Risk Factors for Geo-Helminthiasis in Children Aged 6 - 36 Months in a Rural Health District in Cameroon

Introduction and Objectives: Soil-Transmitted-Helminthiasis (STH) is a public health problem in Cameroon. The control strategies currently in place, particularly chemoprevention, has shortcomings linked to the target population, which are school-age children. The objective was to determine the prevalence and the risk factors associated with geo-helminthiasis in children aged 0 to 3 years in a rural health district. Method: From December 2020 to May 2021, a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study of 376 children between 6 and 36 months was carried out in the Akonolinga health district. This was a cluster sampling in 4 health areas. Stool samples were collected and analysed using the mini-FLOTAC method. The results expressed as the number of eggs per gram of stool. A questionnaire on socio-demographic and lifestyle data was administered to the parents. The Chi-squared test was used to measure the association between geo-helminth infection and the data collected. A multivariate analysis using logistic regression was performed (p 0.05). Results: The prevalence of STH was 19.4% (Ascaris lumbricoides: 16% and Trichuris trichiura: 8%). Risk factors were: consumption of contaminated water (AOR = 1.93 [1.03 - 3.6];p = 0.040), early contact of the child with the ground (before age of 4 months) (AOR = 4.9 [2.1 - 11.37];p .001), habit of walking barefoot (AOR = 2.91 [1.1 - 7.97];p = 0.038), and living in a habitat with unpaved ground (AOR = 7.4 [1.55 - 35.7];p = 0.012). Conclusion: The prevalence of STHs in infants was high. Preventive chemotherapy should be extended to this age-group, and other measures intensified.

Factors Associated with Acute Respiratory Infections in Children Aged 0 - 5 Years in the Yénawa District of Cotonou (Benin) in 2023

Introduction: Acute respiratory infections remain one of the main causes of mortality in children aged 0 to 5. This work aimed to study the associated factors with the occurrence of acute respiratory infections in children 0 to 5 years old in Yénawa, Cotonou in 2023. Subjects and Method: It was an analytical cross-sectional study of children aged 0 - 5 years and their mothers in Yénawa, selected by four-degree random sampling. The sampling size, calculated using the Schwartz formula, was 126 children and 126 mothers. The dependent variable was the occurrence of acute respiratory infections. The independent variables were classified into four groups: socio-demographic and economic characteristics, behavioral factors, child-related factors, and environmental factors. Data collected by observation and questionnaire survey were analyzed using STATA version 15 software. Associated factors were investigated by bivariate analysis and multiple logistic regression, at the 5% significance level. Results: A total of 126 children aged 0 - 5 years and 126 mothers were surveyed, aged 23.5 (11 - 36) months and 30 (18 - 48) years respectively. The prevalence of acute respiratory infections was 74.60% (CI95% = 66.89 to 82.30). The associated factors were the mother’s age between 18 and 28 (OR = 10.77;CI95% = 1.89 to 61.27;p = 0.007), the use of charcoal/wood for cooking (OR = 7.36;IC = 1.99 to 27.10;p = 0.003)), children's poor personal hygiene (OR = 8.87;IC = 2.92 to 26.97;p 0.001)), and cohabitation with domestic animals (OR = 7.27;IC = 1.67 to 31.71;p = 0.015). Conclusion: Communicating with mothers about the factors identified will help reduce the prevalence of acute respiratory infections in children aged 0 to 5.

Exploring the Impact of Factors Affecting the Lifespan of HIVs/AIDS Patient’s Survival: An Investigation Using Advanced Statistical Techniques

