A survey of HIV infection and related high-risk factors among men who have sex with men in Suzhou,Jiangsu,China

A cross-sectional study using the snowball sampling method was conducted in May 2008 to investigate human immunodeficiency virus （HIV） infection status and related high risk factors among men who have sex with men （MSM） in Suzhou city of Jiangsu province. The researchers carried out a face-to-face questionnaire interview among MSM, and collected their blood samples to test for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases （STDs）. Among the 280 respondents, 91.1% had homosexual acts in the past 6 months and 87.5% had multiple homosex- ual partners; 46.4% had heterosexual sex in the past 6 months and 33.1% had multiple heterosexual partners. The rate of continued condom use was 44.3% in homosexual sex in the past 6 months, while the rate in heterosexual sex was 33.9%. Laboratory test results showed that the prevalences of HIV and syphilis were 7.1% （20/280） and 15.0% （42/280）, respectively, but no HCV-positive person was found. In the multivariate logistic regression model, subjects with a monthly income of more than RMB $ 1,000 （OR=4.83,95% CI=1.44-16.22）, subjects who often went to bars for sexual partners （OR=2.25, 95%CI=1.21-4.20）, and subjects who had more than one sexual partner in the past 6 months （OR=0.49, 95%CI=0.25-0.97） and had sex with fixed sexual partners in the past 6 months （OR=0.42, 95%CI=0.25-0.75） were significantly associated with the rate of continued condom use in homosexual sex in the past 6 months. Unprotected sex and multiple sexual partners were more common among MSM in Suzhou city; furthermore, the prevalences of HIV infection and syphilis were relatively high. HIV preventive measures should be designed to address these risk factors and control the spread of HIV among MSM.

Environment-adaptive phase-separation-porous fluorofilm for highperformance passive radiation cooling

Passive radiative cooling is widely recognized as an environmentally sustainable method for achieving significant cooling effects.However,the mechanical properties and environmental adaptability of current radiative cooling materials are not sufficient to maintain high cooling performance in external environments.Here we reported an environment-adaptive phase-separation-porous fluorofilm for high-performance passive radiation cooling.Compared to the homogenous fluoro-porous network with limited scattering efficiencies,we modulated the porous structure of the fluorofilm to achieve a strong emissivity of 95.2%(8-13μm)and a high reflectivity of 97.1%(0.3-2.5μm).The fluorofilm demonstrates a temperature drop of 10.5°C and an average cooling power of 81 W·m^(−2)under a sunlight power of 770 W·m^(−2).The high mechanical performance and environmental adaptability of fluorofilms are also exhibited.Considering its significant radiative cooling capability and robust environmental adaptability,the fluorofilm is expected to have a promising future in radiative temperature regulation.

Porous block copolymer films with self-adjustable optical transmittance and passive radiative cooling

As an energy-free cooling technique,radiative cooling has garnered significant attention in the field of energy conservation.However,traditional radiative cooling films often possess static optical properties and their inherent opacity limits their applications in building such as windows.Therefore,there exists a requirement for passive radiative cooling films endowed with adjustable transmittance.Here we report the porous block copolymer films with self-adjustable optical transmittance and passive radiative cooling.In a result,the film exhibited a high solar reflectance(0.3-2.5μm)of 96.9%and a high infrared emittance(8-13μm)of 97.9%.Outdoor experiments demonstrated that the film surface temperature was 6.6℃lower than ambient temperature,with a cooling power of 104.8 W·m^(-2).In addition,the film’s transmittance can be regulated by altering the polarity of the post-processing solvent,providing an effective approach for regulating indoor light intensity and thermal balance,thereby enhancing the applicability of radiative cooling.

Associations of socioeconomic status with infectious diseases mediated by lifestyle, environmental pollution and chronic comorbidities: a comprehensive evaluation based on UK Biobank

