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The exploitation of iron ore could cause heavy metals pollution in the soils, which threatens the ecosystem and human health. In this study, soil, stream sediment, tailings, rock, and atmospheric deposition samples were collected from an iron mine in Baotou City. The concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Zn, Al2O3, CaO, K2O, MgO, Na2O, SiO2, and Fe2O3, as well as the mineral composition and heavy metal speciation of the samples, were analyzed for pollution assessment and source identification of heavy metals. The results reveal that the concentration of Cu in the soils was significantly higher than the background value, and an unpolluted to moderately polluted state was the main pollution level. By analyzing the relationship between Cu/Al2O3 and CaO in different samples, as well as the characteristics of the chemical index of alteration (CIA), mineral composition, and the chemical speciation of Cu in soils and profiles, the results suggest that tailings were the source of Cu pollution in soils. The distribution characteristics of Cu and CaO in stream sediments indicated that hydraulic transport may be one of the main migration pathways. In addition, wind transport may also be a pathway of migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses national time-series survey data to monitor the levels and changing trends of doctoral student satisfaction with their education process. From 2012 to 2016, advising ranked highest on the satisfaction continuum, followed by scientific research training, curriculum and teaching, the financial aid system, and management and service. The latter three indicators show the most significant weaknesses, albeit with a steady upward trend, and therefore require stronger reforms and pinpointed policy implementation. [This article was translated by Michelle LeSourd.]

This retrospective study was performed to investigate the predictive power of the Ovarian Sensitivity Index (OSI) for IVF/ICSI outcomes in infertile patients who were of normal expected ovarian response. A total of 912 infertile patients who underwent GnRH antagonist protocol between January 2017 to August 2019 at the Medical Center for Human Reproduction, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital were included. All patients completed the full oocyte retrieval cycle and either had a live birth or had no embryos left. OSI was significantly lower in patients with a live birth (196.0 ± 120.4 in the live birth group vs 276.4 ± 235.7 in the non-live birth group, p < 0.001) while follicular output rate (FORT, defined as the ratio of pre-ovulatory follicle count on hCG day x 100/small antral follicle count at baseline) showed no significant difference. Patients were divided into low, average and high OSI groups and analysed in tertiles. From the low to the high OSI group, the cumulative live birth rate (CLBR) decreased dramatically (72.7 vs 67.2 vs 54.8%, p < 0.001). Multivariate regression analysis showed that OSI was an independent factor affecting CLBR (OR: 0.996, 95%CI: 0.995–0.998, p < 0.001) in our study population. In conclusion, OSI can be used as an independent indicator to distinguish fecundity in infertile patients with normal expected ovarian response and is probably more sensitive than FORT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a mixed duopoly service system with two service providers (SPs): one private and the other public. The public SP's objective is welfare maximization, whereas the private SP is profit driven. Customers are heterogeneous in terms of their quality tastes and choose from three options, namely, joining the private queue, joining the public queue, and balking (or taking an outside option). We first consider the scenario where the private SP provides a premium service and the public SP provides a regular service. Paradoxically, we find that although the public SP's objective is welfare maximization, welfare in the system can be less than that obtained with only profit-seeking private SPs. We further demonstrate that the maximum social welfare is achieved by partially privatizing the public SP, that is, by including both welfare and profit maximization as arguments in its objective function. In extreme cases in which the public SP's capacity is very small, fully privatizing the public SP can be socially desirable. We then consider the alternate setting where the public SP provides a premium service and the private SP provides a regular service and obtain similar conclusions. These findings, however, rely on the assumption that an outside option exists for balking customers, and one should be cautious in generalizing to no-balking situations. This paper was accepted by Jayashankar Swaminathan, operations management. Funding: W. Zhou was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 71925002 and 71731006]. W. Huang acknowledges the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 71801096 and 72101090] and the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation [Grant 2022A1515011983]. V. N. Hsu was supported by the General Research Fund of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council [Grant CUHK14526216]. P. Guo received financial support from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council [Grant 15502820]. Supplemental Material: The e-companion and data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4424. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Maker Movement has emerged as a significant cultural phenomenon in the twenty-first century. Stemming from the Maker Movement, the STEM design challenge aims to foster children’s utilization of interdisciplinary knowledge and creative skills to address real-world problems. This study devised the Story-based STEM Design Challenge (SSDC) by integrating storytelling with the STEM Design Challenge. A total of six classrooms, including 12 teachers and 164 children, voluntarily participated in this study. Through the teacher training workshop and the implementation of the SSDC, data related to teachers and children were obtained from the sources of teacher interviews, group discussion, pedagogical documents, and videotaped classroom observations. Results revealed that there were both facilitators (i.e., support from existing kindergarten curricula, stakeholders’ recognition, and assistance of pedagogical tools) and barriers (i.e., constraints within the participating kindergarten, insufficient experience of teachers in STEM fields, limitations of young children’s current abilities and knowledge) when introducing the SSDC in early education settings in China. This research offers valuable insights for implementing STEM design challenges and provides practical guidance and suggestions for educators interested in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High loadings of nitrate (NO3-) in the aerosol over China significantly exacerbate the air quality and pose a great threat to ecosystem safety through dry–wet deposition. Unfortunately, limited ground-level observation data make it challenging to fully reflect the spatial pattern of NO3- levels across China. Until now, long-term monthly particulate NO3- datasets at a high resolution were still missing, which restricted the assessment of human health and ecosystem safety. Therefore, a unique monthly NO3- dataset at 0.25 ∘ resolution over China during 2005–2015 was developed by assimilating surface observations, satellite products, meteorological data, land use types and other covariates using an ensemble model combining random forest (RF), gradient-boosting decision tree (GBDT), and extreme gradient-boosting (XGBoost) methods. The new developed product featured an excellent cross-validation R2 value (0.78) and relatively lower root-mean-square error (RMSE: 1.19 µgNm-3) and mean absolute error (MAE: 0.81 µgNm-3). Besides, the dataset also exhibited relatively robust performance at the spatial and temporal scales. Moreover, the dataset displayed good agreement with (R2=0.85 , RMSE=0.74 µgNm-3 , and MAE=0.55 µgNm-3) some unlearned data collected from previous studies. The spatiotemporal variations in the developed product were also shown. The estimated NO3- concentration showed the highest value in the North China Plain (NCP) (3.55±1.25 µgNm-3); followed by the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) (2.56±1.12 µgNm-3), Pearl River Delta (PRD) (1.68±0.81 µgNm-3), and Sichuan Basin (1.53±0.63 µgNm-3), and the lowest one in the Tibetan Plateau (0.42±0.25 µgNm-3). The higher ambient NO3- concentrations in the NCP, YRD, and PRD were closely linked to the dense anthropogenic emissions. Apart from the intensive human activities, poor terrain condition might be a key factor for the serious NO3- pollution in the Sichuan Basin. The lowest ambient NO3- concentration in the Tibetan Plateau was contributed by the scarce anthropogenic emission and favourable meteorological factors (e.g. high wind speed). In addition, the ambient NO3- concentration showed a marked increasing tendency of 0.10 µgNm-3yr-1 during 2005–2014 (p<0.05), while it decreased sharply from 2014 to 2015 at a rate of -0.40 µgNm-3yr-1 (p<0.05). The ambient NO3- levels in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH), YRD, and PRD displayed gradual increases at a rate of 0.20, 0.11, and 0.05 µgNm-3yr-1 (p<0.05) during 2005–2013, respectively. The gradual increases in NO3- concentrations in these regions from 2005 to 2013 were due to the fact that the emission reduction measures during this period focused on the reduction of SO2 emission rather than NOx emission and the rapid increase in energy consumption. Afterwards, the government further strengthened these emission reduction measures and thus caused the dramatic decreases in NO3- concentrations in these regions from 2013 to 2015 (p<0.05). The long-term NO3- dataset over China could greatly deepen the knowledge about the impacts of emission reduction measures on air quality improvement. The monthly particulate NO3- levels over China during 2005–2015 are open access at 10.5281/zenodo.3988307 (Li et al., 2020c). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High loadings of nitrate (NO3-) in the aerosol over China significantly exacerbates the air quality and poses a great threaten on ecosystem safety through dry/wet deposition. Unfortunately, limited ground-level observation data makes it challenging to fully reflect the spatial pattern of NO3- level across China. Up to date, the long-term monthly NO3- datasets at a high resolution were still missing, which restricted the assessment of human health and ecosystem safety. Therefore, a unique monthly NO3- dataset at 0.25° resolution over China during 2005-2015 was developed by assimilating surface observation, satellite product, meteorological data, land use types and other covariates using an ensemble model combining random forest (RF), gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT), and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost). The new developed product featured excellent cross-validation R2 value (0.78) and relatively lower root-mean-square error (RMSE: 1.19 μg/m3) and mean absolute error (MAE: 0.81 μg/m3). Besides, the dataset also exhibited relatively robust performance at the spatial and temporal scale. Moreover, the dataset displayed good agreement with (R2 = 0.85, RMSE = 0.74 μg/m3, and MAE = 0.55 μg/m3) some unlearning data collected from previous studies. The spatiotemporal variations of the developed product were also shown. The estimated NO3- concentration showed the highest value in North China Plain (NCP) (3.55 ± 1.25 μg/m3), followed by Yangtze River Delta (YRD (2.56 ± 1.12 g/m3)), Pearl River Delta (PRD (1.68 ± 0.81 μg/m3)), Sichuan Basin (1.53 ± 0.63 μg/m3), and the lowest one in Tibetan Plateau (0.42 ± 0.25 μg/m3). The higher ambient NO3- concentrations in NCP, YRD, and PRD were closely linked to the dense anthropogenic emissions. Apart from the intensive human activities, poor terrain condition might be a key factor for the serious NO3- pollution in Sichuan Basin. The lowest ambient NO3- concentration in Tibetan Plateau was contributed by the scarce anthropogenic emission and favorable meteorological factors (e.g., high wind speed). In addition, the ambient NO3- concentration showed marked increasing tendency of 0.10 μg/m3/year during 2005-2014 (p < 0.05), while it decreased sharply from 2014 to 2015 at a speed of -0.40 μg/m3/year (p < 0.05). The ambient NO3- levels in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), YRD, and PRD displayed gradual increases at the speed of 0.13, 0.08, and 0.03 μg/m3/year (p < 0.05) during 2005-2014, respectively. The gradual increases of NO3- concentrations in these regions from 2005 to 2014 were due to that the emission reduction measures during this period focused on the reduction of SO2 emission rather than NOx emission and the rapid increase of energy consumption. Afterwards, the government further strengthened these emission reduction measures, and thus caused the dramatic decreases of NO3- concentrations in these regions from 2014 to 2015 (p < 0.05). The long-term NO3- dataset over China could greatly deepen the knowledge about the impacts of emission reduction measures on air quality improvement. The monthly particulate NO3- levels over China during 2005-2015 are open access in https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3988307 (Li et al., 2020c). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wooden construction painting is a type of an ancient decorative art on Chinese ancient structures. Comprehensive reports concerning the composition of these materials are rather limited. Here multiple analytical methods were applied to systematically explore the morphology and materials. Several paintings were characterized using a morphological microscope. Scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) detected emerald green and ultramarine in the paint layers. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) indicated that the binding medium in the first layer was composed of blood. Our study helps to comprehensively understand the preparation of the wooden construction paintings in the renowned Summer Palace and provide a scientific basis for its restoration and related archeology work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acid deposition has been considered to be a severe environmental issue in China. The pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and concentrations of water soluble ions (NO3- , Cl- , Ca2+ , K+ , F- , NH4+ , Mg2+ , SO42- , and Na +) in the precipitation samples collected from 320 cities during 2011–2016 across China were measured. The mean concentrations of F- , NO3- , and SO42- were in the order of winter (6.10, 19.44, and 45.74 µ eq L -1) > spring (3.45, 13.83, and 42.61 µ eq L -1) > autumn (2.67, 9.73, and 28.85 µ eq L -1) > summer (2.04, 7.66, and 19.26 µ eq L -1). Secondary ions (SO42- , NO3- , and NH 4+) and F- peaked in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Sichuan basin (SB). Crustal ions (i.e. Ca2+ , Mg2+), Na+ , and Cl- showed the highest concentrations in the semi-arid regions and the coastal cities. The statistical methods confirmed that the mean anthropogenic contribution ratios to SO42- , F- , NO3- , and NH4+ at a national scale were 46.12 %, 71.02 %, 