Obesity is associated with a number of health problems, especial insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes. Our previous study showed that obese males had decreased neural activity in the orbital frontal cortex (OFC) and increased activity in the left putamen , which c Obesity is a public health challenge worldwide, and a number of health problems are related to it . In partFunctional imaging techniques have been applied to investigate behaviors in obesity, and the functional MRI studies have found that dysregulation of eating behaviors serves as a pivotal pathophysiologic feature in obesity . TuulariPrevious MRI studies have also shown that regional structures are altered in obese individuals . One stuInsulin plays an important role in regulation of food intake . PreviouIn the present study, we used VBM methods to investigate whether there are altered regional structures in obese subjects. The purpose of the study was to find out the altered structures in obese subjects and the relationship between the GMV of the altered brain region and plasma insulin level. The investigation was motivated by two hypotheses: (1) regional structures of the striatum and impulse control systems are altered in obese individuals, and (2) there is the positive correlation of the altered regional GMV with plasma insulin.2, and obese subjects were required to have a BMI > 28 kg/m2 using the adjusted Chinese guideline, which is an equivalent of WHO class I obesity (Twenty obese men (age: 20–28 years) and 20 age-matched lean male subjects (age: 20–28 years) were recruited via print poster advertisement in university campuses of Tianjin. Lean subjects were required to have a BMI from 18.5 to 23.9 kg/m obesity . None ofAll of the subjects completed the paradigm between 5:30 PM and 8:00 PM. On the day of the scan, the subjects fasted for 6–8 h prior to scanning. After lunch, the subjects were asked not to ingest anything except for water until the beginning of the experiment. We assessed the hunger rating using visual analog scales, in which the subjects were asked to rate their sensations of hunger from 0  to 100 (‘very hungry’) at the moment. Each subject should mark somewhere suited their sensations of hunger on the visual analog scale. At the beginning of the study, first seven subjects were not taken this test. Then we calculated the score according to their markers. After the assessment of sensations of hunger, all subjects immediately went to the scanning room to do the MRI test.Blood samples were obtained from the cubital vein before the scan session. Plasma glucose concentrations were determined by an automated clinical chemistry analyzer , and plasma insulin concentrations were determined by chemiluminescence immunoassay . Based on the blood samples, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated as HOMA-IR = glucose (mmol/L) × insulin (mU/L/) 22.5. HOMA-IR is a method used to quantify insulin resistance, the higher value of HOMA-IR, higher level of insulin resistance .Brain imaging data were acquired with a 3T MR imaging system . The subjects’ heads were fixed using foam pads to minimize head motion, and earplugs were used to reduce the scanning noise. Structural images were acquired using a 3D magnetization-prepared rapid-acquisition gradient echo sequence with the following parameters: repetition time = 2000 ms, echo time = 2.6 ms, inversion time = 900 ms, flip angle = 9°, matrix = 256 × 224, field of view = 256 mm × 224 mm, and 176 continuous sagittal slices with a 1 mm thickness. The structural scan time is 352 s.1). Images were transformed using Voxel Based Morphometry Toolbox (VBM8), which includes segmentation, bias correction, and normalization using diffeomorphic anatomical registration and the exponentiated lie algebra technique .We used the independent samples t-tests between the two groups to create a group difference map. Threshold correction was undertaken by family-wise error (FWE) using SPM with the threshold at a voxel p value of p < 0.05.The differences between obese subjects and healthy controls (HCs) were examined with the independent samples a priori hypothesis  and our previous study (OFC). Then, we entered the GMV of the left putamen into correlation analyses with BMI, HOMA-IR and plasma insulin, and we entered the GMV of the OFC into correlation analyses with subjective hunger ratings.p > 0.05). The plasma insulin concentrations and HOMA-IR of obese individuals were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those of lean subjects. However, there were no differences in hunger ratings between the groups .Plasma glucose levels were similar between the lean and obese subjects . No other brain regions showed significant GMV changes.On the whole brain level, VBM analysis revealed that obese men showed a significantly increased GMV in the left putamen , plasma insulin , and HOMA-IR , and the GMV of the OFC was negatively correlated with hunger rating .The GMV of the left putamen was positively correlated with BMI (Previous studies showed that altered eating behaviors in obesity is related to the hyper-functioning striatum and hypo-functioning inhibitory ,b. In thThe current study found that obese subjects showed significantly increased GMV in the left putamen. Previous studies have shown that the putamen is a core region of the impulsive system , and it In the current study, there was no difference in plasma glucose between the two groups. However, the levels of plasma insulin and HOMA-IR in obese men were greater than in HCs; in particular, the mean value of HOMA-IR in the obese group was three times more than that in the HCs, which indicated that the islet function of obese subjects in our study was altered, namely due to insulin resistance . Our finThe prefrontal region plays an important role in decision-making and inhibitory control, and several researchers have shown that the PFC regulates the cognitive control of food intake . PreviouThe current study had several limitations to be addressed in the future. First, we only enrolled male subjects in the current study. Previous studies have shown that obesity in males and females follows different routes, which can affect insulin resistance . With thOur study showed an abnormal GMV of the left putamen, which was positively correlated with BMI, plasma insula and HOMA-IR, so the putamen could be a core region participating in insulin signal regulation, and an abnormal structure and function of the putamen could play important roles in obesity and aberrant insulin. Additionally, the current study showed that the GMV of the OFC was negatively corrected with the hunger rating, which indicated that the OFC could be related more directly to increased subjective motivation toward increased eating behavior. The putamen and OFC are two key regions associated with obesity and eating behavior, and structural abnormalities of the two regions might contribute to causing obesity.This study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of International Committee of Medical Journal Editors with written informed consent from all subjects. All subjects gave written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The protocol was approved by the institutional review board of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital.BZ, CY, and DT designed the work. BZ, XT, CY, QW, JHW, and DT did acquisition and analysis. BZ, XT, CL, and JJW interpreted of data. BZ, XT, CY, JHW, DT, and CL wrote the draft. BZ, XT, CY, JJW, JHW, CL, QW, and DT approved the final version. All authors reviewed the manuscript.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