Background Socioeconomic status(SES)inequity was recognized as a driver of some certain infectious diseases.However,few studies evaluated the association between SES and the burden of overall infections,and even fewer identified preventable mediators.This study aimed to assess the association between SES and overall infectious diseases burden,and the potential roles of factors including lifestyle,environmental pollution,chronic disease history.Methods We included 401,009 participants from the UK Biobank(UKB)and defined the infection status for each participant according to their diagnosis records.Latent class analysis(LCA)was used to define SES for each participant.We further defined healthy lifestyle score,environment pollution score(EPS)and four types of chronic comorbidities.We used multivariate logistic regression to test the associations between the four above covariates and infectious diseases.Then,we performed the mediation and interaction analysis to explain the relationships between SES and other variables on infectious diseases.Finally,we employed seven types of sensitivity analyses,including considering the Townsend deprivation index as an area level SES variable,repeating our main analysis for some individual or composite factors and in some subgroups,as well as in an external data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey,to verify the main results.Results In UKB,60,771(15.2%)participants were diagnosed with infectious diseases during follow-up.Lower SES[odds ratio(OR)=1.5570]were associated with higher risk of overall infections.Lifestyle score mediated 2.9%of effects from SES,which ranged from 2.9 to 4.0%in different infection subtypes,while cardiovascular disease(CVD)mediated a proportion of 6.2%with a range from 2.1 to 6.8%.In addition,SES showed significant negative interaction with lifestyle score(OR=0.8650)and a history of cancer(OR=0.9096),while a significant synergy interaction was observed between SES and EPS(OR=1.0024).In subgroup analysis,we found that males and African(AFR)with lower SES showed much higher infection risk.Results from sensitivity and validation analyses showed relative consistent with the main analysis.Conclusions Low SES is shown to be an important risk factor for infectious disease,part of which may be mediated by poor lifestyle and chronic comorbidities.Efforts to enhance health education and improve the quality of living environment may help reduce burden of infectious disease,especially for people with low SES.

Pay-it-forward gonorrhea and chlamydia testing among men who have sex with men in China:a study protocol for a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial

Background:Gonorrhea and chlamydia testing rates are poor among Chinese men who have sex with men(MSM).A quasi-experimental study suggested that a pay-it-forward strategy increased dual gonorrhea/chlamydia testing among MSM.Pay-it-forward offers an individual a gift(e.g.,a free test)and then asks the same person if they would like to give a gift to another person.This article reports the protocol of a randomized controlled trial to evaluate dual gonorrhea/chlamydia test uptake and other outcomes among MSM in three arms-a pay-it-forward arm,a pay-what-you-want arm,and a standard of care arm.Methods:Three hundred MSM will be recruited at three HIV testing sites in Guangzhou and Beijing.Testing sites include two hospital-based MSM sexually transmitted diseases clinics and one MSM community-based organization.Eligible participants will be born biologically male,aged 16 years or older,reporting previous anal sex with another man,having never participated in the pay-it-forward program,without previous gonorrhea and chlamydia testing in the past 12 months,and residing in China.Following a cluster randomized design,every cluster of ten participants will be randomly allocated into one of three arms:(1)a pay-it-forward arm in which men are offered free gonorrhea and chlamydia testing and then asked whether they would like to donate("pay it forward")toward testing for future testers;(2)a pay-what-you-want arm in which men are offered free testing and told to decide how much to pay after receiving the test;(3)a standard of care arm in which men can pay the full price for dual gonorrhoea and chlamydia testing.The primary outcome is dual gonorrhoea/chlamydia testing as verified by administrative records.Secondary outcomes include incremental cost per test,incremental cost per diagnosis,community connectedness,and social cohesion.Primary outcome will be calculated for each arm using intention-to-treat and compared using one-sided 95%confidence intervals with a margin of 20%increase defined as superiority.Discussion:This study will examine the pay-it-forward strategy in comparison to the standard of care in improving test uptake for gonorrhea and chlamydia.We will leverage the cluster randomized controlled trial to provide scientific evidence on the potential effect of pay-it-forward.Findings from this study will shed light on novel intervention methods for increasing preventive health service utilization and innovate ways to finance it among communities.Trial registration:ClinicalTrials.gov,NCT03741725.Registered on 12 November 2018.

Differentiating COVID-19 Response Strategies

Globally,the COVID-19 pandemic brings different challenges to the impacted countries.To combat this pandemic,different strategies need to be tailored and implemented in countries with different situations.First,in countries with an ongoing explosion of the outbreak(i.e.the USA,Spain,and Italy),strategies suggested by the World Health Organization(WHO)which have been proven useful in China should be adopted for implementation.Secondly,countries in the regions that are still at the early stages of the outbreak(i.e.,the Africa region,where many countries have only found imported cases)should further strengthen travel restrictions to reduce the risk of imported cases as well as the risk of developing local transmission.Furthermore,countries that have achieved great success in COVID control(i.e.China,South Korea,and Singapore)should continue implement the successful strategies and further roll-out strengthened new strategies to prevent new imported cases.

Stem cell research finds possible HIV cure with cord blood transplant

Recent reports of an American woman of mixed race cured of HIV through stem cell transplant suggest ground-breaking progress on the human immunodeficiency virus“HIV”war front as it marks significant progress in efforts to find a cure for the disease.As presented at the recent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections,the cured patient was discovered in the ongoing USA-supported stem cell research study led by Dr.Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins University and Dr.Yvonne Bryson of the University of California Los Angeles(UCLA).