This study investigates the impact of various factors on the lifespan and diagnostic time of HIV/AIDS patients using advanced statistical techniques. The Power Chris-Jerry (PCJ) distribution is applied to model CD4 counts of patients, and the goodness-of-fit test confirms a strong fit with a p-value of 0.6196. The PCJ distribution is found to be the best fit based on information criteria (AIC and BIC) with the smallest negative log-likelihood, AIC, and BIC values. The study uses datasets from St. Luke hospital Uyo, Nigeria, containing HIV/AIDS diagnosis date, age, CD4 count, gender, and opportunistic infection dates. Multiple linear regression is employed to analyze the relationship between these variables and HIV/AIDS diagnostic time. The results indicate that age, CD4 count, and opportunistic infection significantly impact the diagnostic time, while gender shows a nonsignificant relationship. The F-test confirms the model's overall significance, indicating the factors are good predictors of HIV/AIDS diagnostic time. The R-squared value of approximately 72% suggests that administering antiretroviral therapy (ART) can improve diagnostic time by suppressing the virus and protecting the immune system. Cox proportional hazard modeling is used to examine the effects of predictor variables on patient survival time. Age and CD4 count are not significant factors in the hazard of HIV/AIDS diagnostic time, while opportunistic infection is a significant predictor with a decreasing effect on the hazard rate. Gender shows a strong but nonsignificant relationship with decreased risk of death. To address the violation of the assumption of proportional hazard, the study employs an assumption-free alternative, Aalen’s model. In the Aalen model, all predictor variables except age and gender are statistically significant in relation to HIV/AIDS diagnostic time. The findings provide valuable insights into the factors influencing diagnostic time and survival of HIV/AIDS patients, which can inform interventions aimed at reducing transmission and improving early diagnosis and treatment. The Power Chris-Jerry distribution proves to be a suitable fit for modeling CD4 counts, while multiple linear regression and survival analysis techniques provide insights into the relationships between predictor variables and diagnostic time. These results contribute to the understanding of HIV/AIDS patient outcomes and can guide public health interventions to enhance early detection, treatment, and care.

Exploring the Impact of Factors Affecting the Lifespan of HIVs/AIDS Patient’s Survival: An Investigation Using Advanced Statistical Techniques

This study investigates the impact of various factors on the lifespan and diagnostic time of HIV/AIDS patients using advanced statistical techniques. The Power Chris-Jerry (PCJ) distribution is applied to model CD4 counts of patients, and the goodness-of-fit test confirms a strong fit with a p-value of 0.6196. The PCJ distribution is found to be the best fit based on information criteria (AIC and BIC) with the smallest negative log-likelihood, AIC, and BIC values. The study uses datasets from St. Luke hospital Uyo, Nigeria, containing HIV/AIDS diagnosis date, age, CD4 count, gender, and opportunistic infection dates. Multiple linear regression is employed to analyze the relationship between these variables and HIV/AIDS diagnostic time. The results indicate that age, CD4 count, and opportunistic infection significantly impact the diagnostic time, while gender shows a nonsignificant relationship. The F-test confirms the model's overall significance, indicating the factors are good predictors of HIV/AIDS diagnostic time. The R-squared value of approximately 72% suggests that administering antiretroviral therapy (ART) can improve diagnostic time by suppressing the virus and protecting the immune system. Cox proportional hazard modeling is used to examine the effects of predictor variables on patient survival time. Age and CD4 count are not significant factors in the hazard of HIV/AIDS diagnostic time, while opportunistic infection is a significant predictor with a decreasing effect on the hazard rate. Gender shows a strong but nonsignificant relationship with decreased risk of death. To address the violation of the assumption of proportional hazard, the study employs an assumption-free alternative, Aalen’s model. In the Aalen model, all predictor variables except age and gender are statistically significant in relation to HIV/AIDS diagnostic time. The findings provide valuable insights into the factors influencing diagnostic time and survival of HIV/AIDS patients, which can inform interventions aimed at reducing transmission and improving early diagnosis and treatment. The Power Chris-Jerry distribution proves to be a suitable fit for modeling CD4 counts, while multiple linear regression and survival analysis techniques provide insights into the relationships between predictor variables and diagnostic time. These results contribute to the understanding of HIV/AIDS patient outcomes and can guide public health interventions to enhance early detection, treatment, and care.

