Job characteristics, personal characteristics and well-being of nursing assistants in long-term care facilities: A mixed methods systematic review and narrative synthesis.

Background: Within long-term care facilities, paraprofessional nursing assistants account for the largest proportion of the health care workforce and provide essential direct care to older people with complex care needs. There is a gap in developing a theory-driven, systematic synthesis of the job characteristics and well-being outcomes specific to this occupational group, as most existing studies evaluate either professional health care workers or both professional and nursing assistants.

Aim: Develop an occupation-specific conceptual model on the job characteristics and well-being of nursing assistants in long-term care facilities drawing upon the job demands-resources model.

Suitable temperature indicator for adverse health impacts in sub-tropical cities: a case study in Hong Kong from 2010-2019.

Heat-health warning systems and services are important preventive actions for extreme heat, however, global evidence differs on which temperature indicator is more informative for heat-health outcomes. We comprehensively assessed temperature predictors on their summer associations with adverse health impacts in a high-density subtropical city. Maximum, mean, and minimum temperatures were examined on their associations with non-cancer mortality and hospital admissions in Hong Kong during summer seasons 2010-2019 using Generalized Additive Models and Distributed Lag Non-linear Models.

Comparison of cardiac indices during pregnancy between noninvasive automated device and two-dimensional echocardiography: a longitudinal study.

Objective: To determine the correlation, precision, mean percentage difference and agreement between cardiac indices (stroke volume [SV], cardiac output [CO], SV index [SVI], and cardiac index [CI]) measured by noninvasive cardiac output monitor (NICOM, Cheetah Medical, Boston, MA, USA) and 2-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (2D-TTE) across gestations in Chinese pregnant women.

Methods: This was a prospective longitudinal study performed in women with singleton pregnancy at 11-14 ( = 152), 19-24 ( = 152), 30-34 ( = 141), and 35-37 ( = 103). Cardiac indices, including CO and SV, were obtained by NICOM, which uses thoracic bioreactance, and 2D-TTE.

Fecal microbial marker panel for aiding diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders.

Accumulating evidence suggests that gut microbiota alterations influence brain function and could serve as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. The potential of using fecal microbiota signatures to aid autism spectrum disorder (ASD) detection is still not fully explored. Here, we assessed the potential of different levels of microbial markers (taxonomy and genome) in distinguishing children with ASD from age and gender-matched typically developing peers ( = 598, ASD vs TD = 273 vs 325).

Effects of screening coverage and screening quality assurance on cervical cancer mortality: Implication for integrated framework to monitor global implementation of cervical cancer screening programmes.

Background: Cervical cancer is a global health threat and a manifestation of inequality, and screening is an effective intervention. However, little is known about how screening coverage and quality assurance, influence cervical cancer mortality. We aimed to investigate the association between screening coverage, screening quality assurance and cervical cancer mortality among women from countries at different developmental levels.

Determination of T cell response against XBB variants in adults who received either monovalent wild-type inactivated whole virus or mRNA vaccine or bivalent WT/BA.4-5 COVID-19 mRNA vaccine as the additional booster.

Objectives: As the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves more rapidly than vaccines are updated, T cell immunity potentially confers protection against disease progression and death from new variants. In this study, we aimed to assess whether the current boosting vaccination schemes offer sufficient T cell protection against new SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Methods: A total of 292 adults who had received the second booster of either monovalent wild-type (WT) vaccines (inactivated virus or mRNA) (Cohort 1) or the second/third booster of bivalent WT/BA.

Gallstone Disease Is Associated With an Increased Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Results From 3 Prospective Cohort Studies.

Introduction: Gallstone diseases affect intestinal inflammation, bile flow, and gut microbiota, which in turn may increase the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, epidemiological studies exploring the associations between gallstone diseases and subsequent IBD risk have been limited.

Methods: This is a combined analysis of 3 prospective cohort studies (Nurses' Health Study, Nurses' Health Study II, and UK Biobank) and replicated in a case-control study (Chinese IBD Etiology Study).

Indirubin induces tolerogenic dendritic cells via aryl hydrocarbon receptor activation and ameliorates allergic asthma in a murine model by expanding Foxp3-expressing regulatory T cells.

Background: Allergic asthma is a chronic bronchial inflammatory disease closely associated with abnormal immune responses of dendritic cells (DCs) and allergen-specific type 2 T helper (Th2) cells. Indirubin (IR), a natural aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) ligand, exerts anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties.

Purpose: In this study, we aimed to clarify whether IR exhibits immunomodulatory action on DCs via AhR activation and investigated the antiallergic effects of IR in a mouse model of allergic asthma.

Effectiveness of a Parent-Based eHealth Intervention for Physical Activity, Dietary Behavior, and Sleep Among Preschoolers: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Preschoolers' lifestyles have become physically inactive and sedentary, their eating habits have become unhealthy, and their sleep routines have become increasingly disturbed. Parent-based interventions have shown promise to improve physical activity (PA), improve dietary behavior (DB), and reduce sleep problems among preschoolers. However, because of the recognized obstacles of face-to-face approaches (eg, travel costs and time commitment), easy access and lower costs make eHealth interventions appealing.

Comparing the Efficacy of 2 WeChat Mini Programs in Reducing Nonmarital Heterosexual Contact by Male Factory Workers: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Male factory workers in China are vulnerable to HIV transmission. Commercial and nonmarital noncommercial contacts are the driving forces of heterosexual HIV transmission among male factory workers in China. There is a lack of effective HIV interventions for male factory workers in China.

Framework Development for Reducing Attrition in Digital Dietary Interventions: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis.

Background: Dietary behaviors significantly influence health outcomes across populations. Unhealthy diets are linked to serious diseases and substantial economic burdens, contributing to approximately 11 million deaths and significant disability-adjusted life years annually. Digital dietary interventions offer accessible solutions to improve dietary behaviors.

Management of chronic kidney disease: a Hong Kong consensus recommendation.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) imposes a significant burden on healthcare systems worldwide, and diabetes is a major risk factor for CKD. There is currently no consensus in Hong Kong regarding the prioritisation of early identification and intervention for CKD. A comprehensive and Hong Kong-specific diabetes and CKD treatment guideline is also lacking.

Efforts made, challenges faced, and recommendations provided by stakeholders involved in mpox prevention and control in China: a qualitative study.

Objectives: Mpox continues to spread in China, and stakeholders' experiences may help inform prevention and control strategies.

Study Design: Qualitative study.

Methods: A qualitative study across 14 Chinese cities recruited stakeholders from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and hospitals involved in curbing mpox.

Risk Factors Associated With General and Abdominal Obesity Among South Asian Minorities in Hong Kong.

South Asians have become a sizable ethnic minority in Hong Kong with unique health and social needs often being overlooked. Elevated obesity risk among South Asians has been highlighted in high-income Western settings; however, relevant local evidence is scarce. This cross-sectional study aims to explore the obesity prevalence and related risk factors among South Asians in Hong Kong.

Integrating Doppler LiDAR and machine learning into land-use regression model for assessing contribution of vertical atmospheric processes to urban PM pollution.

Air pollution has been recognized as a global issue, through adverse effects on environment and health. While vertical atmospheric processes substantially affect urban air pollution, traditional epidemiological research using Land-use regression (LUR) modeling usually focused on ground-level attributes without considering upper-level atmospheric conditions. This study aimed to integrate Doppler LiDAR and machine learning techniques into LUR models (LURF-LiDAR) to comprehensively evaluate urban air pollution in Hong Kong, and to assess complex interactions between vertical atmospheric processes and urban air pollution from long-term (i.