Ozone (O₃) pollution is one of the predominant environmental problems, and exposure to high O₃ concentrations has a significant negative influence on both human health and ecosystems. Therefore, it is essential to analyze spatio-temporal characteristics of O₃ distribution and to evaluate O₃ exposure levels. In this study, O₃ monitoring and satellite data were used to estimate O₃ daily, seasonal and one-year exposure levels based on the Bayesian maximum entropy (BME) model with a spatial resolution of 1 km × 1 km in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, China. Leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) results showed that R² for daily and one-year exposure levels were 0.81 and 0.69, respectively, and the corresponding values for RMSE were 19.58 μg/m³ and 4.40 μg/m³, respectively. The simulation results showed that the heavily polluted areas included Tianjin, Cangzhou, Hengshui, Xingtai, and Handan, while the clean areas were mainly located in Chengde, Qinhuangdao, Baoding, and Zhangjiakou. O₃ pollution in summer was the most severe with an average concentration of 134.5 μg/m³. In summer, O₃ concentrations in 87.7% of the grids were more than 100 μg/m³. In contrast, winter was the cleanest season in the BTH region, with an average concentration of 51.1 μg/m³.

China is a region of the world with a rapidly spreading HIV-1 epidemic. Studies providing insights into HIV-1 pathogenesis in infected Chinese are urgently needed to support the design and testing of an effective HIV-1 vaccine for this population. HIV-1-specific T cell responses were characterized in 32 HIV-1-infected individuals of Chinese origin and compared to 34 infected caucasians using 410 overlapping peptides spanning the entire HIV-1 clade B consensus sequence in an IFN-γ ELISpot assay. All HIV-1 proteins were targeted with similar frequency in both populations and all study subjects recognized at least one overlapping peptide. HIV-1-specific T cell responses clustered in seven different regions of the HIV-1 genome in the Chinese cohort and in nine different regions in the caucasian cohort. The dominant HLA class I alleles expressed in the two populations differed significantly, and differences in epitope clustering pattern were shown to be influenced by differences in class I alleles that restrict immunodominant epitopes. These studies demonstrate that the clustering of HIV-1-specific T cell responses is influenced by the genetic HLA class I background in the study populations. The design and testing of candidate vaccines to fight the rapidly growing HIV-1 epidemic must therefore take the HLA genetics of the population into account as specific regions of the virus can be expected to be differentially targeted in ethnically diverse populations.

In recent years, ozone (O₃) concentration has shown a decreasing trend in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region in China. However, O₃ pollution remains a prominent problem. Accurate estimation of O₃ exposure levels can provide support for epidemiological studies. A total of 13 variables were combined to estimate short- and long-term O₃ exposure levels using the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model in the BTH region with a spatial resolution of 1 × 1 km from 2017 to 2020. Five variables were left in the GWR model. O₃ concentration was positively correlated with temperature, wind speed, and SO₂, whereas is was negatively correlated with precipitation and NO₂. Results showed that the model performed well. Leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) R² for short- and long-term simulation results were 0.91 and 0.71, and the values for RMSE were 11.14 and 3.49 μg/m³, respectively. The annual maximum 8 h average O₃ concentration was the highest in 2018 and the lowest in 2020. Decreasing concentrations of major precursors of O₃ due to the regional joint prevention and control may be the reason. O₃ concentration was high in the southeast of the BTH region, including in Hengshui, Handan, Xingtai and Cangzhou.

In China, due to the implementation of the Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Air Pollution (APPCAP), the concentrations of PM_2.5 (fine particulate matter) and severe haze in most cities have decreased significantly. However, at present, haze pollution in China has not been completely mitigated, and the problem of O₃ (ozone) has become prominent. Therefore, the prevention and control of haze and O₃ pollution have become important and noticeable issues in the field of atmospheric management. We used the Baidu search indices of “haze” and “ozone” to reflect public concerns about air quality and uncover different correlations between level of concern and level of pollution, and then we identified regions in China that require public attention. The results showed that (1) over the last decade, the search index of haze had a rapid trend of variation in line with changes in haze pollution, but that of O₃ had a relatively slowly increasing trend; (2) the lag days between the peaks of public concern and the peaks of air pollution became increasingly shorter according to daily data analysis; and (3) 96 polluted cities did not receive sufficient public attention. Although periods of heavily haze-polluted weather, which affects visibility, have generated much public concern, periods of slight pollution have not received enough public attention. Public health protection and environmental participation regarding these periods of slight pollution in China deserve appropriate levels of attention.