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China has over 100 million people living with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Interventions framed around pre-existing personal beliefs in the supernatural may improve T2DM self-management, but such interventions are lacking in China. This pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) assessed the feasibility of a full-scale RCT to evaluate the efficacy of a supernatural beliefs-based intervention on T2DM management self-efficacy in China. In 2019, 62 T2DM patients were enrolled at two hospitals in Suzhou, China. Participants were randomly assigned to view a 30-s control or intervention video at baseline. The control video showed general diabetes self-management information. The intervention video showed identical information, but also indicated that some diabetics with supernatural beliefs (chao ziran xinnian) have lower glycemic levels, because their beliefs enhance their confidence in diabetes self-management. Development of the intervention was guided by the theory of planned behavior and literature on spiritual framing health interventions. Baseline and follow-up measures after two weeks were assessed by interviewer administered surveys in-person and by telephone, respectively. Diabetes management self-efficacy was assessed with the diabetes management self-efficacy scale. Randomization of intervention allocation appeared to be successful. However, follow-up retention was low, especially for the intervention group (3% vs. 31%). A full-size efficacy RCT using the current study design is unlikely to succeed. T2DM patients shown the supernatural beliefs-based intervention had significantly higher loss to follow-up that was insurmountable. T2DM patients in Suzhou, China may not be receptive to brief, non-tailored supernatural beliefs-based interventions delivered to a general population in clinical settings., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective : This study examines Chinese international students' underlying beliefs and overall perception of the flu vaccination to inform effective health promotion efforts on U.S. college campuses. Participants : Data were collected in March 2020. Participants ( N = 189) were recruited via email at a southeastern university in the U.S. Methods : Incorporating theory recommendations and recent vaccine-related research findings, this study designs a Four-Factor Measurement Model through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine Chinese international students' perception of flu vaccination. Results : Chinese international students' health beliefs, particularly their perceived susceptibility of the influenza virus, was the most important factor to explain their perception of flu vaccination. While normative beliefs were the least influential factor to account for Chinese international students' perception of flu vaccination, these students valued healthcare providers' opinions immensely. Conclusions : This study suggests the Four-Factor Measurement Model will help measure Chinese international students' perception of flu vaccination and can be applied to future vaccine-related research.

Solid fuel combustion emitted abundant pollutants, especially polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which had significant minus impact on human health in rural China. PAHs in PM 2.5 emitted from different fuels combustion and hydroxylated metabolites of PAHs (OH-PAHs) in urine samples of different fuel users were detected in this study. The indoor PAHs were higher than that in outdoors for solid fuel use households, and the concentration of PAHs in the indoor of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) use household was not much lower than solid fuel use households. Biogas-use household produced the lowest PAHs, which significantly reduced 64-82% compared with those emitted by solid fuel combustion. The different combustion conditions influenced the gaseous PAHs in indoors between two sampling sites. The gas/particle partition indicated that PAHs tended to occur in the particle phase with increased molecular weight, and the absorption was the main mechanism. The relative higher contribution of high molecular weight PAHs (HMW-PAHs) in solid fuel use households than in clean fuel use households, induced more health risks of PAHs. The concentration of Σ 10 OH-PAHs in the urine samples for elders of different fuel-use households displayed the trend of coal (83.27 ng/mL) > wood (79.32 ng/mL) > LPG (51.61 ng/mL) > biogas (28.96 ng/mL), and OH-NaPs was the predominant metabolites, which accounted for more than 90% of the total concentration. The carcinogenic risk of PAHs based on internal exposure was greater than or close to 10 -4 , with serious carcinogenic risks. This was different with the incremental lifetime cancer risk based on the atmospheric concentrations. The exposure of PAHs from solid fuel combustion for human being especially for the elders in this region should be concerned, and more data should be done for the internal exposure of PAHs., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The introduction, strict enforcement and recent exit of China's one-child policy (OCP) resulted in China's demographical changes, and, alongside its epidemiological transition, disproportionately impacted caregiving needs and demands on women. This study examines women's caregiving responsibilities in contemporary China and evaluates how the OCP affected them., Methods: We simulated the female population aged 25-54 years in 2020 in China and their caregiving responsibilities based on epidemiological and demographic data for women, their parents and parents-in-law, and children under 10. Three different health states were simulated for children and the senior generation: (1) healthy, (2) end of life-decedents and (3) non-decedents in need of palliative care. We combine the care responsibility for senior family members and for children using an aggregate indicator-the Care Responsibility Score (CRS) -to compare the impact of the OCP across different generations of women., Results: Approximately 60 million working-age women are living with medium to high levels of care responsibilities (a CRS over 0.8), which is equivalent to caring for a senior family member with palliative care needs without any assistance from siblings. This includes more than one-third of the 156 million women born after the OCP and only 5% of women born before the OCP., Conclusion: For women born under the OCP, the additional responsibility generated by a lack of siblings outweighs the benefit of having four dedicated grandparents to support them in raising children., Competing Interests: Competing interests: FMK reports two research grants from EMD Serono and Merck KGaA related to measuring the economic value of women’s paid and unpaid contributions to the health sector. XK, BE and RC-A report research consulting payments from EMD Serono and Merck KGaA via the University of Miami Institute for the Advanced Studies of the Americas. Other coauthors declare no competing interests., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