79.10 %, and 82.40 %, respectively. However, Mg2+ (70.51 %), K+ (77.44 %), and Ca2+ (82.17 %) mostly originated from the crustal source. Both Na+ (70.54 %) and Cl- (60.42 %) were closely linked to sea salt aerosols. On the basis of the stepwise regression (SR) analysis, it was proposed that most of the secondary ions and F- were closely related to gross industrial production (GIP), total energy consumption (TEC), vehicle ownership, and N fertilizer use, but the crustal ions (Ca2+ and K+) were mainly controlled by the dust events. The influence of dust days, air temperature, and wind speed on ions increased from southeast China (SEC) to central China, and then to northwest China (NWC), whereas the influence of socioeconomic factors on acid ions (SO42- and NO3-) displayed the higher value in east China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of cardiac dysfunction after myocardial infarction (MI) continues to increase despite advances in treatment. Excessive myocardial fibrosis plays a vital role in the development of adverse cardiac remodeling and deterioration of cardiac function. Understanding the molecular and cellular mechanism of the fibrosis process and developing effective therapeutics are of great importance. Salvia miltiorrhiza and Carthamus tinctorius extract (SCE) is indicated for angina pectoris and other ischemic cardiovascular diseases in China. SCE has been shown to inhibit the platelet activation and aggregation, ameliorate ROS-induced myocardial necrosis by inhibiting mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening, and promote angiogenesis by upregulating the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). However, whether SCE has effect on cardiac fibrosis after MI is not fully clear. Here, a mouse model of MI was established to observe the effect of SCE upon survival, cardiac function, myocardial fibrosis, and inflammation. Quantitative PCR and western blot assays were used to determine the expression of genes related to transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) cascade and inflammatory responses in vivo. Additionally, the effects of SCE upon the collagen production, TGF-β/Smad3 (SMAD family member 3) signaling, and the levels of histone methylation in primary cardiac fibroblasts were detected. We found that SCE treatment significantly improved survival and left ventricular function in mice after MI. Inhibition of inflammation and fibrosis, as well as decreased expression of Smad3, was observed with SCE treatment. In TGF-β-stimulated cardiac fibroblasts, SCE significantly decreased the expression of collagen, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and Smad3. Furthermore, SCE treatment downregulated the levels of H3K4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) and H3K36 trimethylation (H3K36me3) at the Smad3 promoter region of cardiac fibroblasts, leading to inhibition of Smad3 transcription. Our findings suggested that SCE prevents myocardial fibrosis and adverse remodeling after MI with a novel mechanism of suppressing histone methylation of the Smad3 promoter and its transcription. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to develop and validate a mortality risk prediction model for older people based on the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey using the stacking ensemble strategy., Material and Methods: A total of 12,769 participants aged 65 or more at baseline were included. Ensemble machine learning models were applied to develop a mortality prediction model. We selected three base learners, including logistic regression, eXtreme Gradient Boosting, and Categorical + Boosting, and used logistic regression as the meta-learner. The primary outcome was five-year survival. Variable importance was evaluated by the SHapley Additive exPlanations method., Results: The mean age at baseline was 88, and 57.8 % of participants were women. The CatBoost model performed the best among the three base learners, the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) reached 0.8469 (95%CI: 0.8345-0.8593), and the stacking ensemble model further improved the discrimination ability (AUC = 0.8486, 95%CI: 0.8367-0.8612, P = 0.046). Conventional logistic regression had comparable performance (AUC = 0.8470, 95 % CI: 0.8346-0.8595). Older age, higher scores for self-care activities of daily living, being male, higher objective physical performance capacity scores, not undertaking housework, and lower scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination contributed to higher risk., Conclusions: We successfully constructed and validated a few death risk prediction models for a Chinese population of older adults. While the stacking ensemble approach had the best prediction performance, the improvement over conventional logistic regression was insubstantial., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Few studies examined the associations of household fuel combustion with incident diabetes. The current study emphasizes the association of domestic fuel combustion with diabetes among middle- and older- Chinese., Methods: The data was extracted from a