Background:Dang gui  is among the most often used Chinese medicinal plants. However, hardly anything is known about its value chain and its influence on the main marker compounds of the drug. The aim of this study is to investigate the value chain of dang gui in Gansu and Yunnan, and the analysis of the marker compounds ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide concentration in relation to quality criteria such as the production area and size of the roots. Methods: During six months of field research in China, semi-structured interviews with various stakeholders of the value chain were undertaken and plant material was collected. High-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) was used for semi-quantitative analysis of ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide. Results: Small-scale household cultivation prevails and in Gansu—in contrast to Yunnan—the cultivation of dang gui is often the main income source of farmers. Farmers and dealers use size and odor of the root as main quality criteria. For Chinese medicine doctors, Gansu as the production area is the main criterion. Higher amounts of ferulic acid in plant material from Yunnan compared to Gansu were found. Additionally, a negative relation of root length with both ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide as well as head diameter with ferulic acid were found. Conclusions: HPTLC is a valid method for semi-quantitative analysis of the marker compounds of dang gui. However, the two main marker compounds cannot explain why size and smell of the root or production area are seen as quality criteria. This hints at the inherent difficulty to correlate quality notions of medicinal plants with specific chemical compounds. With respect to this, more attention should be paid to quality in terms of cultivation and processing techniques. Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels roots —in Chinese called dang gui—can be traced back almost 2000 years to the “Divine Husbandman’s Classic of Materia Medica” (Shen nong ben cao jing), and is one of the most commonly used and widely cultivated Chinese medicines [A. sinensis are recorded in the Chinese pharmacopoeia [The use of edicines ,2. Nowadacopoeia ,4.Dang gui can be divided into three distinct parts, namely head, body, and tail, which are reported to have different therapeutic effects. The head is mainly used to stop bleeding, the body to nourish the blood and the tail to quicken the blood [dang gui are summarized in he blood . The thedang gui, ferulic acid, Z-ligustilide and other phthalides are most often associated with the pharmacological activities [dang gui [dang gui. However, recent analytical studies focusing on the quantification of the marker components ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide mainly apply gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) or high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) [dang gui [Of the more than 70 isolated and identified compounds from tivities ,6 and codang gui ,6,7. Higy (HPLC) ,6,8. Thedang gui .Curcuma longa L., Zingiberaceae) have shown that the value chain of a plant product has a major influence on its quality and chemical composition [dang gui. This study aims at filling this gap and is interested in the value chain of dang gui from the farmer to the shop. It uses HPTLC to assess raw and processed material and analyses the concentration of the marker components in relation to the production area, size and processing of the roots, and price of material. The following questions are answered: What do participants of the value chain know about A. sinensis roots? Are there differences concerning the abundance of ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide? Has processing such as slicing and sulfuring an impact on the concentration of ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide? How is the root size linked to the content of ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide?Recent studies on turmeric  [rovinces . It is coduction . Among t yaocai) .dang gui in Gansu played an important role in the local economic development and still occupies a strong position in agricultural production [Production of oduction .dang gui [dang gui from Gansu in the 19th century. According to records, dang gui was first introduced to Lanping County during the Qing dynasty around 1815–1850 [dang gui is restricted to two geographically separated regions located in the northwest and in the east of the province.Yunnan has the second largest production of dang gui . Like ot815–1850 . In Yunndang gui took place in Gansu and Yunnan Provinces.Fieldwork for this investigation on Gansu is located at the juncture of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, Loess Plateau and the Mongolia-Xinjiang Plateau in the northwest of China. High mountains, river valleys, plains, deserts, grasslands and forests (10% of the area) make up the diverse landscape . The conYunnan is located in the southwest of China. This region features a great variety of landscapes ranging from subtropical rainforests to alpine landscapes, coupled with an extremely high biodiversity . A largedang gui business and value chain as well as current places of production was gathered by means of informal interviews at the market for Chinese medicine in Kunming Xinluosiwan wholesale market for Chinese medicine.Fieldwork took place from July to December 2014. First, general information about the dang gui were visited. As there was only little information available about the exact cultivation locations in Yunnan, the itinerary heavily relied on information of informants and was perpetually adjusted. All semi-structured interviews were conducted in Chinese with the help of a Chinese translator.In total, 118 semi-structured interviews with farmers, dealers, Chinese medicine doctors and lay people (consumers) were conducted in 11 villages in southern Gansu, eastern and northwestern Yunnan, and in Kunming . In Gansn = 22), on plant knowledge, cultivation, value chain and livelihood issues. Most of the farmers were middle-aged  and male . The vast majority of the farmers was Han Chinese (n = 15), and a few farmers were Bai (n = 5) or Lisu (n = 2). Interviewees were exclusively chosen by snowball sampling [Angelica sinensis plant, which was then vouchered.The most detailed interviews were done with farmers  were conducted in doctor’s offices scattered all over Kunming. Main questions were about quality and specific uses of the plant. Some doctor’s offices were shared among Chinese medicine (CM) and Western medicine practitioners, while in most cases CM practitioners had their own office. Again, no data about age of the interviewees was gathered. For the interviews with dealers and CM doctors, a convenience sampling attempt was chosen. In case of the interviews with consumers, a quota sampling was done, as sex of the interviewees was taken into consideration [dang gui.In total, 28 interviews with dealers , without gathering information about age, were conducted at the market for Chinese medicine in Kunming. Main questions were about quality, demand and prices of deration . These iResearch was conducted in agreement with the Convention on Biological Diversity , includMost of the samples were purchased at local markets. We always asked the respective dealers about the place of cultivation, selling price (without bargaining), and whether the material was sulfured. Altogether, more than 200 samples were collected. These consist of whole roots . Nomenclature follows nt List  and Flof China .254, MERCK, Darmstadt, HE, Germany). Of all the sample solutions, 4 μL were applied. The plates were subsequently developed in the automatic developing chamber , whereas the chamber was saturated, the developing distance set to 70 mm from the lower edge, and the relative humidity set to 33% (MgCl2). A mixture of toluene, ethyl acetate and glacial acetic acid at a ratio of 90:10:1 (v/v/v) was used as developing solvent. For identification of compounds, the plate was dipped into a sulfuric acid solution  and heated at 100 °C for 5 min. For the purpose of documentation, pictures of the plates were taken prior to derivatization under white RT light , UV 254 nm and 366 nm and white RT after derivatization, respectively . The unsieved remains were stored and later processed similarly to the sieved samples. Of each sample, 1 g was mixed with 4 mL of methanol and shaken for 10 min at 200 rpm. Samples were centrifuged at 14,200 rpm for 5 min and the supernatant was transferred into vials. Isoimperatorin, imperatorin, osthole, Z-ligustilide and ferulic acid  were used as reference substances. An amount of 1 mg of each