In order to fully understand the carbon emission from different fuels in rural villages of China, especially in the typical atmospheric pollution areas. The characteristics of carbonaceous aerosols and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) with its stable carbon isotope (δ 13 C) were investigated in six households, which two households used coal, two households used wood as well as two households used biogas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), from two rural villages in Fenwei Plain from March to April 2021. It showed that the fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) emitted from biogas and LPG couldn't be as lower as expected in this area. However, the clean fuels could relatively reduce the emissions of organic carbon (OC) and element carbon (EC) in PM 2.5 compare to the solid fuels. The pyrolyzed carbon (OP) accounted more total carbon (TC) in coal than the other fuels use households, indicating that more water-soluble OC existed, and it still had the highest secondary organic carbon (SOC) than the other fuels. Meantime, the coal combustions in the two villages had the highest CO 2 concentration of 527.6 ppm and 1120.6 ppm, respectively, while the clean fuels could effectively reduce it. The average δ 13 C values (-26.9‰) was much lighter than almost all the outdoor monitoring and similar to the δ 13 C values for coal combustion and vehicle emission, showing that they might be the main contributors of the regional atmospheric aerosol in this area. During the sandstorm, the indoor PM 2.5 mass and CO 2 were increasing obviously. The indoor cancer risk of PAHs for adults and children were greater than 1 × 10 -6 , exert a potential carcinogenic risk to human of solid fuels combustion in rural northern China. It is important to continue concern the solid fuel combustion and its health impact in rural areas., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Altay Prefecture, a typical arid region in northwestern China, has experienced the climate transition from warming-drying to warming-wetting since 1980s and has attracted widespread attention. Nonetheless, it is still unclear how climate change has influenced the distribution of vegetation in this region. In this paper, a reaction-diffusion model of the climate-vegetation system is proposed to study the impact of climate change (precipitation, temperature and carbon dioxide concentration) on vegetation patterns in Altay Prefecture. Our results indicate that the tendency of vegetation growth in Altay Prefecture improved gradually from 1985 to 2010. Under the current climate conditions, the increase of precipitation results in the change of vegetation pattern structures, and eventually vegetation coverage tends to be uniform. Moreover, we found that there exists an optimal temperature where the spot vegetation pattern structure remains stable. Furthermore, the increase in carbon dioxide concentration induces vegetation pattern transition. Based on four climate change scenarios of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6), we used the power law range (PLR) to predict the optimal scenario for the sustainable development of the vegetation ecosystem in Altay Prefecture., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. All rights reserved.)

Studies have shown that sexual transmission, both heterosexually and homosexually, is one of the main ways of HBV infection. Based on this fact, we propose a mathematical model to study the sexual transmission of HBV among adults by classifying adults into men and women and considering both same-sex and opposite-sex transmissions of HBV in adults. Firstly, we calculate the basic reproduction number R 0 and the disease-free equilibrium point E 0 . Secondly, by analysing the sensitivity of R 0 in terms of model parameters, we find that the infection rate among people who have same-sex partners, the frequency of homosexual contact and the immunity rate of adults play important roles in the transmission of HBV. Moreover, we use our model to fit the reported data in China and forecast the trend of hepatitis B. Our results demonstrate that popularizing the basic knowledge of HBV among residents, advocating healthy and reasonable sexual life style, reducing the number of adult carriers, and increasing the immunization rate of adults are effective measures to prevent and control hepatitis B.

