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Screening those individuals who are latent but at higher risk of rapidly developing active tuberculosis (TB) is one of the intervention measures to control the spread of TB. This work proposes a TB SVELIT (S‐Susceptible, V‐Vaccinated, E‐Early latent, L‐Late latent, I‐Infected, T‐Treated) transmission model with relapse. In particular, a complete threshold dynamical analysis for the model is performed and the existence of optimal control is obtained. Meanwhile, the validity of the model is shown by comparing the real data with the fitted curve and the future trend in the incidence of TB in China is predicted. More importantly, the effects of four strategies, including vaccination, media propaganda, screening latent individuals, and receiving treatment, are evaluated numerically. The results suggest that the above four strategies can effectively control TB and shorten the duration of the epidemic. Interestingly, treatment is more effective than vaccination in controlling TB, but media propaganda and latent screening are cheaper and easier to implement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Encouragement Character Strength Scale (ECSS) is a self-report measure of encouragement, which refers to a tendency to enjoy and perceive oneself as being accomplished in communicating affirmations to motivate others. Although it is theoretically assumed as an overarching construct consisting of two domain-specific factors (i.e., perceived ability and enjoyment), there is inconclusive evidence regarding the most optimal factor structure of the encouragement construct. This study evaluated the factor structure, measurement invariance, and criterion-related validity of the Chinese version of the ECSS among teachers and undergraduate students in mainland China. Results showed that the bifactor model of encouragement demonstrated the best fit among undergraduate students and teachers. There was evidence supporting the measurement invariance of this factor structure across type of samples (i.e., teachers and undergraduate students) and gender. Ancillary bifactor indices indicate the superiority of using the ECSS's overall or general factor over subscale scores. The ECSS total score also showed internal consistency and temporal stability. A review of correlations between encouragement and criterion variables (i.e., kindness, hope, agreeableness, and extraversion) indicates that effect sizes ranged from moderate to large. Furthermore, the encouragement general factor was positively correlated with both psychological well-being and work engagement after controlling for the aforementioned criterion variables and demographic covariates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper formulates a diffusive tuberculosis (TB) model with early and late latent infections, vaccination and treatment that may more properly describe the slow and fast dynamics of TB transmission. We develop a new concise approach to determine the combination coefficients in the Lyapunov function candidate for the model and its time derivative in the case that both are the linear combinations of several Volterra-type functions, which highly simplifies the computations in global dynamical analysis for the nonlinear high-dimensional model. Based on the TB case data reported in China, the parameter values of the model are estimated. We further predict the TB prevalence trend in China. Sensitivity analysis for the control reproduction number and endemic equilibrium is conducted to seek some effective interventions that can significantly reduce initial TB transmission and lower TB prevalence levels in China. In the end, numerical simulations show that the bigger diffusive rates pick up the speeds of convergence to the equilibria of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explored the indirect effect of family socioeconomic status on career adaptability within the framework of career capital theory, by investigating the mediating role of human capital. We distributed the Family Socioeconomic Status Scale, Tacit Knowledge Inventory for College Students, and Career Adapt-Abilities Scale to 1,692 college students in China. SPSS 21.0 and Mplus 7.0 were used for data analysis. Results show that family socioeconomic status had a direct predictive effect on participants' career adaptability. Mediation model results show that this direct effect was fully mediated by tacit knowledge. Critically, the mediation model results differed between urban and rural college student participants, such that the tacit knowledge of urban (vs. rural) participants had a more positive predictive effect on their career adaptability. Results are discussed within the framework of career capital theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For much of the past three decades, China has witnessed a dramatic and steady increase in internal migration and thus has a huge population of left-behind children. The impact of childhood left-behind experiences has been carefully studied, but research on the long-term effects of these experiences is generally lacking. Capitalizing on a study of migrant workers conducted in Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions, we extend this line of research by examining how childhood experiences of being left behind by migrant parents affect the behaviors of adults. Our study shows that people with left-behind experiences (1) are more likely to work overtime, which could result from avoidance of close interpersonal interaction after work; (2) spend a larger part of their income on surfing the Internet, indicating that they prefer activities not involving direct contact with other people; and (3) occurring at different stages of life can have varied long-term impacts. This study not only echoes earlier studies