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The unprecedented expansion and development of high-speed rail (HSR) in China provides a unique opportunity and a new way of thinking for addressing the problem of urban-rural wealth disparities. In this paper, I examine the impact of the introduction of HSRs on the income disparity between urban and rural residents in China. Using panel data from 285 prefecture-level cities from 2004 to 2018, in this paper I employ the double-difference method to assess the impact of HSR on the income gap between urban and rural populations and the mechanism of its action; furthermore, I explore the influence of HSR on urban residents' per capita disposable income and rural residents' per capita net income, as well as the impact of HSR on the flow of elements such as labor and capital. My research findings reveal that the introduction of HSR has greatly widened the income gap between urban and rural residents; however, there is heterogeneity between different East, Central, and West regions, as well as between different levels of cities. A further mechanism study finds that HSR lowers farmers' per capita net income, raises urban residents' per capita disposable income, and widens the urban/rural income gap via mechanisms such as facilitating the interregional mobility of labor and capital factors. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively assess the economic effects brought about by HSR, strengthen the construction of urban-rural transport networks, and improve support for rural areas, so as to promote the coordinated development of inter-regional and urban-rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a common cause of bacteremia, which leads to significant morbidity and mortality. We investigated the relationship between time to positivity (TTP) and clinical outcomes in children with S.aureus bacteremia in the China.Methods: A retrospective study of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia inpatient was performed in Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University in China between 29 January 2014 and 29 August 2017. TTP and clinical parameters were determined and analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted for optimal cut-off selection, multivariate logistic regression tests were performed to evaluate the association between TTP and clinical outcomes.Results: Overall, 84 cases were enrolled. We stated that in-hospital mortality is significantly higher in the early TTP (≤17 h) than in the late TTP (> 17 h) group (57.14% vs 7.14%, P = 0.000). Septic shock occurred in 57.14% of patients with early TTP and in 18.57% of patients with late TTP (P = 0.002). Detailed multivariate and statistical analysis revealed that early TTP, need for vasoactive agent were independent risk factors of in-hospital mortality; early TTP, need for vasoactive agent and APACHE II score ≥ 15 were independent risk factors of septic shock incidence in S. aureus bacteremia children.Conclusions: Overall, TTP of ≤17 h appeared to correlate with the worse outcomes for S. aureus bacteremia children. These results have important implications in the assessments and management of pediatric S. aureus bacteremia in a clinical setting.Trial Registration: Retrospectively registered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particulate matter (PM) has become the main air pollutant in most cities of in China, which greatly threatens the human health. Numerous studies have reported that PM concentrations could be accurately predicted from previous days' meteorological conditions. However, the hysteretic or lagged effects of meteorological factors on PM concentrations are not clear. In this study, the GeoDetector q statistic method was used to quantify the hysteretic influences of meteorological conditions and their interactions on concentrations of PM 2.5 (particles < 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter) and PM 10 (particles < 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter) and the ratio of PM 2.5 to PM 10 (PM 2.5 /PM 10) at multiple spatial and temporal scales in China. We found that the temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity had primary impacts on PM 2.5 concentrations, PM 10 concentrations, and the PM 2.5 /PM 10 ratios, respectively, at both national and annual time scales. At the seasonal time scale, precipitation and relative humidity had hysteretic effects on PM concentrations in spring and summer, respectively. Moreover, precipitation and wind speed were dominant hysteretic factors in autumn and winter, respectively. At the regional scale, the dominant hysteretic effects of meteorological factors showed large variations across all regional subdivisions. The interactions between any two meteorological factors had an enhanced hysteretic effect on PM concentrations compared to a single factor. These findings could help us to develop scientific measures to reduce the emissions of air pollution and improve the performance of air pollution prediction models. Image 1 • Hysteretic effects of meteorological factors on particulate matter were identified. • Temperature, rainfall, and humidity are main lagged factors of particulate matter. • Regional and seasonal variations of hysteretic factors were identified in China. • Urgent need to explore mechanisms of lagged effects of meteorological factors on