Chinese ophthalmology residency training is continuously evolving with an emphasis on standardization. In this article, we assess the current status of ophthalmology residency training in China compared with that in the United States through analysis of literature review and onsite data collection. We comprehensively review various aspects of the residency training structure in China, including accreditation, resident selection, clinical and surgical curricula, research requirements, and evaluation. Our report demonstrates significant regional differences among training programs due to the lack of a national standard, resulting in varying competencies of graduating Chinese ophthalmology residents. The Chinese ophthalmology community is determined to improve the standardization process and quality of training for their ophthalmologists, an important goal that will facilitate international fellowship studies, exchange scholars, and research collaboration.

Background: People living with HIV (PLWH) have high rates of depressive symptoms. However, only a few effective mental health interventions exist for this vulnerable population., Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a WeChat-based intervention, Run4Love, with a randomized controlled trial among 300 people living with HIV and depression (PLWHD) in China., Methods: We recruited PLWH from the HIV outpatient clinic in South China. Participants were screened based on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale. Those who scored 16 or higher were eligible to participate. A total of 300 eligible patients were enrolled. After obtaining informed consent from the participants, completion of a baseline survey, and collection of participants' hair samples for measuring cortisol, the participants were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group in a 1:1 ratio. The intervention group received the Run4Love program, delivered via the popular social media app WeChat. Cognitive behavioral stress management courses and weekly reminders of exercise were delivered in a multimedia format. Participants' progress was monitored with timely and tailored feedback. The control group received usual care and a brochure on nutrition for PLWH. Data were collected at 3, 6, and 9 months. The primary outcome was depression, which was measured by a validated instrument., Results: Participants in the intervention and control groups were comparable at baseline; about 91.3% (139/150), 88.3% (132/150), and 86.7% (130/150) participants completed the 3-, 6-, and 9-month follow-ups, respectively. At the 3-month follow-up, a significant reduction in CES-D score was observed in the intervention group (from 23.9 to 17.7 vs from 24.3 to 23.8; mean difference=-5.77, 95% CI -7.82 to -3.71; P<.001; standard effect size d=0.66). The mean changes in CES-D score from baseline to the 6- and 9-month follow-ups between the two groups remained statistically significant. No adverse events were reported., Conclusions: The WeChat-based mobile health (mHealth) intervention Run4Love significantly reduced depressive symptoms among PLWHD, and the effect was sustained. An app-based mHealth intervention could provide a feasible therapeutic option for many PLWHD in resource-limited settings. Further research is needed to assess generalizability and cost-effectiveness of this intervention., Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR-IPR-17012606; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=21019 (Archived by WebCite at https://www.webcitation.org/78Bw2vouF)., (©Yan Guo, Y Alicia Hong, Weiping Cai, Linghua Li, Yuantao Hao, Jiaying Qiao, Zhimeng Xu, Hanxi Zhang, Chengbo Zeng, Cong Liu, Yiran Li, Mengting Zhu, Yu Zeng, Frank J Penedo. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 02.02.2020.)

Two studies were conducted to explore the effect of parental sex on well-being due to parenthood. Study 1 analyzed the sixth wave of the World Values Survey data. The results indicated that parents were happier than their respective childless peers. However, the effect of motherhood was significantly higher than that of fatherhood. Furthermore, Study 2 analyzed the data from 354 single-child parents in China. The results showed that perceived parent-child facial resemblance moderated the sex difference in well-being. Specifically, in the high parent-child facial resemblance group, both fathers and mothers showed high levels of well-being; however, in the low parent-child facial resemblance group, the well-being level of mothers was higher than fathers. These results supported the renovated pyramid of needs and the hypothesis of paternal uncertainty.