national and prospective cohort, the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), which enrolled adults ≥ 45 years. A total of 4610 and 5570 participants were involved in heating and cooking-related analyses. Multivariable logistic models were conducted to assess the association of domestic fuel combustion for heating and cooking with diabetes. Furthermore, we also examined whether it differed from switching fuel types. Subgroup and interaction analyses were performed based on covariates to examine the robustness and find potential effect modifiers., Results: After about 5-year follow-up, 592 and 716 diabetes were diagnosed in heating and cooking-related analyses. Compared to cleaner fuel users, those who used solid fuel for heating [OR (95 % CI):1.32 (1.05-1.66)] maintained higher risks of incident diabetes. In addition, participants who were exposed to solid fuel for both heating and cooking [OR (95 % CI):1.55 (1.17-2.06)] might have further elevated diabetic risk. Those risks are likely to be attenuated if people switched cooking fuel from solid to cleaner [OR (95 % CI): 0.68 (0.53-0.89)]., Conclusions: Home solid fuel use for heating is associated with an increased risk of incident diabetes. If solid fuel was concurrently used for both cooking and heating, those risks might be further elevated. Interestingly, as compared to solid fuel users, the participants switching cooking fuel types from solid to cleaner presented reduced diabetic risk., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Wet NH 4 -N deposition plays a significant role in the ecosystem safety in China, and thus it is highly imperative to estimate the national wet NH 4 -N deposition flux accurately. In this study, a new methodology named space-time ensemble machine-learning model was first applied to constrain the high-resolution NH 4 -N deposition fluxes over China based on the satellite data, assimilated meteorology, and various geographical covariates. A small gap between site-based cross-validation (CV) R 2 value (0. 73) and 10-fold CV R -N deposition fluxes mainly occurred in North China Plain (NCP), Sichuan Basin, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangdong provinces, whereas other regions retained the lower values. In addition, the wet NH 2 -N deposition fluxes, removing the precipitation effect in some major developed regions (e.g., Beijing and Shanghai) of China, displayed gradual increases from 2011 to 2014, while they suffered from dramatic decreases during 2014-2016, which was due to the strict implementation of the Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control (APPC-AP). The high-quality NH 4 -N deposition fluxes mainly occurred in North China Plain (NCP), Sichuan Basin, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangdong provinces, whereas other regions retained the lower values. In addition, the wet NH 4 -N deposition fluxes, removing the precipitation effect in some major developed regions (e.g., Beijing and Shanghai) of China, displayed gradual increases from 2011 to 2014, while they suffered from dramatic decreases during 2014-2016, which was due to the strict implementation of the Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control (APPC-AP). The high-quality NH 4 -N deposition data sets are greatly useful to assess the potential ecological risks.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between metabolic glutamate receptor 7 gene( GRM7) polymorphisms and the susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss( NIHL) in Chinese Han occupational population., Methods: Using a nested case-control study with a 1 ∶ 1 matching, a total of 277 cases of contacting noise workers were selected from a cohort in a steel factory. According to the matching criteria: the same sex, the same type of work, the age difference ≤ 5 years, contact noise length ≤ 2 years, 277 controls were selected. The 8 single nucleotide polymorphisms( SNPs) of the GRM7 gene, rs3749380, rs11928865, rs9877154, rs3828472, rs9819783, rs11920109, rs1485175 and rs9826579, were detected by SNPscanTMmethod. The 4 gene models, the additive model, dominant model, recessive model, codominant model, were constructed to explore the biological association with NIHL susceptibility. The possible diplotype of each subject was constructed using Phase 2. 0. 2 to analyze its relationship with NIHL. According to the layered cumulative noise exposure( CNE), the interactions between the influencing factor were analyzed. The relationship between the GRM7 gene and NIHL was analyzed by single factor and multivariate factors conditional logistic regression analysis., Results: The comparison of general demographic characteristics between the hearing loss group and control group showed that smoking could increase the risk of developing NIHL by 2. 051 times( 95 % CI 1. 456-2. 891, P< 0. 001). No statistically significant difference was found in the analysis of GRM7 polymorphisms and the susceptibility to NIHL., Conclusion: Smoking may increase the risk of NIHL. The relationship between GRM7 polymorphisms and the susceptibility to NIHL has not been found in this study.

