Effects of sex and generation on hepatitis B viral load in families with hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM To explore factors associated with persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in a cohort of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-affected families and then investigate factors that correlate with individual viral load among hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive relatives. METHODS questionnaire. Demographics, relationship to index case, HBsAg status of mothers and index cases were evaluated for association with the HBV persistent infection or viral load by generalized estimating equation analysis. RESULTS Among 729 relatives enrolled, parent generation (P = 0.0076), index generation (P = 0.0044), mothers positive for HBsAg (P = 0.0007), and HBsAg-positive index cases (P = 5.98 x 10(-8)) were associated with persistent HBV infection. Factors associated with HBV viral load were evaluated among 303 HBsAg-positive relatives. Parent generation (P = 0.0359) and sex (P = 0.0007) were independent factors associated with HBV viral load. The intra-family HBV viral load was evaluated in families clustered with HBsAg-positive siblings. An intra-family trend of similar HBV viral load was found for 27 of 46 (58.7%) families. Male offspring of HBsAg-positive mothers (P = 0.024) and older siblings were associated with high viral load. CONCLUSION Sex and generation play important roles on HBV viral load. Maternal birth age and nutritional changes could be the reasons of viral load difference between generations.

What Influences The Family Migration Decision of China’s New Generation Rural-urban Migrants? A Multilevel Logistic Regression Analysis

The massive scale of new-generation rural-urban migrants in China has attracted extensive scholarly attention in recent years.While previous studies on China’s rural migrant workers focus on migrants’settlement intentions,migrants’family migration decision-making and the intergenerational differences between the old-generation migrants and new-generation migrants are underexplored.Based on the data of the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey,this paper adopts a multilevel logistic regression approach to explore family and destination factors influencing the family migration decisions of China’s new generation of rural migrant workers.The empirical results reveal that both the migrants’family and destination attributes significantly influence their family migration decision.The demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the family have been pivotal factors underlying the family migration decision of China’s new generation rural-urban migrants,while 16.9%of the chances are explained by between-destination differences.Self-employed migrants with housing properties in host cities,long migration duration and high-income levels are more likely to migrate with their family members.Yet,the possibility of family migration is found to be significantly and negatively correlated with the age,education level,number of children and inter-provincial mobility of the new generation of migrant workers.In addition,new-generation rural-urban migrants’family migration is more likely to be found in cities with service-oriented industry structures,better environmental quality,and higher hukou barriers which is possibly related to more job opportunities.These research findings not only complement the existing literature on China’s new generation of rural urban migrants,but also have important policy implications for reforming the hukou system and enhancing social integration of the rural-to-urban migrant population.

A Situational Assessment of Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Solid Waste Generation and Composition in Freetown, Sierra Leone

The generation of solid waste has become an increasing environmental and public health problem, especially in developing countries. These problems associated with the generation of solid waste are part of social changes where households play an important role. Invariably, these social changes influence the size, structure and characteristics of given households. This paper presents the findings of a study carried out in Freetown municipal area in Sierra Leone to assess socioeconomic factors affecting household solid waste generation and composition in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Structured questionnaires were administered with respect to these socioeconomic factors in four (4) selected constituencies of the city. These are the most populated constituencies that generated 70% of the total quantity of solid waste in the city. Therefore, they are suitable samples of the study area. The rate of waste generation was determined by using door- to-door approach in five (5) selected households from each constituency through sorting and weighing of solid wastes respectively. The dependent variables were solid waste generation and composition, and the independent variables were family size, education, income levels among others. The data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis to determine relationships between independent variables and dependent variables through correlation. The results showed that the solid waste generation and composition in Freetown was significantly affected by average family size, employment status, monthly income, and number of room(s) occupied by households. In general, the paper adequately suggests new insights concerning the role of socioeconomic factors in affecting the generation and composition of household solid waste.

Second-Generation Muslim Youth Between Perception and Change: A Case Study on the Prevention of Radicalization

The following article presents the results of a research-action and an online communication campaign on the prevention of radicalization of second-generation young Italian Muslims as a part of a project called“Oltre”(the Italian acronym means“Beyond”)financed by European Union.After a short presentation of the four steps of the prevention communication model PKIC,a deepening on the radicalization factors,and a focus on the research-action methodology,the results of the research on some fundamental issues like the relationship with family and the relation with media and social media of the young interviewees,are shown.Finally,in the last part of the article,the interventions carried out by the second-generation young moderators of the social media campaign carried on Facebook and Instagram,are presented in the framework of the online communication campaign born out of the research-action to discuss if and how a prevention process and consequent change with regard to the radicalization factors took place.