isoimperatorin, imperatorin, osthole and ferulic acid were dissolved in 1 mL of methanol, and 10 µL of Z-ligustilide were dissolved in 1 mL of methanol. By means of the automatic TLC sampler , 4 μL of isoimperatorin, imperatorin, osthole, Z-ligustilide and 2 μL of ferulic acid were applied on the plate . Unless stated otherwise, the significance level α for all tests was 0.05. The HPTLC analysis showed a lower detection limit of around 0.0003 mg for ferulic acid and 0.01 mg for Z-ligustilide with a number of samples having lower amounts than the detection limit. We thus applied a Tobit regression model using the R package Raw data are provided in the Angelica sinensis or other medicinal plants is often the main income source, whereas in northwestern Yunnan, it comes from working small jobs and in eastern Yunnan, from cultivation of Nicotiana tabacum. Cultivation can be carried out by just one family without special equipment , particularly in Yunnan, where average field size was 837 m2  in northwestern Yunnan, and 1039 m2  in eastern Yunnan. In Gansu, fields were significantly larger (p = 0.004) with an average of 3996 m2  and average contribution of dang gui to total income of farmers was higher compared to Yunnan .In Gansu, the cultivation of dang gui was described by most farmers as a family tradition or a tradition of the whole village. In contrast, in eastern Yunnan, most of the farmers started cultivation less than 15 years ago.In Gansu and northwestern Yunnan, the cultivation of In Gansu, cultivation starts in February or March by planting seedlings from the preceding year. Harvest usually takes place in October. In western Yunnan, the planting and harvest season lasts longer. Interestingly, in eastern Yunnan, all farmers said that they sow the plants in January and harvest in November of the same year.A. sinensis is an annual household decision, meaning that farmers trade off their expenses against benefits before cultivation. This in turn means that if the cultivation of A. sinensis is no longer considered economic, farmers will switch to other crops instead. In northwestern Yunnan, many famers, even whole villages, gave up the cultivation of A. sinensis and started to cultivate other medicinal plants instead.As essential growing factors, all farmers mentioned altitude (2000–3000 m above sea level) and plenty of rain during seedling growth. Overall, they consider the cultivation as risky due to unpredictable weather and prices. As for most crops, the cultivation of dang gui themselves. The whole roots are sold fresh in Gansu and in northwestern Yunnan mainly to local dealers. In eastern Yunnan, they are sold directly to pharmaceutical companies or to the local bureau of agriculture.Usually farmers do not process dang gui can be sold easily at high prices—much higher than staple foods. However, according to farmers, selling price fluctuates considerably. They think prices are defined by dealers, big companies or by the market in general.Usually, dang gui in Dali or in Kunming. In Gansu, one farmer said that dealers store dang gui to sell it for the best price and to do so they need to smoke it with sulfur. Another farmer in northwestern Yunnan mentioned that middlemen process dang gui to get higher profit.Being asked what they know about the value chain, two farmers in northwestern Yunnan stated that dealers sell dang gui from Gansu. In Shangrila and Lijiang, however, it is mainly the material from Yunnan that is sold. Dealers mentioned that selling prices decreased over the past years, but the demand for dang gui has remained unchanged. On average, whole roots are significantly cheaper than heads . Furthermore, prices are considerably lower in Kunming, compared to the tourist destinations Lijiang and Shangrila.In Kunming, dealers chiefly sell dang gui from Gansu to be the best and more effective in therapy. They argue that the weather in Gansu benefits the quality and that Gansu is the authentic place of production. However, some doctors say that there is no quality difference between dang gui from Gansu and Yunnan although smell and taste differ.Along the value chain, different criteria were mentioned to be indicative of good quality. For the farmers, size of the root often serves as quality criterion: the bigger the root, the better the quality. Dealers mentioned smell as an important indicator of good quality. For the interviewed doctors, place of cultivation matters most and they regard Dang gui is used by all participants of the value chain. Farmers described its medical indications as supplying and quickening the blood and said to frequently use it. In general, they seem to prefer Chinese medicine (CM) over Western medicine (WM) because of less side effects and the ability to “eliminate the root of diseases.”dang gui are mainly women or elderly people who use it to supply blood, move blood or to adjust menstruation.The dealers told us that customers who buy n = 14 women, 12 men) have used dang gui at least once. It is most often taken as decoction in form of a chicken soup, according to instructions by the doctor.Approximately half of the lay people  and the root length (γ) and the amount of ferulic acid  = −1.88, p < 0.001; c = −0.75, t (1) = −4.22, p < 0.001). For Z-ligustilide, only root length showed a—also negative—significant relation  = −3.39, p < 0.001), while size of the head was not significant  = −0.90, p = 0.079). In a regression with “province” as a single explanatory variable, dang gui from Yunnan showed significantly higher amounts of ferulic acid than from Gansu province (t (1) = −1.11, p = 0.024; dang gui from Gansu and Yunnan province.t (1) = 2.94, p < 0.001; for Z-ligustilide: t (1) = 2.98, p < 0.001; Ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide are significantly reduced in sulfured roots  = 3.45, p = 0.04; The quantification shows that there is significant differece of ferulic acid levels within the root with lower amounts found in the body compared to head and tail  using Horted by .dang gui from Gansu. Interestingly, dang gui from Yunnan showed significantly higher amounts of ferulic acid than from Gansu. There was no difference in the amount of Z-ligustilide. However, by means of HPLC, it was shown that dang gui from Gansu contained a twofold higher amount of both Z-ligustilide and ferulic acid compared to dang gui from Yunnan [dang gui and considered to be the authentic production region [Angelica sinensis is a stenotopic species whose natural distribution was mainly confined to places in Gansu and Qinghai [Chinese medicine doctors prefer m Yunnan . Gansu, n region ,24,40. In region ,45. Ange Qinghai . Therefo Qinghai .dang gui are treated as therapeutically distinct parts, as is reflected in the significantly higher price of heads compared to whole roots. Quantification of ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide of head, body and tail showed significant lower ferulic acid levels of the body but no significant differences for Z-ligustilide. Using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), Wei et al. [According to Chinese medicine and the interviewed doctors, the head, body and tail of i et al.  found siAngelica sinensis. Cultivation and trading of dang gui is a dynamic business with regions looking back to a long tradition and others having started to cultivate the plant only recently. Prices fluctuate and farmers respond flexibly and adjust the cultivation of different species accordingly. Processing of the drug and storage is carried out by the farmers, or more often by specialized traders or processing facilities, and has a strong influence on the concentration of the marker compounds in the root. Also, different cultivation areas show an influence on the concentration of the marker compounds, but material from Gansu, known as the authentic production area (Daodi), had lower concentrations of ferulic acid. Also other quality criteria such as root length and diameter do not correlate with a higher concentration of ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide. This hints at the inherent difficulty to correlate quality notions of medicinal plants with few specific chemical compounds. Moreover, taking into account how common among plants ferulic acid is and that also Z-ligustilide is not exclusive to dang gui, their measured amounts are not sufficient for the quality assessment of dang gui. With respect to this, more attention should be paid to quality in terms of cultivation and processing, instead of linking quality of herbal medicines only to certain main active compounds. Cultivation practice and processing are fundamental for ensuring both the correct identity and quality of herbal medicines and set the cornerstone for an economic and sustainable value chain.This study provides an overview of the complexity of the value chain and helps to develop a more accurate picture of the cultivation and trade of