Factors Affecting Patient Satisfaction with Community Health Service under the Gatekeeper System:A Cross-sectional Study in Nanjing,China

The gatekeeper policy has been implemented for approximately ten years on a pilot population in China. It is necessary to assess the satisfaction of patients utilizing community health service（CHS） under the gatekeeper system. Our study showed that the cognition of gatekeeper policy was associated with four dimensions including doctor‐patient relationships, information and support, organization of care, and accessibility（P 〈 0.001）. One or more factors such as gender and self‐perceived health scores also affected their satisfaction. General practitioners must be prepared to focus on these aspects of information and support, organization of care, and accessibility as indicators of potential opportunities for improvement. Additionally, policymakers can improve patients＇ satisfaction with CHS by strengthening their awareness of the gatekeeper policy.

Factors Affecting Transformation Temperatures in Fe-Mn-Si-Cr-Ni Shape Memory Alloy

The effects of prestrain and annealing temperature on phase transformation temperatures in Fel4Mn5Si8Cr4Ni shape memory alloy have been studied. The results showed that when the annealing temperature was 673 K, both the At and the Ms temperatures increased appreciably as the prestrain increased, the As temperature increased slightly with increasing prestrain; the resistivity difference at 303 K between the heating and cooling curve also increased with increasing prestrain, which agreed with the recovery strain. The shape memory effect in Fe-Mn-Si-Cr-Ni shape memory alloy is caused by the stress-induced γ→ε martensite transformation and its reverse transformation. When the prestrain was 10%, the Ms temperature decreased remarkably as the annealing temperature increased.

Factors affecting the performance of a multi-tone carrier source based re-circulating frequency shifter

Generation of single-sideband （SSB） multi-carrier source based on a recirculating frequency shifter （RFS） is anal- ysed theoretically and realized experimentally. The effects of affecting factors originating from the deviation from the right operation bias voltage and unbalanced amplitude, and the phase of the radio frequency （RF） drive signals on the performance of the multi-tone source are discussed in detail. Based on the theoretical analysis, high-quality 50-tone out- put is successfully realized. Experiments under some implementation imperfections are also carried out. The imperfect and low-quality output results are in good agreement with theoretical analysis.

Construction Strategy and Affecting Factors of Positive-Strand RNA Virus Infectious Clone

Construction of infectious clones by full-length cDNA is basic and key for recovering RNA virus and is core of reverse genetics.In this article,basic consideration and key technology were viewed and factors affecting infectivity of clones were also summarized.Some research advances were briefly introduced about positive-strand RNA viruses infectious clones.Finally,this article also reviewed the application of infectious clones.

Available Contents of Trace Nutrient Element and Factors Affecting Their Availability in Western Jilin

Based on the assay of the total content and available content of the trace nutrient elements and the soil pH and organic matter of the soil samples,the characteristic of the available content of the trace nutrient elements and their affecting factors are studied. The results show that the available B in western Jilin is in a middle level,the content in Nong'an is higher than that in the others; the available Mn is extremely abundant; the available Cu in Nong'an is obviously higher than other areas,and the content in Da'an differs greatly; the available Zn is in a middle level; the severe shortage of available Mo differs between different areas; and the available Fe is extremely abundant. The available Mn,Cu and Fe have significantly positive correlation with their total content; the available B has significantly positive correlation with pH,and Zn has obviously negative correlation with pH; the available Mn and Fe had significantly positive correlation with soil organic matter.

The Factors Affecting the Efficacy of α-interferon in the Treatment of(CHB)

Objective:To analyze the factors affecting the efficacy ofα-interferon in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B(CHB).Methods:A total of 100 patients with CHB treated in our hospital from June 2018 to June 2019 were selected.All patients were treated withα-interferon to evaluate the efficacy,and the factors affecting the effect ofα-interferon on CHB were analyzed.Results:After treatment,54 patients fully responded and 46 patients did not;the levels of white blood cells,HBV DNA,and HBsAg in the complete response group were lower than those in the incompletely response group,and the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05);Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that serum HBV DNA and HBsAg were independent factors affecting the efficacy ofα-interferon in the treatment of CHB(OR>1,P<0.05).Conclusion:Serum HBV DNA and HBsAg are risk factors that affect the efficacy ofα-interferon in the treatment of CHB.Monitoring the changes of serum HBV DNA and HBsAg levels has important clinical significance for predicting the efficacy.