Anticipation phenomenon in familial adenomatous polyposis:an analysis of its origin

AIM To analyze the origin of the anticipationphenomenon,which means earlier death insuccessive generation in familial adenomatouspolyposis.METHODS The study subjects were 2161patients with familial adenomatous polyposisand their 7465 first-degree relatives who weremembers of 750 families registered at ourPolyposis Registry.The ages at death andcumulative mortality rates in the parent,theproband,and the child generations werecompared for both all subjects and the patientsalone.RESULTS In the patients over 5 years of age,the mean age at death was 50.9 years for theparent,42.3 years for the proband,and 33.3years for the child generations,respectively(P【0.001).The deceased rates in the threegenerations were 90.7%,51.3% and 23.1% ofthe patients,respectively,and this differencewas the main cause of the anticipation measuredby parent-child paring method.The cumulativemortality rates for all subjects failed to showanticipation,however the cumulative mortalityrates for the patients showed the anticipation.The anticipation phenomenon was shown by anyparent-child pairing methods for the deceasedpatients.Other important causes of theanticipation were different proportion of causesof death between generations(P【0.001),and alow proportion of detected or deceased patients (P【0.001)in the child generation.CONCLUSION Anticipation in familialadenomatous polyposis may be caused byparent-child paring methods as well as severalintergenerational biases.

Four Generations of Women in a Wa Family

MY grandmother was a descendant of a Wa nationality chief and therefore she should have gone to school, but because she was female and never left the mountain, my grandmother remained illiterate. In the past, there was no salt, no machine-made clothing and no wine in the Awa Mountain area. One day my grandfather left to go to a township fair, but he never came back. Soon, a neighbor took a message to my grandmother, telling her that my grandfather became very iii and died there.

Statistical Inference of Sine Inverse Rayleigh Distribution

We study in this manuscript a new one-parameter model called sine inverse Rayleigh(SIR)model that is a new extension of the classical inverse Rayleigh model.The sine inverse Rayleigh model is aiming to provide morefit-ting for real data sets of purposes.The proposed extension is moreflexible than the original inverse Rayleigh(IR)model and it hasmany applications in physics and medicine.The sine inverse Rayleigh distribution can havea uni-model and right skewed probability density function(PDF).The hazard rate function(HRF)of sine inverse Rayleigh distribution can be increasing and J-shaped.Sev-eral of thenew model’s fundamental characteristics,namely quantile function,moments,incompletemoments,Lorenz and Bonferroni Curves are studied.Four classical estimation methods forthe population parameters,namely least squares(LS),weighted least squares(WLS),maximum likelihood(ML),and percentile(PC)methods are discussed,and the performanceof the four estimators(namely LS,WLS,ML and PC estimators)are also compared bynumerical implementa-tions.Finally,three sets of real data are utilized to compare the behavior of the four employed methods forfinding an optimal estimation of the new distribution.

Evaluation of Fertility Levels and Adjustment of Fertility Policy: Based on the Current Situation of the Chinese Mainland's Provincial Fertility Levels

During the 11th Five-year Plan （2006-2010）, the total fertility rate of the mainland of China was 1.481 and was stable with a slight decline, exhibiting a spatial pattern of moderately low fertility in the central and western regions, very low fertility in the east and extremely low fertility in the northeast. Except for a rebound in a few provinces and regions with extremely low fertility rates, the ratio of actual fertility rates to policy fertility rates is still falling. The reduced fertility rate is mainly driven by development, notably the proportion of the total population represented by the exuberantly fertile women of child-bearing age and their greater urbanization, growing level of non-agricultural employment and outflow from rural areas, as well as the assimilative effect of urban production, lifestyles and culturalconcepts upon the agricultural population. Development has catalyzed an irreversible trend of declining fertility; existing fertility policy has proven insufficient to keep fertility rates stable at reasonably low levels. Policy-based rebounds may emerge in urban areas and the east and northeast, where family planning policy has been better implemented; on the other hand, a non-policy-based rebound may have been released. In the central and western rural areas, multiple births occur on average among only 4.12 percent of the younger generation of women. As fertility policy is adjusted and improved, fertility rebounds in transitional fertility policy adjustment can be effectively regulated through a gradual strategy which will not provoke a sharp rebound. The time is ripe for China to conduct a nationally unified adjustment of the existing fertility policy.

TREE ENUMERATION AND TREE ALGORITHM COMPLEXITY COMPUTATION

Algorithm complexity analysis over tree structures has drawn much attention in recent years. Ph. Flajolet made the complexity analysis for recursive descent algorithm over trees by establishing a complexity measure table for constructions in a formal tree algorithm description language. The so-called concept 'additive complexity algorithm over tree structures' was also introduced, which is parallel to the concept 'additive enumeration problems over trees', and some results that could only be used to recursive algorithms were obtained.

A NOTE ON ISOMETRIC METRIZATION OF PROBABILISTIC METRIC SPACES

The metrization of a probabilistic metric space (for short, PM-space )usually implies the metrization of its (ε,λ)-topological structure. Therefore, if a PM-space is metrizable, it only implies that its topological properties do not have an essential distinction with metric space. However, PM-spaces also have abundant and unique probabilistic metric properties.