Prolonged sitting has been linked to adverse health outcomes; therefore, we developed and examined a web-based, computer-tailored workplace sitting intervention. As we had previously shown good effectiveness, the next stage was to conduct a dissemination study. This study reports on the dissemination efforts of a health promotion organisation, associated costs, reach achieved, and attributes of the website users. The organisation systematically registered all the time and resources invested to promote the intervention. Website usage statistics (reach) and descriptive statistics (website users’ attributes) were also assessed. Online strategies  were the main dissemination methods. The total time investment was 25.6 h, which cost approximately 845 EUR in salaries. After sixteen months, 1599 adults had visited the website and 1500 (93.8%) completed the survey to receive personalized sitting advice. This sample was 38.3 ± 11.0 years, mainly female (76.9%), college/university educated (89.0%), highly sedentary (88.5% sat >8 h/day) and intending to change (93.0%) their sitting. Given the small time and money investment, these outcomes are positive and indicate the potential for wide-scale dissemination. However, more efforts are needed to reach men, non-college/university educated employees, and those not intending behavioural change. Recently, the increasing prevalence of sedentary behaviours , while in a sitting, reclining or lying posture; , is an eStart to Stand intervention was developed to change workplace sitting among office employees. This web-based, computer-tailored intervention [Recently the rvention , based orvention  and aspervention , providervention ,14.Start to Stand intervention to reduce workplace sitting, (ii) what investments were made , and (iii) who was reached by the dissemination efforts.To maximize public health impact, successful evidence-based health promotion interventions should be translated from a controlled research setting into the broader community under ‘real life’ conditions . This isStart to Stand’. The development of this theory-driven intervention has been described in detail elsewhere [Start to Stand register with the website by creating an account; they log onto the website, complete an initial assessment questionnaire and then immediately receive computer-tailored feedback (if they were employed and between 18–65 years at that time). A set of pre-defined decision rules selects feedback messages that are matched and tailored to the specific answers. The assessment questions obtain sitting time across different domains, job-related information, knowledge about sedentary behaviour, and constructs of the TPB [The evidence-based, computer-tailored website for reducing workplace sitting that was promoted by the local health promotion organisation is called ‘lsewhere ,14,21. I the TPB  includinAfter receiving the advice, if interested, users are able to request up to 5 other non-committal specific sections. These additional sections are available immediately, but can be accessed at a later time. The focus of these additional sections is on standing breaks during working hours a, replacReach measures the number and characteristics of participants when compared to the target audience. Efficacy or effectiveness refers to the positive and negative consequences of a program on important outcomes under optimal conditions (efficacy) or in real-world situations (effectiveness). Adoption assesses delivery staff and setting variables. Implementation refers to the extent to which the program was implemented as intended in a real-world setting, i.e., intervention fidelity and resources (cost and time). Last, maintenance refers to continuing to deliver the program in the organisational and/or community setting over the long-term. Two dimensions operate at the individual level (reach and efficacy), while adoption and implementation are both organisational dimensions. Maintenance is a dimension operating at both the individual and organisational levels. As efficacy has been previously tested in a randomised controlled trial [A commonly used framework in the evaluation of dissemination research is the RE-AIM framework ,25. Thised trial , this waFlemish Institute Healthy Living) led the dissemination phase as the intervention became embedded in their system. The Flemish Institute Healthy Living is a governmental institute aiming to help citizens towards a healthy lifestyle, using evidence-based recommendations, education and interventions. The institute aims to help professionals and citizens to obtain healthy diets, to become physically active and less sedentary, to stop smoking and to improve mental health in the home and work setting. As the Start to Stand intervention is a fully developed, web-based program, not requiring printing or delivery costs, the Flemish Institute Healthy Living decided to include Start to Stand in its approach. As a result, the researchers asked the Flemish Institute Healthy Living staff member responsible for dissemination to systematically keep an inventory of their dissemination efforts  to promote the computer-tailored website among employees in Flanders . This inventory was specifically developed for the present study. The components were selected by the researchers based on previous dissemination studies [Start to Stand publicly available on the Internet) and the beginning of February 2018 (16 months after first launch). The terms and conditions of using the Start to Stand website mean that user information may be used for research purposes in such a manner that individual participants cannot be identified.In this case, the researchers did not lead the dissemination of the program. Therefore, the intervention outgrew the research setting, and a local health promotion organisation  vs. high ), average amount of time daily spent at work (hours-minutes/day), employment duration (number of years), height (cm) and weight (kg). Body mass index (BMI) was calculated with the following formula: weight/height2. The level of workplace sitting time was assessed using two items from the reliable and validated Workforce Sitting Questionnaire (WSQ) [To report on the re (WSQ)  in whichre (WSQ) ,28 was ure (WSQ) , total sknowledge about sedentary behaviour was asked. Attitudes towards changing sitting were measured using 6 items. Self-efficacy was measured by asking how certain employees were about changing their sitting (4 items). Social support as assessed by asking whether colleagues would support them when trying to change their sitting behaviour. Finally, employees’ intention to change sitting was asked. All these questions were based on previously validated questions to measure psychosocial correlates of physical activity [t-tests were used. To compare the gender distributions of the present sample to that of the total working Flemish population, a non-parametric X2-test was conducted. All statistical tests were done in IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 24.0 , and significance was set at p < 0.05.Furthermore, five psychosocial factors were included in the assessment questionnaire  were involved in the dissemination; however, in practice, one staff member  coordinated the dissemination of Start to Stand. Mostly, online strategies , and workshops and seminars were used , and the total cost investment in salaries was approximately 845 EUR (25.6 × 33 EUR). One worked hour costs approximately 