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Aims: This paper presents updated prevalence estimates of awareness, ever‐use, and current use of nicotine vaping products (NVPs) from 14 International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (ITC Project) countries that have varying regulations governing NVP sales and marketing. Design, Setting, Participants and Measurements: A cross‐sectional analysis of adult (≥ 18 years) current smokers and ex‐smokers from 14 countries participating in the ITC Project. Data from the most recent survey questionnaire for each country were included, which spanned the period 2013–17. Countries were categorized into four groups based on regulations governing NVP sales and marketing (allowable or not), and level of enforcement (strict or weak where NVPs are not permitted to be sold): (1) most restrictive policies (MRPs), not legal to be sold or marketed with strict enforcement: Australia, Brazil, Uruguay; (2) restrictive policies (RPs), not approved for sale or marketing with weak enforcement: Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand; (3) less restrictive policies (LRPs), legal to be sold and marketed with regulations: England, the Netherlands, Republic of Korea, United States; and (4) no regulatory policies (NRPs), Bangladesh, China, Zambia. Countries were also grouped by World Bank Income Classifications. Country‐specific weighted logistic regression models estimated adjusted NVP prevalence estimates for: awareness, ever/current use, and frequency of use (daily versus non‐daily). Findings NVP awareness and use were lowest in NRP countries. Generally, ever‐ and current use of NVPs were lower in MRP countries (ever‐use = 7.1–48.9%; current use = 0.3–3.5%) relative to LRP countries (ever‐use = 38.9–66.6%; current use = 5.5–17.2%) and RP countries (ever‐use = 10.0–62.4%; current use = 1.4–15.5%). NVP use was highest among high‐income countries, followed by upper–middle‐income countries, and then by lower–middle‐income countries. Conclusions: With a few exceptions, awareness and use of nicotine vaping products varied by the strength of national regulations governing nicotine vaping product sales/marketing, and by country income. In countries with no regulatory policies, use rates were very low, suggesting that there was little availability, marketing and/or interest in nicotine vaping products in these countries where smoking populations are predominantly poorer. The higher awareness and use of nicotine vaping products in high income countries with moderately (e.g. Canada, New Zealand) and less (e.g. England, United States) restrictive policies, is likely due to the greater availability and affordability of nicotine vaping products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background This paper describes the development and validation of the Memory Inventory for Chinese (MIC), for measuring the awareness of memory deficits in the Chinese population with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods A combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches was adopted. The MIC was developed with focus group discussion and pilot testing. It has a patient and a caregiver version. A consecutive series of 79 new out-patients with the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke and the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorder Association (NINCDS-ADRDA) criteria of probable and possible AD and 20 non-demented elderly subjects were recruited. Results A high internal consistency was found, with Cronbach alpha of 0.89 for the patient version and 0.90 for the caregiver version of MIC. The inter-rater reliability was satisfactory. For validity assessment, the caregiver score of the MIC correlated significantly with cognitive score of the subject as assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination (rp = -0.37; p < 0.01). The Memory Deficit Awareness Score, calculated by subtracting the patient score from the caregiver score, correlated significantly with clinician ratings of awareness of memory impairment (rs = -0.67; p < 0.01). Conclusions The MIC appears to be a culturally appropriate and valid instrument for the measurement of awareness of memory deficits in Chinese patients with AD. Potential applications of the MIC should be further explored in other subtypes of dementia and in prospective studies. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid economic growth and urbanization have contributed to increasing concerns around sustainable development in China. Although urban sustainable development is often comprised of environmental, economic, social and governance aspects, most empirical studies on the public perception of sustainability have exclusively focused on the environmental aspect. Using extensive survey data from three representative cities in Henan Province, China, this study is a first endeavor to examine how perceptions of urban sustainability performance and concerns vary by demographic and socio‐economic status of local residents. This study documents that familiarity with sustainable development concepts is positively associated with education, income, party affiliation and personal health of individuals, while negatively correlated with age. In addition, this study has shown that the most severe threats to sustainability as perceived by citizens are air pollution, corruption, income and education inequality, and excessive industrial production. At the same time, economic indicators such as unemployment, poverty and consumerism are considered lesser threats than social inequality or environmental pollution. Furthermore, residents generally view the sustainable development performance of their cities as mediocre. While generally younger residents and residents with higher levels of education tend to be more critical and long‐term residents tend to be more forgiving, results frequently show that concerns and attitudes towards sustainable development by various socio‐demographic groups differ from city to city. This is strong evidence to support independent local policies tailored to the socio‐demographics of each individual city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Objective To explore the trends in blood collection from 2006 to 2014 in Guangdong, China. Background Although the Blood Donation Law of the People's Republic of China was implemented in 1998, voluntary non-remunerated blood donation (VNRBD) has been promoted fully for only a decade. The provincial and local governments of Guangdong, one of the most well-developed provinces in China, have promoted blood donation by various means. Material and methods Official data on blood donation from 2006 to 2014, including the number of blood donations and the family replacement/mutual blood donation (FRMBD) rate, were collected from all blood collection and supply institutions in Guangdong. These data were analysed to explore trends in blood donation in Guangdong Province, and to detect differences among the province's four regions. Results The number of blood donations in Guangdong increased by 38·23% from 2006 to 2014; overall, the rate increased annually, although it fluctuated in the eastern region. Family replacement/mutual whole blood and platelet donation rates decreased dramatically from 2006 to 2014 (from 39·99% to 20·16% and from 64·15% to 26·51%, respectively), but remained high. Marked disparities in blood donation development were detected among the four regions. Discussions With nearly a decade of efforts, blood donation in Guangdong has developed rapidly and sustainably. All blood collection and supply institutions must strengthen efforts to improve awareness of blood donation among the population, retain repeat and regular donors and reduce the rate of FRMBD in favor of the development of VNRBD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: With the Westernization of the lifestyle and the rising prevalence of obesity and diabetes mellitus, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an emerging health problem in the Asia–Pacific region. The purpose of this study was to determine the awareness of NAFLD among the general population in Hong Kong. Methods: A random telephone survey was conducted from September 2007 to January 2008 using a structured multiple-choice questionnaire. Subjects were Hong Kong residents aged 18 or above who spoke Cantonese. Results: In the first phase of the telephone survey, 521 subjects were interviewed and the results showed that as high as 83% of respondents had never come across the term ‘NAFLD’. Upon completion of the second phase telephone survey, a total of 508 respondents who had heard of NAFLD were successfully interviewed. Of the 508 respondents, nearly half of them (42%) expressed no idea about the prevalence of NAFLD in Hong Kong. About half of respondents (47%) knew nothing about the clinical presentation of NAFLD. The majority of them (78%) had a misconception that blood tests could provide a definite diagnosis of NAFLD. Smoking, hepatitis B carriage and a past history of hepatitis A infection were cited as risk factors of NAFLD by 52%, 57% and 42% of respondents, respectively. Of the 508 respondents who had heard of NAFLD, most of them perceived that their knowledge of NAFLD was either inadequate (46%) or highly inadequate (35%). Conclusion: This survey revealed an inadequate knowledge of NAFLD among the general population in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]