Background: Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a complex, irreversible disease caused by the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. In recent years, a great many studies have been done to explore the NIHL susceptibility genes among humans. So far, high powerful detections have been founded that genes of potassium ion channel genes (KCNQ4 and KCNE1), catalase (CAT), protocadherin 15 (PCDH15), myosin 14 (MYH14) and heart shock protein (HSP70) which have been identified in more than one population may be associated with the susceptibility to NIHL. As for metabolic glutamate receptor7 gene (GRM7), a lot of researches mainly focus on age-related hearing loss (ARHL) and the results have shown that the polymorphisms of GRM7 are linked to the development of ARHL. However, little is known about the association of GRM7 and the susceptibility to NIHL. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the effect of GRM7 polymorphisms on the susceptibility to NIHL., Methods: A nested case-control study based on the cohort in a Chinese steel factory was implemented in 292 cases and 584 controls matched with the same sex, the age difference ≤ 5 years old, the same type of work, duration of occupational noise exposure ≤2 years. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of GRM7 were gained through selecting and genotyping SNPs. Conditional logistic regression analysis was used to assess the main effect of GRM7 polymorphisms on the susceptibility to NIHL and the gene-by-environment interaction. Furthermore, the gene-by-gene interactions were analyzed by generalized multiple dimensionality reduction (GMDR)., Results: This research discovered for the first time that the mutant allele C in rs1485175 of the GMR7 may decrease individuals' susceptibility to NIHL. The interaction between rs1485175 and cumulative noise exposure (CNE) at high level was found after the stratification according to CNE (p/p bon  = 0.014/0.007, OR = 0.550, 95% CI: 0.340-0.891). Permutation test of GMDR suggested that rs1920109, rs1485175 and rs9826579 in GRM7 might interact with each other in the process of developing NIHL (p = 0.037)., Conclusions: The results suggest that the mutant allele C of rs1485175 in GRM7 may reduce the susceptibility to NIHL in Chinese Han population.

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the second-most frequent form of sensorineural hearing loss. When exposed to the same noise, some workers develop NIHL while others do not, suggesting that NIHL may be associated with genetic factors. To explore the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) genes (HSPA1A, HSPA1B and HSPA1L) and susceptibility to NIHL in Han Chinese workers exposed to noise, a case-control association study was carried out with 286 hearing loss cases and 286 matched with gender, age, type of work, and exposure time, drawn from a population of 3790 noise-exposed workers. Four SNPs were selected and genotyped. Subsequently, the effects of the alleles and genotypes of the three HSP70 genes (HSPA1A, HSPA1B and HSPA1L) on NIHL were analyzed by using a conditional logistic regression. A generalized multiple dimensionality reduction (GMDR) was applied to further detect an interaction between the four SNPs. Compared with the combined genotypes CC/TC, carriers of the TT genotype of rs2763979 appeared to show greater susceptibility to NIHL (P = 0.042, adjusted OR = 1.731, 95% CI 1.021-2.935). A significant interaction between rs2763979 and CNE was found (P = 0.029), and a significant association was found between TT of s2763979 and NIHL (P = 0.024, adjusted OR = 5.694, 95%CI 1.256-25.817) in the 96 dB (A)≤CNE<101 dB (A) group. The results suggest that the rs2763979 locus of the HSP70 genes may be associated with susceptibility to NIHL in Chinese individuals, and other HSP70 genes may also be susceptibility genes for NIHL, but the results must be further replicated in additional independent sample sets., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is an important occupational disease worldwide resulting from interactions between genetic and environmental factors. The purpose of this study was to examine whether genetic variations in POU4F3 and GRHL2 may influence susceptibility to NIHL in the Chinese population. A matched case-control study was carried out among 293 hearing loss individuals and 293 normal hearing workers drawn from a population of 3790 noise-exposed workers. Ten single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in POU4F3 and GRHL2 were selected and genotyped. Logistic regression was performed to analyze the main effects of SNPs and the interactions between noise exposure and SNPs. Moreover, the interactions between predictor haplotypes and noise exposure were also analyzed. Analysis revealed that the CC genotype of rs1981361 in the