on the relationship between family structure and children's behavioral outcomes, but also provides substantial evidence of the long-term negative effect of childhood left-behind experiences on adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid arguments over the recurrence or deconstruction of rural life - prompted by cultural reconstruction of rurality - the increasing complexity of rural life can be variously traced to economic, social, and political transformations common to all corners of the world. With primary reference to archives and in-depth interviews, this study aims to describe the experience with, negotiation of, and reproduction of rurality among farmers of a thousand-year-old village on the east coast of mainland China. In doing so, it reveals rurality as a Western concept used to clarify the fate of rural communities in a transitional economy. Indeed, market-oriented reform seems to have changed farmers’ conceptualization of rurality, with their references to “the good old days” serving as a complaint about their economically and politically inferior status. Certainly, rural tourism development is an idyllic prospect for urbanite, but it is becoming a nightmare for indigenous farmers as the cultural colonization embodied in the commercialization of rurality threatens to join industrialization and urbanization in encroaching on rural communities in a transitional economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sleep disturbances in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exist worldwide, but little is known about this issue in non-Western cultures. This study aimed to characterize sleep disturbances in Chinese children with ASD and to examine associated sociodemographic factors and emotional/behavioral problems. Parents of 60 Chinese children with ASD (aged 6-17 years) from Shenzhen, China completed the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Sleep disturbances were severe and common, with rates of 70.0% for overall disturbances and 15.0% (daytime sleepiness) to 40.0% (sleep duration) for specific domains. The severity and rate of sleep disturbances were higher compared to previous studies in typically developing children from the same region of China and American children with ASD, respectively. Further, there were significant correlations between most CSHQ and SDQ domains. Female gender, older parental age, higher hyperactivity, and poorer prosocial behavior were associated with increased overall sleep disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve these problems of poor supporting effect and serious deformation and failure of surrounding rock of mining roadway under deep mining stress, a FLAC-3D numerical calculation model is established with −800 m level no. 2424 upper roadway in the Suncun Coal Mine as the background to compare the stress, deformation, and failure law of surrounding rock of mining roadway under once support and multi-level support with the same support strength. It is found that the multi-level support technology has obvious advantages in the surrounding rock of the horizontal roadway on the 2424 working face. From this, the key parameters of multi-level support are determined, and the field industrial test is carried out. The results show that the overall deformation of the surrounding rock is obviously reduced after multi-level support. The displacement of the two sides is reduced by about 40%, the displacement of the roof and floor is reduced by about 30%, and the plastic zone of the roadway is reduced by about 75%. The peak value of concentrated stress decreases from 98.7 MPa to 95.8 MPa, which decreases slightly. The integrity and stability of the surrounding rock are excellent, and the support effect is satisfactory. The research can provide reference and technical support for surrounding rock control of deep high-stress mining roadways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large-scale changes that had affected every corner of Shanghai since the early 1990s made it easy for us to assume that territoriality has become less an issue than it was in the recent past. Over the course of our ethnographic fieldwork and observations conducted intermittently between 2000 and 2010, however, we came to realize that the age-old dichotomy between the lower quarters and upper quarters had hardly been blurred by the profound social and economic transformations. Making explicit links among Shanghai nostalgia, place attachment, and neighborhood gentrification, this article explores the ways in which historical memory was reified and manipulated in dichotomized "upper and lower quarters" as a consequence of conscious efforts by local residents and municipal officials. Our research findings suggest that the notions of the "lower quarters" and "upper quarters" continued to be an extremely meaningful category of articulating one's status and position in a rapidly stratified society. We argue that the ongoing spatial reconfiguration have answered the strategic need of the municipal officials in their bid for a global metropolis and has impacted the community-building practices in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods such as Bay Bridge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the fieldwork done in a Chinese village, Dongpai, which is located in Mashuang township, Nankang, Jiangxi province, this article describes the general situation of liushou children. The article is based on data collected by in-depth interview and participant-observation methods. Liushou children generally refers to children (under eighteen years of age) who need to be looked after by other relatives, friends, or who are by themselves because both of their parents work as migrant workers, merchants, and so on outside their hometown. The main issues dealt in the article