-urban migrants, especially in number of cities experienced, salary, marital status, work place scale. Several demographic groups: employment sectors (e.g. hospitality and recreation/leisure), working conditions (e.g. long hours) and abnormal mental status were associated with unhealthy lifestyle behaviors in Chinese rural-to-urban migrants, and health interventions should be targeted to these groups.

Background: Although there are several studies to investigate the smoking behaviors among rural-to-urban Chinese migrants, no study has focused individually on this population in Shanghai. This study was performed to estimate the prevalence and identify the determinants of tobacco smoking among rural-to-urban migrants in Shanghai., Methods: In this cross-sectional study, multi-stage quota sampling was used to select 5,856 rural-to-urban migrants aged 18 years or older from seven districts in Shanghai between July and October 2012. A structured questionnaire was administered to assess smoking knowledge, attitude, behavior and demographic characteristics. Mental health was assessed by the self-reported SCL-90. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the risk factors of smoking behavior., Results: A total of 5,380 of the 5,856 migrants enrolled completed the questionnaire, among whom 45.0% of male and 2.0% of female participants reported current smoking. Multivariate analysis revealed current smoking in female migrants to be significantly associated with working at construction (OR, 8.08; 95% CI, 1.80-36.28), hotels/restaurants (OR, 5.06; 95% CI, 1.68-15.27), entertainment sector (OR, 6.79; 95% CI, 2.51-18.42), with monthly income > 3500 yuan (OR, 2.69; 95% CI, 1.21-5.98), number of migratory cities of 2 (OR, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.23-4.65), and SCL-90 total score > 160 (OR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.03-3.98), while the male migrants working at construction (OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.04-1.62), entertainment sector (OR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.36-2.56), being divorced/widowed (OR, 2.20; 95% CI, 1.02-4.74), with duration of migration of 4 or more than 4 years (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.06-1.91), number of migratory cities of 3 or more than 3 (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.13-1.80), and SCL-90 total score > 160 (OR,1.39; 95% CI, 1.07-1.79) showed an excess smoking prevalence., Conclusion: Migration lifestyle and mental status were associated with current smoking behaviors. The identifications of risk factors for current smoking may help to target health promotion interventions.

Objective: To summarize pregnancy outcomes among a cohort of Chinese women with congenital heart disease (CHD) and to identify predictive risk factors for maternal, fetal, and neonatal complications., Methods: A retrospective analysis of 529 women with CHD who gave birth at the Shanghai Obstetrical Cardiology Intensive Care Center, Shanghai, China, between January 1, 1993, and September 30, 2010. Maternal, fetal, and neonatal complications were evaluated for these women., Results: Maternal cardiac complications were reported in 33 (6.2%) of the women, whereas fetal and neonatal complications were reported in 145 (27.4%). The factors found to be significantly predictive for maternal cardiac complications were cardiac events before pregnancy (odds ratio [OR] 36.811), New York Heart Association functional class greater than II (OR 27.702), oxygen saturation below 90% (OR 7.506), and left ventricular obstruction (aorta stenosis) (OR 2.408). Factors significantly predictive for fetal and neonatal complications were New York Heart Association functional class greater than II (OR 20.12), oxygen saturation below 90% (OR 3.78), and pulmonary arterial hypertension (systolic pressure ≥ 50 mm Hg) (OR 3.42)., Conclusion: Identification of maternal, fetal, and neonatal complications among women with CHD may guide medical intervention and therefore reduce pregnancy-associated risk for these patients., (Copyright © 2012 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

During a study of the diversity and phylogeny of rhizobia in the root nodules of Kummerowia striata grown in north-western China, four strains were classified in the genus Rhizobium on the basis of their 16S rRNA gene sequences. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of three of these strains were identical and that of the other strain, which was the only one isolated in Yangling, differed from the others by just 1 bp. The16S rRNA gene sequences of the four strains showed a mean similarity of 99.3 % with the most closely related, recognized species, Rhizobium vitis. The corresponding recA and glnA gene sequences showed similarities with established species of Rhizobium of less than 86.5 % and less than 89.6 %, respectively. These low similarities indicated that the four strains represented a novel species of the genus Rhizobium. The strains were also found to be distinguishable from the closest related, established species (R. vitis) by rep-PCR DNA fingerprinting, analysis of cellular fatty acid profiles and from the results of a series of phenotypic tests. The level of DNA-DNA relatedness between the representative strain CCNWSX 0483(T) and Rhizobium vitis IAM 14140(T) was only 40.13 %. Therefore, a novel species, Rhizobium taibaishanense sp. nov., is proposed, with strain CCNWSX 0483(T) ( = ACCC 14971(T) = HAMBI 3214(T)) as the type strain. In nodulation and pathogenicity tests, none of the four strains of Rhizobium taibaishanense sp. nov. was able to induce any nodule or tumour formation on plants. As no amplicons were detected when DNA from the strains was run in PCR with primers for the detection of nodA, nifH and virC gene sequences, the strains probably do not carry sym or vir genes.

Background: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and TNF receptor superfamily (TNFR)-mediated immune response play an essential role in the pathogenesis of severe sepsis. Studies examining associations of TNF and lymphotoxin-α (LTA) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with severe sepsis have produced conflicting results. The objective of this study was to investigate whether genetic variation in TNF, LTA, TNFRSF1A and TNFRSF1B was associated with susceptibility to or death from severe sepsis in Chinese Han population., Methodology/principal Findings: Ten SNPs in TNF, LTA, TNFRSF1A and TNFRSF1B were genotyped in samples of patients with severe sepsis (n = 432), sepsis (n = 384) and healthy controls (n = 624). Our results showed that rs1800629, a SNP in the promoter region of TNF, was significantly associated with risk for severe sepsis. The minor allele frequency of rs1800629 was significantly higher in severe sepsis patients than that in both healthy controls (P(adj) = 0.00046, odds ratio (OR)(adj) = 1.92) and sepsis patients (P(adj) = 0.002, OR(adj) = 1.56). Further, we investigated the correlation between rs1800629 genotypes and TNF-α concentrations in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of healthy volunteers exposed to lipopolysaccharides (LPS) ex vivo, and the association between rs1800629 and TNF-α serum levels in severe sepsis patients. After exposure to LPS, the TNF-α concentration in culture supernatants of PBMCs was significantly higher in the subjects with AA+AG genotypes than that with GG genotype (P = 0.007). Moreover, in patients with severe sepsis, individuals with AA+AG genotypes had significantly higher TNF-α serum concentrations than those with GG genotype (P(adj) = 0.02). However, there were no significant associations between SNPs in the four candidate genes and 30 day mortality for patients with severe sepsis., Conclusions/significance: Our findings suggested that the functional TNF gene SNP rs1800629 was strongly associated with susceptibility to severe sepsis, but not with lethality in Chinese Han population.