33 EUR, which includes the gross salary, bonuses, employer’s contributions, and fringe benefits. No other (print) costs were related to the dissemination. n = 4337, 60.6%) went directly to the website (using the URL directly or by clicking on a link for example within an email), 20% was done via website referral , 8.8% via social referral  and 8.1% via organic sources . The bounce percentage, i.e., percentage of visitors leaving the website after only viewing one page, was 51.3% (n = 3543). In total, 1599 visitors (n = 48.0% of unique visitors) created an account and logged onto the website. n = 1599), 11 (0.7%) did not further complete the assessment survey and stopped using the website after logging in. A total of 28 individuals (1.8%) was excluded because of their age . In addition, 60 individuals (3.8%) were excluded as they were not employed at that time. In total, 1500 users received the advice, which is estimated to be 0.05% of the working adult population in Flanders. On average, 1.02 min of time and 0.56 EUR were invested to reach one individual receiving the advice. The time invested aligned to a large extent with the number of employees reached each month  are presented in p < 0.001; gender: 46.6% female, X2 = 549.8, p < 0.001). The present sample had a significantly lower BMI compared to the general Flemish adult population  and reported less physical activity and more sitting compared to Flemish 15–85 year-olds . Demographic, work-related, health-related, and psychosocial characteristics of the sample completing the assessment survey and receiving the advice (The majority of the users was aware (84.7%) of the fact that sitting is related to adverse health outcomes, and 93.0% intended to change their sitting behaviours. Attitudes and self-efficacy towards changing sitting at work were, on average, relatively high. Only 10.5% reported that they had colleagues supporting them in changing their sitting at work see .A total of 521/1500 participants (34.7%) completed We evaluated the dissemination of an existing and fully-developed web-based, computer-tailored intervention to reduce workplace sitting beyond its initial efficacy testing in a research context. A local health promotion organisation was responsible for spreading the intervention to its end users. To our knowledge, this is the first dissemination study of an individual program targeting workplace sitting using the RE-AIM framework. As a result, this study adds to the literature bridging the gap between research and practice in the public health promotion field. n = 82) reported some data on monetary costs, ranging from 6.91 USD (~5.59 EUR) per person to 547 USD (~442.90 EUR) per person [Flemish Institute Health Living is among social networks. Currently, the institute has about 1700 followers on Twitter and ~1400 on LinkedIn, the main channels used here. In this dissemination study, a single health promotion organisation was responsible for promoting the intervention. Two teams from the organisation were involved, but the dissemination was mainly coordinated by one employee of the organisation. This low staff involvement may explain why mostly online and social media strategies were used and why mostly professional partners  were targeted by the health promotion organisation. The use of social media  and the r person , which in = 1500) is substantial. In addition, many more individuals came across the intervention and visited the website (n = 6906), but more than half of them did not create an account. This is not different from other research showing that a registration procedure can be a barrier for starting an intervention [Start to Stand, but did not visit the website at all. The dissemination reach of people actually getting the advice was approximately 0.05% of the Flemish working population. The review of Harden (2015) on dissemination studies found that the included behavioural interventions reached a median sample size of 320 participants  , so the rvention ,34. The rvention . Furthern = 17/82) found at least one significant difference between those that participated and the target population [The present sample of employees receiving the advice was mainly female, college/university educated, not overweight, rather low active, highly sedentary and intending to change this. Hence the intervention’s generalisability is potentially limited. This is, however, a common problem, as the review of behavioural interventions studies using RE-AIM showed that 46% of the studies that reported on representativeness (pulation . The facpulation ), but alpulation . Still, Practical lessons learned from this study involve the need for easy, ready-to-use interventions, preferably internet-delivered, if the time and money resources of the promoter are limited, as this enhances dissemination. Further, practitioners are suggested to use online social media and to involve stakeholders. In addition, attempts should be made to reach those unaware of the health risks of sedentary behaviour, those not intending to change their sitting behaviours, male employees and lower-educated employees. Maybe these individuals can be better reached through other channels, for instance, sports clubs, television advertisements, or shopping centres. Further, more efforts are needed to encourage individuals to actually go to the website, log in, complete the survey and get the advice. Maybe the use of (inexpensive) incentives  can help here. In addition, as only small proportions of users (11–35%) completed one of the other non-committal sections, the additional value of these sections should be better promoted in the future.Flemish Institute Health Living is planning to embed the Start to Stand intervention in a larger multi-component program targeting workplace sedentary behaviour. Further research should examine whether these additional efforts, including a large communication campaign and the implementation of other socio-ecological intervention strategies, such as environmental and organisational changes in the workplace, can result in a higher reach of employees and a larger public health impact of the (office) workforce. Future studies could also assess the experiences and challenges of the health promoter and the target audience in order to provide a more detailed evaluation of, for example, barriers during implementation of the promoter, and communication preferences and barriers to register to the website among the end user.The A strength of this study is its added value to the literature, strengthening the global practice-based evidence, as there are few studies evaluating the dissemination of public health programs, especially ones focused solely on sitting interventions . In addiWe showed that with online and social media strategies of a health promotion organisation, a small proportion of the working adult population received our web-based, computer-tailored workplace sitting advice. Those reached were female, highly educated, normal-weight, highly sedentary, aware of the health risks of too much sitting, and intending to change their sitting. Given the small time and money investment, these outcomes are positive and indicate the potential for wide-scale dissemination of this web-based intervention, aiming to benefit more people and to foster policy and program development on a lasting basis . However


