Suchergebnisse

"This book looks at how Chinese companies optimize investment opportunities while implementing the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative. Specifically, it studies five high-profile infrastructure projects undertaken by Chinese firms. Going in-depth through case-study analysis, this book fills a gap by providing the background stories of these projects. By applying a case study approach to five notable and representative B&R projects including Hambantota Port, Port de Djibouti, and China-Belarus Industrial Park, it is found that Chinese firm strategies to implement the B&R Initiative have been designed to achieve property rights security, reduction of transaction costs, and internalization of overflow benefits from expanded business scope or multiple business lines. With first-hand data from host stakeholders and on-ground project managers, this book is a highly relevant and valuable text for policy makers and researchers hoping to understand the policy impact and implications of B&R investments on targeted countries"--

BACKGROUND: Ground-level ozone (O(3)) pollution is currently the one of the severe environmental problems in China. Although existing studies have quantified the O(3)-related health impact and economic loss, few have focused on the acute health effects of short-term exposure to O(3) and have been limited to a single temporal and spatial dimension. METHODS: Based on the O(3) concentration obtained from ground monitoring networks in 334 Chinese cities in 2015–2018, this study used a two-stage exposure parameter weighted Log-linear exposure-response function to estimate the cause-specific mortality for short-term exposure to O(3). RESULTS: The value of statistical life (VSL) method that were used to calculate the economic loss at the city-level. Our results show that in China, the national all-cause mortality attributed to O(3) was 0.27(95% CI: 0.14–0.55) to 0.39 (95% CI: 0.20–0.67) million across 2015–2018. The estimated economic loss caused by O(3) was 387.76 (95% CI: 195.99–904.50) to 594.08 (95% CI: 303.34–1140.65) billion CNY, accounting for 0.52 to 0.69% of total reported GDP. Overall, the O(3) attributed health and economic burden has begun to decline in China since 2017. However, highly polluted areas still face severe burden, and undeveloped areas suffer from high GDP losses. CONCLUSIONS: There are substantial health impacts and economic losses related to short-term O(3) exposure in China. The government should pay attention to the emerging ozone pollution, and continue to strengthen the intervention in traditional priority areas while solving the pollution problem in non-priority areas. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-021-10751-7.

To achieve the End Tuberculosis (TB) Strategy, it is important to understand the characteristics of TB in China, which may provide the government with important clues for controlling TB by 2030. Data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015 (GBD 2015) and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) were reviewed and analysed. The age-standardized death rate decreased by 83.79% [95% uncertainty interval (UI) 73.06–87.10] from 1990 to 2015. The age-standardized prevalence of TB in males decreased steadily by 33.88% (95% UI 29.35–37.67) but nearly increased by 6.24% (95% UI -2.02–15.07) in females from 1990 to 2015. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were higher in males than in females, and the highest TB burden was found in the elderly (70+ years of age). Over the period 1990–2015, the attributable age-standardized DALY rates for smoking decreased by 12.98% (95% UI 2.40–24.27), but increased for alcohol use and high fasting plasma glucose (HFPG). Greater attention should be paid to females especially in the under 5 years of age group, and more latent reasons explaining TB DALYs should be explored in future studies.

Abstract
Objective
Little is known about the magnitude of the relation of ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) constituents with hyperuricemia and serum uric acid (SUA) levels. Therefore, we aimed to assess the associations and to identify the most hazardous constituent.

Methods
This study included 72,840 participants from the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort. Annual average concentrations of PM2.5 mass and its major 7 constituents were matched to individuals by residential address. SUA levels exceeding 7.0 mg/dL (417 μmol/L) for men and 6.0 mg/dL (357 μmol/L) for women were considered to be hyperuricemia. Multiple logistic and linear regressions were performed on the association of single exposure to PM2.5 constituents with hyperuricemia and SUA, separately. The weighted quantile sum method was applied to examine the joint effect of PM2.5 constituents on hyperuricemia/SUA.

Results
Significant positive associations were discovered between PM2.5 constituents and SUA/hyperuricemia. For example, the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of hyperuricemia for per standard deviation increase of PM2.5 mass, black carbon, organic matter, ammonium, and nitrate concentrations were 1.22 (1.12–1.32), 1.17 (1.08–1.27), 1.20 (1.10–1.31), 1.21 (1.11–1.31), and 1.28 (1.18–1.40), respectively. The joint exposure to PM2.5 constituents was significantly positively correlated with hyperuricemia (1.09, 1.05–1.14) and SUA (1.05, 1.03–1.06). And the weight of nitrate was the largest (0.668 for hyperuricemia, 0.586 for SUA).

Conclusions
Our findings suggest that long-term exposure to PM2.5 constituents is associated with increased SUA levels and a higher risk of hyperuricemia. In particular, nitrate seems to be the main contributor. This study may help prevent hyperuricemia by promoting the introduction of precise preventive measures.

Graphical Abstract