Human rabies is one of the major public health problems in China with an average of 1977 cases per year. It is estimated that 95% of these human rabies cases are due to dog bites. In recent years, the number of wildlife-associated human rabies cases has increased, particularly in the southeast and northeast regions of mainland China. Chinese ferret badgers (CFBs) are one of the most popular wildlife animals which are distributed mostly in the southeast region of China. Human cases caused by rabid CFB were first recorded in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, in 1994. From 1996 to 2004, more than 30 human cases were caused by CFB bites in Zhejiang Province. In this paper, based on the reported data of the human rabies caused by both dogs and CFB in Zhejiang Province, we propose a multi-host zoonotic model for the dog-CFB-human transmission of rabies. We first evaluate the basic reproduction number [Formula: see text] discuss the stability of the disease-free equilibrium, and study persistence of the disease. Then we use our model to fit the reported data in Zhejiang Province from 2004 to 2017 and forecast the trend of human or livestock rabies. Finally by carrying out sensitivity analysis of the basic reproduction number in terms of parameters, we find that the transmission between dogs and CFB, the quantity of dogs, and the vaccination rate of dogs play important roles in the transmission of rabies. Our study suggests that rabies control and prevention strategies should include enhancing public education and awareness about rabies, increasing dog vaccination rate, reducing the dog and CFB interactions, and avoiding CFB bites or contact.

Anatomical adaptations to high-salinity environments in mangrove leaves may be recorded in leaf water isotopes. Recent studies observed lower 18 O enrichment (Δ L ) of leaf water with respect to source water in three mangrove species relative to adjacent freshwater trees, but the factors that govern this phenomenon remain unclear. To resolve this issue, we investigated leaf traits and Δ L in 15 species of true mangrove plants, 14 species of adjacent freshwater trees, and 4 species of semi-mangrove plants at five study sites along south-eastern coast of China. Our results confirm that Δ L was generally 3-4‰ lower for mangrove species than for adjacent freshwater or semi-mangrove species. We hypothesized that higher leaf water content (LWC) and lower leaf stomatal density (LS) both played important roles in reducing Δ L in mangroves relative to nearby freshwater plants. Both differences acted to elongate effective leaf mixing length (L) in mangroves by about 200% and lower stomatal conductance by about 30%. Péclet models based on both LWC and LS could accurately predict Δ L . Our findings highlight the potential species-specific anatomical determinants of Δ L (or L), which has important implications for the interpretation of environmental information from metabolites produced by leaf water isotopes in palaeoclimate research., (© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Measles, a highly contagious infection caused by the measles virus, is a major public health problem in China. The reported measles cases decreased dramatically from 2004 to 2012 due to the mandatory measles vaccine program started in 2005 and the goal of eliminating measles by 2012. However, after reaching its lowest level in 2012, measles has resurged again since 2013. Since the monthly data of measles cases exhibit a seasonally fluctuating pattern, based on the measles model in Earn et al. (Science 287:667-670, 2000), we propose a susceptible, exposed, infectious, and recovered model with periodic transmission rate to investigate the seasonal measles epidemics and the effect of vaccination. We calculate the basic reproduction number [Formula: see text], analyze the dynamical behavior of the model, and use the model to simulate the monthly data of measles cases reported in China. We also carry out some sensitivity analysis of [Formula: see text] in the terms of various model parameters which shows that measles can be controlled and eventually eradicated by increasing the immunization rate, improving the effective vaccine management, and enhancing the awareness of people about measles.

Clonorchiasis, known as the Chinese liver fluke disease, is caused by Clonorchis sinensis infection with food-borne liver fluke, which is transmitted via snails to freshwater fish and then to human beings or other piscivorous mammals. Clonorchis sinensis infection is mainly related to liver and biliary disorders, especially cholangiocarcinoma, and has an increased human-health impact due to the greater consumption of raw freshwater fish. In this article, we propose a deterministic model to describe the spread of clonorchiasis among human-snail-fish populations and use the model to simulate the data on the numbers of inspected and infected individuals of Foshan City, located in Guangdong Province in the southeast of P.R China, from 1980-2010. Mathematical and numerical analyses of the model are carried out to understand the transmission dynamics of clonorchiasis and explore effective control measures for the local outbreaks of the disease. We find that (i) the transmission of clonorchiasis from cercariae to fish plays a more important role than that from eggs to snails and from fish to humans; (ii) As the cycle of infection-treatment-reinfection continues, it is unlikely that treatment with drugs alone can control and eventually eradicate clonorchiasis. These strongly suggest that a more comprehensive approach needs to include environmental modification in order to break the cercariae-fish transmission cycle, to enhance awareness about the disease, and to improve prevention measures.