are: How do they pass their childhood? What are their feelings and wishes during parental absence? What are their family education and school achievements? Is there any failure of the system to guarantee children their basic rights? Is there a crisis in their moral development? The article also presents the voices of the liushou children with regard to their goals and wishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sample survey is made of the overall state of existence of casual workers in hangzhou municipality. emphasis is placed on describing such aspects as the demographic characteristics, work circumstances, state of existence, labor and social guarantees, social relationships, plans for the future, inner feelings, and opinions and appeals of casual workers. casual workers are a special product of the period of transformation of chinese society-one that possesses fairly unique features and formational boundaries. the "casual worker" phenomenon should become a new focus of attention for the government and society. attention should be paid to their social circumstances, their marginalization, their lack of social guarantees, and to solving their specific difficulties so as to lay a broad social foundation for realizing the objective of building a harmonious society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite numerous literature studies on the short-term effects of diverse experiences of being left-behind, migrant, or both on children, the research on their long-term effects remains inadequate. The purpose of current study is to explore the long-term impact of being left-behind, migrant or experiencing both during childhood on health in adulthood. Simultaneously, we investigate the impact of psychological resilience on adults in the presence of diverse experiences of parental migration. Method: A total of 2,371 samples were selected from 28 provinces in China, consisting of 656 participants who had been left behind but never migrated (PLBNM), 205 participants who had migrated but never been left behind (PMNLB), 265 participants who had both been left behind and migrated (PLBM), and 1,245 participants who had no left-behind/migrant experiences (NLBM). The mental health, health condition, and psychological resilience were measured using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), Self-Rated Health, and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), respectively. Results: The results of the regression model indicated that PLBNM (OR = 2.10, 95% CI [1.59, 2.77], p <.001), PMNLB (1.93, [1.27, 2.94], p <.01), and PLBM (2.01, [1.37, 2.94], p <.001) displayed lower self-rated health compared to NLBM. However, only PLBNM (1.29, [1.05, 1.58], p <.05) reported higher mental health problems compared to NLBM. Our results also showed a strong association between psychological resilience and adults' lower self-rated health (0.72, [0.64, 0.82], p <.001). Conclusion: The negative long-term impact of various experiences regarding being left-behind, migrant, or both, on adult's mental health and self-rated health were more pronounced. The Chinese government ought to create unique policy frameworks that offer assistance to those adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel nonlinear SVEIS epidemic model with temporary immunity is formulated. • The incidence rate of the model is a generalization of numerous nonlinear ones. • Global dynamics of the model proposed arempletely addressed by a new geometric criterion. • Global stability for several existing nonlinear SVEIS models is fully solved. • Model parameters are estimated to study the effects of multiple measures on the H1N1 pandemic. This work applies a novel geometric criterion for global stability of nonlinear autonomous differential equations generalized by Lu and Lu (2017) to establish global threshold dynamics for several SVEIS epidemic models with temporary immunity, incorporating saturated incidence and nonmonotone incidence with psychological effect, and an SVEIS model with saturated incidence and partial temporary immunity. Incidentally, global stability for the SVEIS models with saturated incidence in Cai and Li (2009), Sahu and Dhar (2012) is completely solved. Furthermore, employing the DEDiscover simulation tool, the parameters in Sahu and Dhar'model are estimated with the 2009–2010 pandemic H1N1 case data in Hong Kong China, and it is validated that the vaccination programme indeed avoided subsequent potential outbreak waves of the pandemic. Finally, global sensitivity analysis reveals that multiple control measures should be utilized jointly to cut down the peak of the waves dramatically and delay the arrival of the second wave, thereinto timely vaccination is particularly effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the deepening of medical system reform, there are unprecedented challenges for China's medical industry. In order to promote hospital core competitiveness, medical enterprises urgently need to be based on industry demand. The establishment of a unified data platform is an important aspect of this process, however the hospital's data inherent characteristics, makes the effective management a difficult task. This difficulty creates a hurdle for the implementation of an integrated information technology. Considering these obstacles, opting an effective method of data collection, data analysis and data management has become a concern for hospital staff. The hospital data analysis and decision support system make full use of the massive data deposited in the existing digital information system of the hospital. This cannot only facilitate the manager to monitor the operation and management of the hospital, but also predict its future development direction based on the historical data. This article mainly focuses on the characteristics of hospital data analysis and decision support, and application. We studied the hospital's data analysis and decision support system for advanced technology as our guide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the study "Role of TCM for Cancer in China: A Semi-Structured Qualitative Interview of Cancer Patients, Family Members and Oncologists" by Xun Li, Zhijun Liu, Xinxue Li and Jianping Liu is presented.