Spatial distribution rules and affecting factors of BIF in Anshan-Benxi area

A detailed investigation on 3D spatial distribution rules of Banded Iron-bearing Formation(BIF) with methods of gravity-magnetic inversion and 3D modeling of iron mine is presented based on the former analysis in the Anshan-Benxi area.Three dimension spatial distribution types of BIF are concluded as hook-like,tabularlike and "W"-like.BIF was mainly developed in three types of space including(1) the syncline cores,(2)cover coverage area,and(3) the deeper buried area where the range of tectonic uplift is small.The influences of tectonism,magmatic intrusion and uplift-erosion on the spatial distribution shapes of BIF are clarified.

Factors Affecting the English Self-study of Senior High Students

The new students'view appeals for learning alone,so the teachers should make study for students,which is the order of the new curriculum standards of the high school English.There are many strategies to improve that,but the effect of self-study is not satisfactory.In order to make it come into effects,we should conclude the factors affecting the English self-study.Subjective and objective aspects will be concluded according to the literature review,investigation,self-experience and features of senior high English study.

On Factors Affecting Listening Comprehension

In English teaching and learning,listening ability is an important part of communicative competence,is a very practical integrated skill.It has been a difficult skill in second language acquisition for many students.Many Chinese students are skilled in reading,but often they tend to neglect the listening.However,owing to the higher requirements of many English tests and the great importance in communication,students begin to pay attention to develop their English listening skills.But there are many factors affecting listening,the paper mainly focuses on linguistic factors and non-linguistic factors that affect listening,to provide a theoretical basis to help exploring ways of improving listening and comprehension skills.

Affecting Factors and Improving Measures for Converter Gas Recovery

To change the undesirable present situation of recovering and using converter gas in steel plants in China, the basic approaches to improving the converter gas recovery rate were analyzed theoretically along with the change curves of the converter gas component content, based on the converter gas recovery system of Baosteel No. 2 steel- making plant. The effects of converter device, raw material, air imbibed quantity, recovery restricted condition, and intensity of oxygen blowing on the converter gas recovery rate were studied. Among these, the effects of the air im bibed quantity, recovery restricted condition, and intensity of oxygen blowing are remarkable. Comprehensive measures were put forward for improving the converter gas recovery from the point of devices, etc. , and good results were achieved.

Systematic Analysis on Factors Affecting the Development of Rural Tourism: A Case Study of Chengdu

Based on field survey, the thesis analyzes the key factors affecting development of rural tourism systematically, taking Chengdu as an example. These factors include regional e-conomic development level & leisure tradition, tourist market & traffic, tourist resource, spatial agglomeration and competition of rural tourism, and decision-making behavior. Among them, regional economic development level & leisure tradition and tourist market & traffic are prerequisites for the development of rural tourism which have an impact on tourist' s consumption level, consumption custom, operator's investment ability, tourist destination distribution and scale; Tourist resource, spatial agglomeration and competition of rural tourism are restrictive conditions affecting character and distribution of rural tourism; Government's decision-making behavior is of importance for expansion of scale and popularity of regional rural tourism, meanwhile, operators' decision-making behavior includes investment scale and operational strategies, and for operators from the outside, location selection is included additionally. All these decision-making behaviors are subjective conditions for the development of rural tourism.

Evaluation of the Distribution and Factors Affecting Blood Pressure Using Medical Checkup Data in Japan

In this paper, we first evaluated the distribution of blood pressure (BP) using a dataset containing 113,979 measurements in 48,022 individuals with the cooperation of one health insurance society in Japan from April, 2013 to March, 2016. The means of the systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were 125.4 and 77.6 mmHg with standard deviations of 16.5 and 11.7 mmHg, respectively. Under the 140/90 criterion, 21.6% of the measurements showed hypertension. According to the World Health Organization/International Society of Hypertension criterion, 16.4%, 4.2% and 0.96% were classified as grades 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The factors affecting BP were evaluated by a regression analysis and were found to include age, gender, some eating habits, daily activities, smoking, drinking alcohol, sleeping and wages. Age was a very important factor, and the age cohorts from the previous study might be revised based on these findings. Among factors that individuals can control, the influence of drinking alcohol is very large. Comparing to an individual who does not drink, SBP and DBP of a heavy drinker are more than 5.0 mmHg higher on the average.