There is evidence showing that vertical transmission of dengue virus exists in Aedes mosquitoes. In this paper, we propose a deterministic dengue model with vertical transmission in mosquitoes by including aquatic mosquitoes (eggs, larvae and pupae), adult mosquitoes (susceptible, exposed and infectious) and human hosts (susceptible, exposed, infectious and recovered). We first analyze the existence and stability of disease-free equilibria, calculate the basic reproduction number and discuss the existence of the disease-endemic equilibrium. Then, we study the impact of vertical transmission of the virus in mosquitoes on the spread dynamics of dengue. We also use the model to simulate the reported infected human data from the 2014 dengue outbreak in Guangdong Province, China, carry out sensitivity analysis of the basic reproduction number in terms of the model parameters, and seek for effective control measures for the transmission of dengue virus.

With the rapid development of China, water pollution is still a serious problem despite implementation of control measures. Reasonable water environment management measures are very important for improving water quality and controlling eutrophication. In this study, the coupled models of hydrodynamics, water quality, and eutrophication were used to predict artificial Playground Lake water quality in the Zhenjiang, China. Recommended "unilateral" and "bilateral" river numerical models were constructed to simulate the water quality in the Playground Lake without or with water diversion by pump, sluice and push pump. Under "unilateral" and "bilateral" river layouts, total nitrogen and total phosphorus meet the landscape water requirement through water diversion. Tourist season in spring and summer and its suitable temperature result in heavier eutrophication, while winter is lighter. Under pumping condition, water quality and eutrophication of "unilateral" river is better than "bilateral" rivers. Under sluice diversion, the central landscape lake of "unilateral river" is not smooth, and water quality and eutrophication is inferior to the "bilateral". When the water level exceeds the flood control level (4.1 m), priority 1 is launched to discharge water from the Playground Lake. During operation of playground, when water level is less than the minimum level (3.3 m), priority 2 is turned on for pumping diversion or sluice diversion to Playground Lake. After opening the Yangtze river diversion channel sluice, priority 3 is launched for sluice diversion to the Playground Lake. When the temperature is less than 15 °C, from 15 °C to 25 °C and higher than 25 °C, the water quality can be maintained for 15 days, 10 days and 7 days, respectively. Corresponding to the conditions of different priority levels, reasonable choices of scheduling measures under different conditions to improve the water quality and control eutrophication of the Playground Lake. This article is relevant for the environmental management of the artificial Playground Lake, and similar lakes elsewhere.

Purpose: To adapt the Benefit Finding Scale (BFS) from English to a Chinese version after considering cross-cultural influences, to validate the tool for assessing benefit in Chinese-speaking patients with early-stage cancer, and to analyze the relationships between BF and sociodemographic and disease-related variables., Methods: In part I of the study, the Chinese BFS was adapted from the English version by developing guidelines after due consideration for cross-cultural influences. The translation validity index was used for assessing the quality of translation, and further refining was carried out by administering the scale on early-stage cancer patients (N1 = 200, N2 = 351) in part II and III. The Chinese version of the BFS was analyzed for reliability, dimensionality and construct validity. Relationships between BF and sociodemographic and disease-related variables were analyzed by ANOVA and regression models., Results: The Chinese BFS was received favorably by patients during the preliminary testing. Cronbach's alpha and interclass correlation coefficients exceeded 0.7, and factor analysis yielded six factors. Convergent validity, discriminant validity and concurrent validity results indicated a satisfactory psychometric value. Sociodemographic and disease-related predictors of BF were observed., Conclusion: The Chinese BFS demonstrated good patient acceptability and exhibited strong psychometric properties among Chinese patients with early-stage cancer. There were differences between Chinese cancer patients' benefit finding and patients with cancer in foreign countries, domestic cancer patients revealed high score in social relationship and family relationship dimension. Educational level, monthly individual income, treatment and physical exercise were the predictors of Chinese cancer patients' benefit finding., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In order to investigate how the movement of dogs affects the geographically inter-provincial spread of rabies in Mainland China, we propose a multi-patch model to describe the transmission dynamics of rabies between dogs and humans, in which each province is regarded as a patch. In each patch the submodel consists of susceptible, exposed, infectious, and vaccinated subpopulations of both dogs and humans and describes the spread of rabies among dogs and from infectious dogs to humans. The existence of the disease-free equilibrium is discussed, the basic reproduction number is calculated, and the effect of moving rates of dogs between patches on the basic reproduction number is studied. To investigate the rabies virus clades lineages, the two-patch submodel is used to simulate the human rabies data from Guizhou and Guangxi, Hebei and Fujian, and Sichuan and Shaanxi, respectively. It is found that the basic reproduction number of the two-patch model could be larger than one even if the isolated basic reproduction number of each patch is less than one. This indicates that the immigration of dogs may make the disease endemic even if the disease dies out in each isolated patch when there is no immigration. In order to reduce and prevent geographical spread of rabies in China, our results suggest that the management of dog markets and trades needs to be regulated, and transportation of dogs has to be better monitored and under constant surveillance.