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Deficient sleep is linked to detrimental outcomes in health and school performance for adolescents. This study characterized sleep patterns in Chinese adolescents preparing for the College Entrance Exam ( CEE) and evaluated the association between sleep patterns, self-rated academic performance, and the CEE scores. METHODS A sample of 481 Chinese adolescents in 12th grade (ages 16-19 years) completed questionnaires about sleep patterns, academic performance, academic stress, and sociodemographic factors 4-6 weeks before the CEE in June 2013. The CEE scores for each student also were obtained. RESULTS A total of 21% of the students had bedtimes after 12:00 am, 78.3% had sleep latency longer than 30 minutes, 14.6% had wake time earlier than 6:00 am, and the vast majority (94.4%) had sleep duration less than 8 hours. After adjusting for selected confounders such as academic stress, prolonged sleep latency was associated with poorer self-reported academic performance, and late bedtime was associated with higher CEE score. CONCLUSIONS Our findings highlight the complex association between sleep and academic performance. Assessing and monitoring sleep patterns in adolescents during periods of high academic demand and stress may yield important recommendations for their health and safety as well as establishing optimal sleep and study habits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: The study aimed to (1) characterize sleep patterns and sleep disturbances among Chinese school-aged children, (2) determine the prevalence of their short sleep duration and sleep disturbances based on clinical cutoffs, and (3) examine possible factors (socio-demographic factors and emotional/behavioral problems) that are associated with sleep disturbances. Methods: A large representative sample of 912 children aged 6–14years was recruited from Shenzhen, China. Their parents completed the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results: The mean bedtime was 9:45pm (SD =1h 11min), mean wake-up time was 7:03am (SD =31min), mean sleep duration was 9h 14min (SD =46min), and 23.8% of the children had sleep duration <9h. Overall, 69.3% of the children suffered from global sleep disturbances (CSHQ total score >41). Bedtime resistance (22.9%), sleep anxiety (22.1%), sleep duration (21%) and daytime sleepiness (20%) were the most prevalent sleep disturbances; followed by sleep disordered breathing (12.1%), parasomnias (9.4%), sleep onset delay (6.9%), and night waking (5.2%). The prevalence of specific sleep disturbances ranged from 3.2% (falling asleep while watching television) to 81.9% (awakening by others in the morning). Correlations between most domains of sleep disturbances and emotional/behavioral problems were statistically significant (p <0.05 or p <0.01). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that gender (β =0.10, p <0.01), school grade (β=−0.09, p <0.05), co-sleeping (β= 0.25, p <0.01), emotional symptoms (β= 0.24, p <0.01), conduct problems (β= 0.09, p <0.05), and hyperactivity (β= 0.17, p <0.01) accounted for significant variance in CSHQ total score. Conclusions: Short sleep duration and sleep disturbances are prevalent among Chinese school-aged children. Sleep disturbances are associated with gender, school grade, co-sleeping, emotional symptoms, conduct problems, and hyperactivity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Previous studies have primarily focused on the contemporaneous, short-term and medium-term effects of the childhood left-behind experience on subsequent health, but ignored its long-term effects and the mediating mechanisms of health outcomes. Using nationally representative data from the 2018 China Labor-force Dynamic Survey, this study uses self-rated health as a measure of health outcomes to examine the long-term effects of the left-behind experience and elucidate the underlying mechanisms that contribute to health inequality from a life-course perspective. The results show: (1) the childhood left-behind experience exerts a long-term negative impact on self-rated health in adulthood, and this impact persists and does not fade over time after ending the left-behind status; (2) the influence of the childhood left-behind experience on self-rated health demonstrates a cumulative disadvantage effect, with longer duration of being left-behind resulting in greater negative impacts; additionally, there's a critical window effect, with earlier left-behind experience leading to more significant negative outcomes; (3) the experience of being left behind during childhood has a negative impact and threshold effect on social trust in adulthood, meaning that the left-behind experience negatively affects social trust, but the duration of being left behind doesn't exacerbate this reduction; and (4) social trust is a key mediating factor between left-behind experiences and health, explaining 8.70% of this effect, and explaining 12.15% and 7.71% of mediation effects for adults with left-behind experience in middle and primary school stages, respectively. • The left-behind experience has a long-term negative impact on health in adulthood. • The longer the duration of being left behind is, the poorer the health becomes. • The earlier the left-behind experience is, the poorer the health becomes. • Social trust is a key mediating factor linking left-behind experience to