GRHL2 gene was associated with a higher risk of NIHL (adjusted OR = 1.59; 95% CI: 1.08-2.32, p = 0.018). Additionally, the GG genotype of rs3735715 in the GRHL2 gene was also a risk genotype (adjusted OR = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.01-2.19, p = 0.046). Significant interactions were found between rs3735715, rs1981361 (GRHL2), rs1368402 as well as rs891969 (POU4F3) and noise exposure in the high-level exposure groups. Furthermore, the protective haplotype CA in the POU4F3 gene and the risk haplotype GCCG in the GRHL2 gene were identified combined with noise exposure. These results indicated that GRHL2 might be an NIHL susceptibility gene, but the effect of POU4F3 on NIHL could only be detected when taking noise exposure into account, and their effects were enhanced by higher levels of noise exposure. However, the differences were not significant after the Bonferroni correction was applied. These results should be seen as suggestive.

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between psychosocial job stress (by the Job Control-Demand (JCD) model and Effort-Reward imbalance (ERI) model) and musculoskeletal (MS) symptoms among workers in China. Overall, 3,632 male and 1,706 female workers from 13 factories/companies participated in this study. Perceived job stress was evaluated by the Chinese version of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and ERI Questionnaire. Neck, shoulder and wrist symptoms were assessed by self-report during the past year. Workers reporting high job demands and low job control or high effort and low rewards had moderately increased risk for all MS symptoms. Odds ratios (ORs) were higher in workers reporting both high effort and low rewards. The combination of high physical job demands with low job control showed significant associations with MS symptoms. The effects of psychological demands on symptoms in women, effort and effort-reward imbalance on symptoms among both genders were increased as the number of regions with symptoms increased. These results suggest that high job strain and ERI are associated with neck, shoulder and wrist symptoms in Chinese factory workers independent of individual factors, physical factors, and other psychological variables.

Objective: To investigate the one-year prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and associated risk factors in a large sample of Chinese workers in various industrial settings., Methods: A total of 5,338 (3,632 males and 1,706 females) workers from 13 companies participated in this study. Musculoskeletal symptoms in different body regions in the previous year and their risk factors were assessed by a self-reported questionnaire. Logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the individual, work-related physical and psychosocial risk factors for the musculoskeletal symptoms., Results: The most commonly affected body regions among the workers were lower back (59.7%), neck (48.6%), shoulders (38.8%), and wrists (33.5%). Female workers had greater prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in the neck, shoulders, and wrists than male workers. Results of multivariate analyses indicated that individual, work-related physical and psychosocial factors were associated with the musculoskeletal symptoms., Conclusion: The results suggest that interventions aimed at reducing musculoskeletal symptoms in the Chinese working population should take into account multiple risk areas including individual, physical job characteristics and work-related psychosocial factors., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

To investigate the effects of the job demand-control (DC) model and the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model on worker's well-being, self-reports for psychosocial work conditions and well-being were made by a sample of 878 workers at a thermal power plant in China using the main dimensions of DC and ERI questionnaires. Logistic regression analyses were employed controlling for age, gender, and educational level, and negative and positive affection among others. Workers reporting high job demands and low job control or high efforts and low rewards had elevated risks of job dissatisfaction, psychosomatic complaints and depressive symptoms. Odds ratios were generally higher in workers reporting both high efforts and low rewards. Furthermore, low reward proved to be a stronger predictor of poor well-being when both job stress models were simultaneously adjusted. To some extent, interaction effects were found for social support, but no interaction effects were found for overcommitment. The findings indicate independent effects of both the DC model and the ERI model on well-being. Future work should explore the combined effects of these two models of psychosocial stress at work on health more thoroughly.