An Analysis of the Medical Costs of and Factors Affecting Diabetes Using the Medical Checkup and Payment Dataset in Japan: Can We Reduce the Prevalence of Diabetes?

Background: The cost and economic burden of diabetes are a serious worldwide issue. In this study, we evaluated medical payments for persons diagnosed with diabetes and the factors that led to a person having diabetes to reduce its prevalence. Methods: A dataset containing 113,979 medical checkups and 3,671,783 monthly medical, dental, care-giving and pharmacy payment records of one health insurance society was used. The dataset contains information of normal and healthy persons. The sample period ran from April, 2013 to March, 2016. The medical payments for persons diagnosed with diabetes were calculated. The regression analysis was used to remove the effects of age and gender. The probit analysis was used to analyze the factors that led to a person having diabetes. Results: In 2.9% of cases, the person undergoing the checkup was diagnosed with diabetes, and the medical payments for these patients were 2.7 times as much as the average medical payment per person. This result did not change significantly even if age and gender were considered. The results of the probit analysis suggested that body mass index, high systolic blood pressure, low diastolic blood pressure, eating habits, physical activities, smoking, drinking alcohol and sleeping were important factors for diabetes. Conclusion: The diabetes might be a costlier disease than previously thought in Japan. By the estimation, 8% of all medical payments were made for these persons with diabetes, which is much higher than the result shown by national survey data. However, overall prevalence could be recused by efforts such as prevention of overweight and obesity.

Numerical analysis of factors affecting the range of heat transfer in earth surrounding three subways

In order to examine the factors which affect the range of heat transfer in earth surrounding subways, FLAC3D was adopted in this study to analyze these factors, under different conditions, in a systematic manner. When we compare these numerical tests, the results show that the main factors, affecting the heat transfer range are the thermal properties of the surrounding earth, the initial ground temperature and the temperature in the tunnel. The heat transfer coefficient between air and linings has little effect on the temperature distribution around the tunnel. The current results can provide a reference for improving the thermal environment in subways and optimizing the design of subwav ventilation and air conditioning.

Preparation of Chinese fir wood/MMT nanocomposites and the factors affecting it

The nano intercalation compounding of wood and MMT has important implications for the modification of wood and for the development of new materials. With water-soluble phenol formaldehyde resin as an intermediary, the nanocomposites of Chinese fir （Cunningharnia lanceolata） wood and montmorillonite （MMT） were prepared via three impregnation methods, i.e. normal pressure, once and twice vacuum methods. Based on the weight percent gain （WPG） of impregnated wood, the effects of compounding wood and MMT in terms of concentration, impregnating temperature and time, wood moisture content and wood extraction treatments, on sapwood and heartwood are discussed. Results show that： 1） the optimum MMT concentration in the impregnation solution is 3% for sapwood and 5% for heartwood; 2） room temperature is suitable in practice; 3） treatment pressure should be set at a high enough value in order to ensure sufficient permeation; 4） the effects of different impregnation methods on sapwood and heartwood are different, the heartwood extractives affect WPG significantly; cell wall permeability of sapwood is better than that of heartwood; 5） the cold water, hot water and benzene-ethanol solution extractions can all greatly improve the permeability of heartwood, hot water can dissolve some hemicellulose of low aggregation and hot water extraction improves wood cell wall permeability; 6） with an increase in wood moisture content, the permeable space in wood is reduced, but with a certain amount of water, instantaneous spaces are created and the permeation dynamic increases. This effect is especially apparent for difficult impregnating situations in heartwood and impregnation under normal pressure.