In a previous study we noticed that there might be co-infections of HBV and HIV by comparing incidence rates of these two diseases in China. The comparisons between the incidence data of HBV and sexually transmitted diseases (including AIDS, HIV, syphilis and gonorrhea) in China demonstrate that sexual transmission is an important route of spread of HBV in China. On the basis of this fact, in this paper we propose a compartmental model including under-aged children, male adults, and female adults. The effect of sexual transmission on the spread and prevalence of HBV in China is studied. The model is employed to simulate the HBV incidence data reported by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention for under-aged children, adult males, and adult females, respectively. The sensitivity analysis of the basic reproduction number indicates that it is important and crucial to increase the immunization rate for both under-aged children and adults in order to control the transmission of HBV in China. Our study suggests that effective control measures for hepatitis B in China include enhancing public education and awareness about hepatitis B virus, particularly about the fact that hepatitis B is a sexually transmitted disease, and increasing the immunization rate for both under-aged children and adults, especially for those groups of high risk., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Hoarding disorder is rarely examined in populations of non-European and/or non-Euro-American descent, especially in East Asian nations like China. Across two studies, the current investigation sets out to examine the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of a widely used measure of hoarding symptoms-the Savings Inventory Revised (SIR)-and to explore the nature of hoarding beliefs compared to a separate US sample., Procedures: For the first study, 1828 college students in China completed a Mandarin translation of the SIR and measures of anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. For the second study, 303 students from China and 87 students from the US completed the SIR and a novel hoarding beliefs questionnaire., Findings: In the first study, the Chinese-version of the SIR demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity, as well as internal reliability and preliminary construct validity. However, evidence of temporal stability was modest and requires further investigation. In the second study, the Chinese sample endorsed greater hoarding symptoms and hoarding beliefs compared to the US sample, although only themes of usefulness and wastefulness were associated with hoarding in the Chinese samples, whereas a wider range of beliefs was linked with hoarding in the US sample. In addition, the factor structure of the SIR from the first study did not replicate in second study, suggesting that construct validity of the Chinese SIR may require further corroboration., Conclusions: The current study established preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the Chinese SIR, although future research is needed to confirm its temporal stability and factor structure. Hoarding beliefs in China may be centered on themes of usefulness and wastefulness compared to more heterogeneous themes in the West, suggesting differential manifestations of hoarding tendencies in cultures of non-European and/or non-Euro-American descent., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Cross-sectional surveys conducted in Thailand and China after the outbreaks of the avian influenza A H5N1 and H7N9 viruses show a high degree of awareness of human avian influenza in both urban and rural populations, a higher level of proper hygienic practice among urban residents, and in particular a dramatically reduced number of visits to live markets in urban population after the influenza A H7N9 outbreak in China in 2013. In this paper, taking into account the psychological effect toward avian influenza in the human population, a bird-to-human transmission model in which the avian population exhibits saturation effect is constructed. The dynamical behavior of the model is studied by using the basic reproduction number. The results demonstrate that the saturation effect within avian population and the psychological effect in human population cannot change the stability of equilibria but can affect the number of infected humans if the disease is prevalent. Numerical simulations are given to support the theoretical results and sensitivity analyses of the basic reproduction number in terms of model parameters that are performed to seek for effective control measures for avian influenza.