PM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study aimed to determine if and how environmental factors correlated with asthma admission rates in geographically different parts of Guangxi province in China., Setting: Guangxi, China., Participants: This study was done among 7804 asthma patients., Primary and Secondary Outcome Measures: Spearman correlation coefficient was used to estimate correlation between environmental factors and asthma hospitalisation rates in multiple regions. Generalised additive model (GAM) with Poisson regression was used to estimate effects of environmental factors on asthma hospitalisation rates in 14 regions of Guangxi., Results: The strongest effect of carbon monoxide (CO) was found on lag1 in Hechi, and every 10 µg/m 3 increase of CO caused an increase of 25.6% in asthma hospitalisation rate (RR 1.26, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.55). According to the correlation analysis, asthma hospitalisations were related to the daily temperature, daily range of temperature, CO, nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) in multiple regions. According to the result of GAM, the adjusted R 2 was high in Beihai and Nanning, with values of 0.29 and 0.21, which means that environmental factors are powerful in explaining changes of asthma hospitalisation rates in Beihai and Nanning., Conclusion: Asthma hospitalisation rate was significantly and more strongly associated with CO than with NO 2 , SO 2 or PM 2.5 in Guangxi. The risk factors of asthma exacerbations were not consistent in different regions, indicating that targeted measures should differ between regions., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a major Gram-negative pathogen, which has been reported to result in high mortality. We aim to investigate the prognostic value and optimum cut-off point of time-to-positivity (TTP) of blood culture in children with P. aeruginosa bacteremia., Methods: From August 2014 to November 2018, we enrolled the inpatients with P. aeruginosa bacteremia in a 1500-bed tertiary teaching hospital in Chongqing, China retrospectively. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to determine the optimum cut-off point of TTP, and logistic regression were employed to explore the risk factors for in-hospital mortality and septic shock., Results: Totally, 52 children with P. aeruginosa bacteremia were enrolled. The standard cut-off point of TTP was18 h. Early TTP (≤18 h) group patients had remarkably higher in-hospital mortality (42.9% vs 9.7%, P = 0.014), higher incidence of septic shock (52.4% vs12.9%, P = 0.06), higher Pitt bacteremia scores [3.00 (1.00-5.00) vs 1.00 (1.00-4.00), P = 0.046] and more intensive care unit admission (61.9% vs 22.6%, P = 0.008) when compared with late TTP (> 18 h) groups. Multivariate analysis indicated TTP ≤18 h, Pitt bacteremia scores ≥4 were the independent risk factors for in-hospital mortality (OR 5.88, 95%CI 1.21-21.96, P = 0.035; OR 4.95, 95%CI 1.26-27.50, P = 0.024; respectively). The independent risk factors for septic shock were as follows: TTP ≤18 h, Pitt bacteremia scores ≥4 and hypoalbuminemia (OR 6.30, 95%CI 1.18-33.77, P = 0.032; OR 8.15, 95%CI 1.15-42.43, P = 0.014; OR 6.46, 95% CI 1.19-33.19 P = 0.031; respectively)., Conclusions: Early TTP (≤18 hours) appeared to be associated with worse outcomes for P. aeruginosa bacteremia children.

Background: Asthma is a major public health concern throughout the world. Numerous researches have shown that the spatial-temporal patterns of asthma are inconsistent, leading to the suggestion that these patterns are determined by multiple factors. This study aims to detect spatial-temporal clusters of asthma and analyze socio-ecological factors associated with the asthma hospitalization rate in Guangxi, China., Methods: Asthma hospitalization and socio-ecological data for 88 counties/municipal districts in Guangxi, China in 2015 was collected. Space-time scan statistics were applied to identify the high-risk periods and areas of asthma hospital admissions. We further used GeoDetector and Spearman correlation coefficient to investigate the socio-ecological factors associated with the asthma hospitalization rates., Results: There were a total of 7804 asthma admissions in 2015. The high-risk period was from April to June. The age groups of 0-4 and ≥65 years were both at the highest risk, with hospital admission rates of 45.0/10 5 and 46.5/10 5 , respectively. High-risk areas were found in central and western Guangxi with relative risk (RR) values of asthma hospitalizations greater than 2.0. GDP per capita and altitude were positively associated with asthma hospitalizations, while air pressure and wind speed had a negative association. The explanatory powers of these factors (i.e., GDP per capita, altitude, air pressure, wind speed) were 22%, 20%, 14% and 10%, respectively., Conclusions: The GDP per capita appears to have the strongest correlation with asthma hospitalization rates. High-risk areas were identified in central and western Guangxi characterized by high GDP per capita. These findings may be helpful for authorities developing targeted asthma prevention policies for high-risk areas and vulnerable populations, especially during high-risk periods., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Authors have no conflict of interests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)