health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Sleep disturbances are often associated with emotional/behavioral problems in young children, but whether the association differs among Asian countries remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the association between sleep disturbances and emotional/behavioral problems in Chinese and Japanese preschoolers and to explore potential differences. Methods: Participants were 1,020 Chinese preschoolers from 10 cities and 438 Japanese preschoolers from 1 city aged 4 to 5 years. Parents filled out the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results: Chinese children with sleep disturbances (defined as total CSHQ score >41) demonstrated more peer problems than children without, while there was no such difference in Japanese preschoolers. Domains of sleep disturbances associated with emotional/behavioral problems in Chinese children were sleep disordered breathing and daytime sleepiness, yet in Japanese children were sleep anxiety and night wakings. Children with a higher score of sleep anxiety showed more emotional problems in Japan, but fewer conduct problems in China. Conclusions: Sleep disturbances were associated with emotional/behavioral problems in preschoolers with differences between China and Japan, indicating subcultural differences in preschoolers' sleep within Asian countries. Abbreviations: CSHQ: Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire; SDQ: Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; ANCOVA: analysis of covariance; SD: standard deviation; CI: confidence interval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Understanding relationships between vegetation and environmental variables is very important for ecosystem restoration and management efforts in middle Taihang Mountain of North China, However, information on how environment factors influence the long-term natural restoration process is lacking. The objective of this research is to identity controlling environmental variables over natural restoration process in middle Taihang Mountain of North China using multivariate techniques of detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and redundancy analysis (RDA). Vegetation and soil surveys were performed in 144 permanent sampling plots in Niujiazhuang Catchment in 1986 and 2008. Vegetation variables include shrub height, shrub coverage, shrub biomass, herb height, herb coverage, herb biomass, species richness (S), Shannon–Wiener''s (H), Simpson''s predominance index (D), and evenness index (J sw). Topographic variables include elevation, slope, slope position, and slope aspect. Soil variables include soil thickness, humus thickness, rock content, soil organic matter, and total N, P, and K. Results indicate that the most important factors that influence the composition of vegetation assemblages (diversity, distribution and above-ground biomass) were total K in 1986 and total P in 2008. Also, the results suggest significant correlations among vegetation variables, soil nutrient contents, and topographic variables. For example, total N, P, and K were positively correlated with soil organic matter significantly. Relationships between vegetation and environmental variables over long-term natural restoration provide some valuable implications for regional ecological restoration and land management. To restore the degraded ecosystems, maintain the diversity and structure of ecosystems in middle Taihang Mountain, we should consider the co-evolution of both vegetation and soil, and also natural succession sequence. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Hydrodistilled leaf oils of Pistacia chinensis Bunge from five locations in China were analyzed using GC/MS. A total of 58 compounds was identified in the oils, and a relatively high variation in their contents was found. The major compounds include β-phellandrene (0.54–53.86%), α-pinene (4.74–54.44%), β-pinene (0.49–42.90%), caryophyllene (5.64–20.01%), cis-ocimene (tr−43.93%), eudesmadiene (0–15.06%), and camphene (tr−20.57%). Cluster analysis classified the leaf oils into two chemotypes: one rich in α-pinene and β-pinene, and the other rich in β-phellandrene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NDM-1-producing Enterobacteriaceae are multidrug-resistant bacteria, also called superbacteria, that have become important global human health threats in recent years. However, data about NDM-1-producing bacteria in animals are rare. In this study, an NDM-1-producing Escherichia coli isolate (designated E120413) was obtained from pigs in Henan province, China in 2012. The susceptibility of E. coli E120413 to antimicrobial agents was determined using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion and micro-dilution methods. Susceptibility tests indicated that E. coli E120413 was resistant to almost all common antibiotics with high MIC values obtained for most antibiotics tested. E. coli E120413 was detected in the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, brain, stomach, duodenum, mesenteric lymph nodes, and fecal samples of piglets in both cohabitation and experimental groups and the bacteria persisted for more than 2 weeks. However, no obvious clinical symptoms or serious pathological lesions were observed. This is the first investigation of NDM-1-producing E. coli isolate from pigs in China. Although no significant pathological lesions were observed, NDM-1-producing E. coli was found to be highly transmissible and to cause persistent infection in pigs. • First investigation of NDM-1-producing E. coli isolate from pigs in China. • NDM-1-producing E. coli persisted for more than 2 weeks in piglets. • No significant pathological lesions were observed in piglets infected with NDM-1-producing E. coli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]