Bloom's syndrome, an autosomal recessive inherited disorder, belongs to the group of chromosomal breakage syndromes. The clinical diagnosis of BS is confirmed cytogenetically. Its frequency in the general population is unknown but it is common in eastern European Ashkenazi Jews.A 12-year-old girl was referred to us because of short stature. She was the second child of the first cousin marriage. She had a slender body frame, short stature, and microcephaly. Her face was long and narrow with prominent nose, and malar and mandibular hypoplasia. The spots of hyper and hypo pigmentation were observed in the trunk and limbs. Telangectasia spots were observed in some areas of the trunk. Additionally, generalized hirsutism was present in the whole body. Cytogenetic findings revealed an abnormality in the structural chromosome.This is the first BS case that has been reported in Iranian female population. Bloom's syndrome (BS), also known as congenital telangiectatic erythema, was first described by Dr. David Bloom, a dermatologist, in 1954.[BLM gene that is located on chromosome 15 . Mutation in this gene causes errors in the copying process during DNA replication and results in a higher number of chromosomal breakages and rearrangements. This leads to the signs and symptoms of BS.[BS is an autosomal recessive inherited disorder caused by mutation in the The clinical features of BS are proportionate pre and postnatal growth retardation, dolichocephaly, facial sun sensitivity, telangiectatic erythema, patchy areas of hyper and hypopigmentation of skin, moderate to severe immunodeficiency manifested by recurrent respiratory tract and gastrointestinal infections, and increased susceptibility to wide range of cancers, especially to leukemia and lymphoma.blmAsh mutation. Also, it appears that men are affected by this syndrome slightly more than their counterparts.[BS is a very rare disease and its frequency in the general population is unknown, but it is common in eastern European Ashkenazi Jews with a prevalence rate of approximately 1 in 48000 persons. This is due to a founder effect, approximately 1% of the Ashkenazi Jewish population being heterozygous carriers for the BS belongs to a group of chromosomal breakage syndromes whose clinical diagnosis is confirmed cytogenetically through demonstration of characteristic chromosome instability, but heterozygotes are not detectable by cytogenetic studies.There is no curative treatment for BS. However, a physician should carefully follow BS patients in order to ensure early diagnosis of cancer.In this paper, we have reported a new case of BS in an Iranian female which has been investigated at the Genetic department of Yazd Welfare organization.A 12-year-old girl was referred to Genetic Research Center of Welfare organization, Yazd, Iran, in June 2008, because of short stature. She was the second child of the first cousin marriage. All the other members of her family – parents, the first and third brothers – were healthy. At birth, the ages of her mother and the father were 23 and 28 years, respectively. There was no history of infections or medications during pregnancy. Family history revealed that two of her maternal cousins had similar signs and symptoms, though their features were comparatively worse .rd centile), height of 44 cm (< 3rd centile), and a head circumference of 32 cm (10–50 percentile). She was discharged from hospital without any problem. Her developmental milestones were normal. At nineteen weeks of birth, for the first time, a urinary tract infection occurred and then she had to be repeatedly hospitalized for recurrent urinary, respiratory, and gastrointestinal infections.She was born by vaginal delivery at 38 weeks of gestation with a low birth weight of 1700 g (<3rdcentile), with a height of 133 cm (< 3rdcentile), and a head circumference of 49 cm (<3rdcentile). She had a long narrow face with prominent nose, and malar, and mandibular hypoplasia [Clinically, she was of slender frame weighing 25 kg  examinations were all unremarkable. Her bone age was two years deficient of her chronological age. Routine biochemical tests and abdominal ultrasound were normal.GTG-banded analysis of over 50 metaphases was abnormal. The following structural chromosome abnormalities were seen in four of the observed cells: 46, XX; chrb(1) (q42); 46, XX; chrb(X) (q21); 46, XX; chrb(7) (p22); and 46, XX; chrb(9) (q13). The final diagnosis was: 46, XX (46)/ 46, XX; chrb(1)/46, XX;chrb(X)/ 46, XX;chrb(7)/ 46, XX;chrb(9).Also, sister chromatid exchange (SCE) analysis showed a mean of 80 SCE per cell in comparison to a mean of seven per cell for the normal control .BS is a rare human autosomal recessive disorder belonging to a group of chromosomal breakage syndromes. This syndrome is characterized by marked genetic instability, including a high level of SCE’s, associated with a greatly increased predisposition to a wide range of cancers commonly affecting the general population.Kelly reported a case of BS in a black female. In 1991,Szalay provided the first evidence of a genetic basis in BS. He described an isolated case in the child of first cousin parents and two affected siblings. Then, GeThe patient, who is reported in this paper, is the second child of first cousin parents. Also, two of the children of her mother's sister had signs and symptoms similar to her. Her pedigree showed autosomal recessive inheritance in this disease.She had a slender body frame, short stature, and microcephaly. Her face was long and narrow with prominent nose, and malar and mandibular hyperplasia. Also, sun-sensitive erythema was present on the butterfly area of face. In addition, the spots of hyper-and hypo pigmentation were seen in the trunk and limbs. In some parts of trunk, telangectasia spots were observed. Generalized hirsutism was present in the whole body.et al, reported about an 18-year old girl diagnosed BS. Her ophthalmologic examination revealed mild lens opacities bilaterally,[Cefle aterally, whereas,et al, reported diabetes mellitus in BS,[Mori us in BS, while inClinical diagnosis of Bloom syndrome is confirmed cytogenetically by demonstrating characteristic chromosome instability. The chro


P≤ 0.05) prognostic factors for overall survival were age at diagnosis, FIGO stage, grade of tumour, histology , the presence or absence of ascites, albumin, alkaline phosphatase, performance status on the ZUBROD-ECOG-WHO scale, and debulking of the tumour. This model is consistent with other models in the ovarian cancer literature; it has better predictive ability and, after simplification and validation, could be used in clinical practice. http://www.bjcancer.com © 2001 Cancer Research Campaignhttp://www.bjcancer.comAbout 6000 women in the United Kingdom develop ovarian cancer each year and about two-thirds of the women will die from the disease. Establishing the prognosis of a woman with ovarian cancer is an important part of her evaluation and treatment. Prognostic models and indices in ovarian cancer should be developed using large databases and, ideally, with complete information on both prognostic indicators and long-term outcome. We developed a prognostic model using Cox regression and multiple imputation from 1189 primary cases of epithelial ovarian cancer (with median follow-up of 4.6 years). We found that the significant (


China is facing a critical challenge of rapid and widespread human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) increase. Rural-to-urban migration plays a crucial role in shifting the HIV/sexual transmitted infection (STI) epidemic. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of sexual behaviors and the correlates among the early adolescents of migrant workers in China.A cross-sectional study was conducted in 10 junior high schools from April to June of 2008. A total of 2821 adolescents aged 14.06 ± 0.93 years  participated in the survey. A self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect information on knowledge, attitude, and behaviors associated with increased risk for HIV/STI.The percentage of adolescents who ever had sexual intercourse or had sexual intercourse in last three months was 7.2% and 4.3% in adolescents of migrant workers, respectively; in contrast, 4.5% and 1.8% in their peers of general residents, respectively. 