Tuberculosis (TB) is a single infectious agent disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and is the 13th leading cause of death worldwide, usually affecting the lungs and other organs [1]. It is the second leading single cause of death in the future, with an estimated 10 million TB patients globally in 2020 and 10.6 million […]

Understanding the transmission mode of syphilis is essential to prevent and predict its future prevalence and to develop effective control measures. This study aimed to develop a Network Suspected Infectious Disease Model to simulate the syphilis transmission. The number of syphilis cases in Wuhan's fourth hospital, Hubei province from October 2015 to July 2021 was collected. The simulation was carried out by interpersonal network-SI (suspected-infectious) model based on temporal exponential family random graph models (TERGMs). Late latent syphilis and tertiary syphilis are predicted by December 2025. The validity of simulated value and real data was tested, including determination coefficient (R²), root means square error (RMSE), and means relative error (MRE). Moreover, we developed an online app that can more easily predict the number of syphilis infections in different scenarios by setting different parameters. Results showed that R², RMSE and MRE were 0.995, 36.19 and 6.31, respectively. Speed from latent infection to primary syphilis, primary syphilis to secondary syphilis and susceptible group to latent infection decreased rapidly. Speed of transformation from secondary syphilis to early incubation period and early latent to late latent experienced a process from increase to decreased. Late latent to tertiary syphilis patients increased steadily. Number of late latent patients, early latent, invisible infection, primary syphilis and secondary syphilis all increased at first and turn to decreased. However, tertiary syphilis continuously kept rising in the whole process. To better make use of the transmission model, an online application was developed (https://alanwu.shinyapps.io/MD-shiny/). Based on the simulation that late latent and tertiary syphilis were steadily increasing, the prevention and treatment for syphilis were imperative.

Rights-based urban social movements have proliferated since the mid-1970s, but our understanding of their real impacts remains insufficient. Using the housing movements in São Paulo as an example, the article demonstrates both the limits and the strengths of the rights-based approach. It argues that housing movements in São Paulo must be understood in the global context of the coexistence of two contradictory trajectories: the neoliberal urbanism and the rights-based movements. While the rights-based approach has yet to bring fundamental changes to the unequal housing distribution in Brazil, it provides the housing movements with new legal and institutional devices to justify their actions and influence the policy process, thus contributing to the unusual resilience and scale of the movements. The article reveals that the gap between rights promised and rights delivered can be utilized as a political opportunity for facilitating collective mobilization, contesting neoliberalism, and advancing new conceptions of citizenship.

Aim: Studies on the relationship between remnant cholesterol (RC) and arterial stiffness (AS) are limited. This study aims to investigate the relationship between RC and AS and to explore RC, total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG), non-HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C, TG/HDL-C, lipoprotein combine index (LCI), and TC/HDL-C, which are lipid parameters most strongly associated with AS. Methods: A total of 4653 participants from the REACTION (Risk Evaluation of Cancers in Chinese Diabetic Individuals) study were recruited. AS was defined as a brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity of ≥ 1400 cm/s. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to detect its association with lipid parameters (RC, TG, TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, non-HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C, TG/HDL-C, LCI, and TC/HDL-C). Results: Logistic regression analysis showed that compared with other traditional or non-traditional lipid parameters, the association between RC and AS was the strongest (odds ratio (OR) 1.59, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.30–1.95, P＜0.001). In the stratified analysis, RC was significantly associated with AS in both sexes and at any age, as well as blood glucose, blood pressure, and body mass index levels. Besides, RC and AS were still significantly associated when TG＜1.7 mmol/L (OR:1.58, 95% CI: 1.02–2.45, P=0.04), LDL-C ＜3.4 mmol/L (OR:1.32, 95% CI: 1.01–1.73, P=0.041), HDL-C ≥ 1.0 mmol/L (OR:1.67, 95% CI: 1.34–2.08, P＜0.001), or non-HDL-C＜4.1 mmol/L (OR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.10-1.82, P=0.007) are controlled within the appropriate range. Conclusion: In conclusion, compared with traditional lipids and lipid ratios, RC is more strongly associated with AS. The association between RC and AS remains significant even when TG, LDL-C, HDL-C, or non-HDL-C levels are controlled within the appropriate range.

Objectives: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a global public health concern, but its disease burden and trend have been poorly studied in people younger than 20 years. This study aimed to fill this gap by evaluating the CVD burden and trend in China, Western Pacific Region, and the world from 1990 to 2019.Methods: We applied the 2019 Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) analytical tools to compare the incidence, mortality, and prevalence of CVD, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) among people younger than 20 years from 1990 to 2019 in China, the Western Pacific Region, and the world. The trends of disease burden between 1990 and 2019 evaluated using the average annual percent change (AAPC) and the 95% uncertainty interval (UI) were reported.Results: Globally, in 2019, there were 2.37 (95% UI: 1.82 to 3.05) million incidence of CVD, 16.85 (95% UI: 12.56 to 22.03) million prevalence of CVD, and 74386.73 (95% UI: 64543.82 to 86310.24) deaths due to CVD among people under 20 years of age. The trends for DALYs decreased among children and adolescents in China, Western Pacific Region, and the world (AAPC = −4.29, 95% CI: −4.38% to −4.20%; AAPC = −3.37, 95% CI: −3.48% to −3.26%; AAPC = −2.17, 95% CI: −2.24% to −2.09%; p < 0.001, respectively) between 1990 and 2019. With the increase in age, the AAPC values of mortality, YLLs, and DALYs showed a notable downward trend. The AAPC values of mortality, YLLs, and DALYs in female patients were significantly greater than those in male patients. For all subtypes of CVD, the AAPC values showed a downward trend, with the largest reduction observed for stroke. From 1990 to 2019, a decline in the DALY rate for all CVD risk factors was observed, with a significant decrease in environmental/occupational risk factors.Conclusion: Our study shows a decline in the burden and trend of CVD among people younger than 20 years, which reflects the success in reducing disability, premature death, and the early incidence of CVD. More effective and targeted preventive policies and interventions aimed at mitigating preventable CVD burden and addressing risk factors from childhood are urgently needed.

Background/Aims: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its metabolic components, the common risk factors, may be involved in the development and progression of decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). The aim of this study was to examine the association of MetS and its metabolic components with eGFR status and severity among Chinese adults. Methods: The population-based, cross-sectional study recruited a total of 33,300 Chinese adults (aged ≥18 years) from 4 study community sites in Songjiang District, Shanghai, between June 2016 and December 2017. Decreased eGFR was defined as a value of eGFR below 60 mL/min/1.73 m². Weighted multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the association of MetS and its components with eGFR status and severity. Results: After adjusting for potential confounders, subjects with MetS had an increased risk of decreased eGFR with an adjusted OR of 1.76 (95% CI 1.53–2.01), and subjects with increasing numbers of MetS components had a gradually increased risk for decreased eGFR (p trend <0.001). The multivariable-adjusted ORs (95% CI) of decreased eGFR were 1.66 (1.44–1.93) for abdominal obesity, 1.37 (1.18–1.60) for elevated triglycerides, 1.13 (0.96–1.33) for reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 0.84 (0.72–0.98) for elevated fasting glucose, and 1.92 (1.57–2.35) for elevated blood pressure (BP). Furthermore, these associations remained in most of the subgroups analyses. Significant associations between elevated BP and the risks of mildly, moderately, and severely decreased eGFR were also found. Conclusions: MetS was independently associated with an increased risk of decreased eGFR, and individual components of MetS each play a different role in decreased eGFR. Elevated BP may be an important risk factor for the progression of renal dysfunction or even chronic kidney disease.