47.3% adolescents of migrant workers and 34.3% of those adolescents of general residents reported no condom use in sexual intercourse during last three months. Multivariate logistic regression analyses found that migration was a independent risk factor for sexual intercourse in last three months in our sampled adolescents . In adolescents of migrant workers, factors such as lower family income , younger age at first sexual intercourse , lower knowledge on HIV/AIDS , and fewer communication on HIV/AIDS related issues  were related to sexual intercourse in last three months.Based on these results, we advocated that heightened concerns targeting the adolescents of migrant workers be particularly necessary, given their higher level of sexual experience, lower socioeconomic status, restricted reproductive health information, and vulnerability to HIV/STI. China is facing a critical challenge of rapid and widespread HIV/AIDS increase . In 2007Adolescents and youths are at serious risk for HIV, accounting for half of new HIV infection in China each year . BetweenData also demonstrated that the so-called 'floating population' – the approximately 150 million migrant workers and 73% of them come from poorer regions of the country and work in the cities as laborers, restaurant workers and sex workers has acted as the 'tipping point' for the HIV/STI epidemic in China . It was In the past 15 years, the massive migration, mostly from rural to urban areas, especially large metropolises, has taken place in China, which constitutes what has been labelled the largest labour flow in human history . AccordiUnder Chinese insurance system, migrants are mostly excluded from the urban employee's basic insurance scheme. Therefore, migrant workers face barriers to accessing education and healthcare, which was a major public concern in China. The same issue also existed in their second generation. For a long time, children of migrant workers were excluded from urban public school. Moreover, they also exposed other risk factors, such as lower socioeconomic status, special family environments, and frequent migration.It was well known that different sociocultural groups  varied relative to their sexual attitude and behaviors -20. AdolTo our knowledge, this is the first study of HIV/STI-related risk behaviors in adolescents of migrant workers in China. In this article, we mainly address two questions:◆ Prevalence: among adolescents in the sample, what proportion reported each HIV/STI-related risk behavior? Compared to adolescents of general residents, were HIV/STI-related risk behaviors in adolescents of migrant workers more prevalent?◆ Correlating factors: what factors can predict sex behaviors? Were there differences in correlating factors of sex behaviors between adolescents of migrant workers and their peers of general residents?There are twenty districts in Shangai and migrant workers mainly live in six districts. From the six districts, two districts were selected for the study sample on the basis of cluster-stratified selection procedure, using geographic location, economic standard, and population density as criteria. For every district, 5 junior high schools with higher proportion of children of migrant workers were selected. All the students in selected schools yielded the study sample. Of 3104 students eligible for the study, 2821 (90.9%) returned completed questionnaires. The mean age of the final sample was 14.06 years ; 48.5% were males and 51.5% were females.This study was conducted from April to June of 2008. The research aims were explained to school principals and teachers of the target schools. Permission was obtained to carry out the study, which is the usual practice in China. An anonymous questionnaire was given to the students during counseling hours. Researchers explained the study purpose to the students and emphasized that participation was voluntary.The study was approved by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China.The Adolescents' Reproductive Health Questionnaire (ARBQ) was used to collect information on adolescents' knowledge, attitude, and behaviors concerning HIV/STI. The ARBQ was a self-administrated questionnaire, which was developed based on literature review ,19,21-27To assess participant's knowledge level on information about HIV, ways by which HIV is transmitted, ways by which HIV is not transmitted, self-protection information, and progress in HIV prevention/cure/epidemic, 31 sex/HIV/AIDS related items were schemed in the questionnaire. For example, do you consider the more sexual partners, the higher risk of HIV infection? Do you consider using condoms in sexual intercourse can reduce the risk of HIV infection? and etc. Answer ranged by a 3-point scale: "yes", "do not know", and "no". Correct answers were credited with a score of one and incorrect answer or responding "do not know" with a score of zero. The subscale score was then calculated as the higher the score, the higher level the knowledge. The internal consistency of the subscale was Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.87.Eight items were used to evaluate participant's attitude toward sexual/drug-use behaviors, including premarital sex, multiple-partner sex, injection drug use, alcohol drinking, and etc. Answers ranged by a 3-point scale: "disagree", "somewhat disagree", and "agree". For each statement, "disagree" was scored with two point, "somewhat disagree" was scored with one point, and "agree" was scored with zero. The subscale scores were then calculated as the higher the score, the more positive and conservative the attitude. The internal consistency of the subscale was Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.86.This subscale was programmed to evaluate participant's attitude toward person with HIV/AIDS. Items, such as whether or not willing to study/eat together with person with HIV/AIDS, whether or not willing to keep secret for person with HIV/AIDS, and etc, were included in the subscale. Answers ranged by a 3-point scale: "agree", "somewhat agree", and "disagree". For each statement, "agree" was scored with two point, "somewhat agree" was scored with one point, and "disagree" was scored with zero. The subscale score was then calculated as the higher the score, the more friendly the attitude. The internal consistency of the subscale was Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.48. 0.48 is not high enough for the internal consistency. However, based on the following two reasons, we thought to keep the subscale of attitude toward person with HIV/AIDS in the final ARBQ: i The items of the subscale could provide information on Chinese adolescents' attitude toward person with HIV/AIDS; ii From the point of statistics, 0.7 and above was acceptable for the internal consistency of a scale. However, clinical significance must be taken into account when we select or omit a item. To the best of my knowledge, some scales or questionnaires have subscales with internal consistency under 0.7, even under 0.5 .There were 9 items respect to sexual and drug use behaviors in the questionnaire. In addition, we also examined alcohol and cigarette use because they can lower inhibitions and increase the likelihood of sexual and drug use behaviors (2 items). The internal consistency of the subscale was Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.73.Four items were used to evaluate participant's self-protection efficacy. For example, if unwilling to have sex, are you able to refuse? Are you able to adopt measures to protect yourself from pregnancy and infection during sex intercourse? and etc. Answers ranged by a 3-point scale: "yes", "do not know", and "no". For each statement, "yes" was scored with two point, "do not know" was scored with one point, and "no" was scored with zero. The subscale score was then calculated as the higher the score, the higher level of protection self-efficacy. The internal consistency of the subscale was Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.59.Communication about sex/HIV/AIDS issues was measured by inquiring how often the participants discussed sex/HIV/AIDS issues with parents, peers, teachers, and doctors/health experts? Answers were on a 3-point scale, with 3 being "usually", 2 being "sometimes", and 1 being "rarely/no" The subscale score was then calculated as the higher the score, the higher level of communication. The internal consistency of the subscale was Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.78.This section consists of participant's gender, age, grade, parents' education levels, household income [RMB(yuan)/person/month], parents' relationship, and family structure . The score of each sociodemographic characteristic are demonstrated in Table In our study, a family including children, parents, grandfather and/or grandmother, who live together, was defined as a large family; a family including children and parents was defined as nuclear family; and a family only including children and father or mother was defined as a single-parent family.In China, there are no established systems to assess the socioeconomic status (SES) of individual family. Therefore, parental education levels and household income were used as indicators of the family SES.Statistical descriptions were made by use of the mean, standard deviation and percentages. Demographic differences between study groups were analyzed by Independent-samples t test and the Chi-square test. Independent-samples t test and the Chi-square test were also used to compare score differences and prevalence of sexual/drug-use behaviors between study groups, respectively.Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the correlating factors of sexual intercourse within last three months, with the dependent variable designated as "1" if there was sexual intercourse within last three months and "0" if there was no sexual intercourse within last three months. The final multivariate model included variables retaining significance after a forward likelihood-ratio stepwise elimination procedure. Statistical tests of regression estimates or OR were based on Wald statistics.All analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows, version 12.5. In the calculation and presentation of the results, the statistical significance was set at p < 0.05 (two tailed).hukou system (household registration system), every person has a permanent place of household registration  that can only be changed with official approval [In China, under the current approval . The migOf our sample, adolescents of migrant workers referred to those adolescents who came from the rural region and his/her mother or father served as migrant workers in the city. Our study revealed that 8.9% of the sample (n = 252) belonged to the defined subgroup. Of all these adolescents, 10.4% stayed in Shangai for less than one year, 14.1% stayed for 1–2 years, 75.5% stayed for 3 or above years.χ2 = 181.59, p < 0.01), lower father's educational levels , and lower mother's educational levels  in adolescents of migrant workers.Table Table χ2 = 3.52, p < 0.05), sexual intercourse within last three months , unprotected sexual intercourse within last three months  and frequent cigarette smoking  were more prevalent in adolescents of migrant workers. In addition, compared to their peers of general residents, adolescents of migrant workers tended to have sexual intercourse in younger age .In contrast, sexual intercourse in lifetime  and among adolescents of general residents, females tended to have higher scores in protection self-efficacy .Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the correlating factors of sexual intercourse in last three months in adolescents by study groups . Five factors were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of sexual intercourse in last three months in adolescents of migrant workers: older age , lower family income , younger age of the first sexual intercourse , lower scores in knowledge , and lower scores in communication . For adolescents of general residents, five factors were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of sexual intercourse in last three months: older age , higher frequency of antecedent sexual behaviors , higher frequence of alcohol drinking , lower scores in attitude toward sexual/drug-use behaviors , and lower scores in protection self-efficacy .The present study found that, compared to their peers of general residents, adolescents of migrant workers were more prevalent in sexual intercourse during lifetime  and sexual intercourse during the last three months . Among the adolescents with a history of sexual intercourse in last three months, more adolescents of migrant workers reported unprotected intercourse . Moreover, our study demonstrated that, compared to their peers of general residents, adolescents of migrant workers tended to have sexual intercourse in younger age and more frequent cigarette smoking /person/month. Such lower economic status could undoubtedly prevent children from having basic health care and educational improvement. Under the current educational system in China, education in primary school and junior high school was free-feed and compulsory, however, for a long time, children of migrant workers were excluded from the compulsory educational scheme in urban area. Although the problem was gradually resolved from last year in Shangai, children of migrant workers still face barriers to accessing regular education because of parents' frequent migrant. Therefore, although most schools provide HIV/STI education, children of migrant workers are unlikely to receive school-based intervention. That may be why our study found that lower knowledge on HIV/AIDS and fewer communication were strong factors associated with sexual intercourse in last three months for adolescents of migrant workers.There are several limitations that should be considered in interpreting these results. Firstly, social-desirability bias and inaccuracy may be existed in answering the questionnaires despite guaranteed anonymity. Secondly, because the sample was not large enough, the analyses were not conducted by dividing the sample by age. As the age-range is quite spread, it would be possible that different factors are associated to risk sexual intercourse according to the age. Thirdly, China is a multi-ethnical country (56 ethnic groups) with a population of 1.3 billion . It is possible that, although may be very small, migrant workers were likely to be from ethnic minority. It was a pity that our study did not investigate the information on ethnicity of sampled participants. The forth limitation lies in the fact that our findings regarding migrant adolescents were much more so within the local-national environment and may not reflect the practice in other countries. In addition, the sample of adolescents of migrant workers was small, which may weaken the strengths of the study. The fifth limitation existed in study design. The cross-sectional nature of the study made it difficult to determine a causal relationship. Finally, our sample limited our analyses of demographic subgroups and can not be generalized to other population.It was a strength of the present study that we firstly focused on adolescents of migrant workers, an understudied subgroup with potentially greater risk for HIV/STI in China. Our study not only examined the characteristics of sexual behaviors in the subgroup but also explored the correlating factors. The results can provide data to promote specific intervention for improving their behavioral and sexual health. In addition, the comparative study between adolescents of migrant worker and their peers of general residents entailed an unusually rich data-set for interpreting the topic of adolescents' sexual behaviours in China.HIV: human immunodeficiency virus; STI: sexual transmitted infection; AIDS: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; WHO: the World Health Organization; UNAIDS: the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS; ARBQ: the Adolescents' Reproductive Health Questionnaire; SES: socioeconomic status; SPSS: the Statistical Program for Social Sciences; OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval; NS: no significance.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.All authors contributed the design of this research. SL drafted the manuscript and has been involved in the interpretation of the data. HH performed statistical analyses. GX, YC and FH played a major role in the field survey. XS made a substantial contribution to the interpretation of the data and has been involved in revising manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:Factors predicting sexual intercourse during past 3 months by logistic regression models: differences by study groups. The data provided the results of Multivariate logistic regression analyses regarding correlating factors of sexual intercourse within last three months in adolescents of migrant workers and their peers of general residents.Click here for file