Team:CSU CHINA/Public Engagement

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PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Public Engagement Activities Are Divided into Five Parts:
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TEENAGER
EDUCATION

In order to improve the participation of different groups of people in our project and carry out more effective publicity of our project, we decided to use the form of questionnaire survey to carry out research on how to more effectively publicize to young people at first.

OBJECTS & METHODS

OBEJECT

A total of 218 participants from Hunan Province China participated in the sample. Five of the questionnaires were not finished completely thus 213 valid questionnaires were finally collected. The age of the interviewees ranges from 6 to 18 years, with an average age of 12 ± 2.84 years. Among them, 87 (40.8%) are from the countryside, with an average age of 11.23 ± 2.47 years, while 126 (59.2%) are from the city, with an average age of 11.86 ± 2.68 years.

TOOL

Our questionnaire contains 13 items, and the first 4 items collect the basic information of the interviewees. Four items are multi-choice, the more the interviewees choose, the higher their score is; the score of the ABC decreases in turn in three items; two items A scores, B won’t. The higher their score is, the more familiar they are with the corresponding knowledge.

STATISTICAL METHODS

SPSS20.0 and Mplus 7.4 software are used to analyze the data. Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test is used to test the scores of each item. The results showed that all items had significant skewness and kurtosis values (P < 0.001). Therefore, this study chooses to use the robust maximum likelihood estimation method to analyze the data of non-normal distribution.

Multiple confirmatory factor analysis is used to test the measurement equivalence between urban adolescents and rural adolescents, including the following four aspects:

  1. Morphological Equivalent Model (Model 1), i.e. to test whether the composition of latent variables among different groups is the same;
  2. Weak Equivalent Model (Model 2), i.e. to test whether the load of factors is equal among groups;
  3. Strong Equivalent Model (Model 3), i.e. to test the intercept of observed variables is the same;
  4. Strict Equivalent Model (Model 4), i.e. to test whether the error variance between different groups is equal.

The difference between CFI and TLI (ΔCFI, ΔTLI) and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) are used to evaluate the measurement equivalence[1]. When ΔCFI is less than 0.010, ΔTLI is less than 0.010 and BIC is reduced, the equivalent model is considered acceptable[2].

Independent sample t test is used to compare the total score of the scale and the scores of each factor between urban and rural adolescents.

RESULTS

DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS

The absolute skewness of 9 items in descriptive statistics ranged from 0.19 to 1.22, and the absolute value of kurtosis ranged from 0.52 to 1.97. The skewness and kurtosis values of normal distribution data should be equal to zero. The absolute values of the above reports indicate that the scores of each item are non-normal distribution data. In this study, the questionnaire showed highly internal consistency in the total sample, urban adolescents and rural adolescents. Cronbach's α value is 0.895, 0.891 and 0.891 respectively. The correlation coefficients among the average items are 0.362, 0.365 and 0.359, respectively.

Normalized Choice Results

1, 2, 3, 4 are the basic information of the interviewees.5, 6, 10, 11, 12 are the single selection, A scores B won‘t. 7, 8, 9, 13 are multiple choices, in which the more items selected, the higher the score is, which indicates that they are more familiar with the corresponding knowledge.

SINGLE GROUP CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS

The measurement equivalence test shows that each model achieves the ideal fitting level, and the model fitting index CFI, TLI, SRMR and RMSEA are all meet the requirements of surveying. Comparing the weak equivalent model with the morphological equivalent model (2 vs 1), the strong equivalent model with the weak equivalent model (3 vs 2), and the strong equivalent model with the strict equivalent model (4 vs 3), we can see that the values of ΔCFI ≤ 0.010, ΔTLI ≤ 0.010 and BIC decrease.

CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS
Model TLI CFI RMSEA(90%CI) SRMR ΔTLI ΔCFI BIC
Model 1 0.915 0.932 0.068(0.063,0.072) 0.049 - - 23396.202
Model 2 0.918 0.930 0.067(0.062,0.071) 0.052 0.003 -0.002 23325.545
Model 3 0.921 0.928 0.066(0.061,0.070) 0.054 0.003 -0.002 23265.549
Model 4 0.927 0.928 0.063(0.059,0.067) 0.054 0.006 0.000 23199.631
Note: Model 1 = Morphological Equivalent Model; Model 2 = Weak Equivalent Model; Model 3 = Strong Equivalent Model; Model 4 = Strict Equivalent Model; *P < 0.01.

COMPARISON

Comparisons of Biological Understanding among Adolescents in Different Areas. The total score of urban adolescent group was significantly higher than that of rural adolescent group (P < 0.05).

ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION

According to the results, we realize that the primary and secondary school students in rural areas have much less interest and concept in biology than those in urban areas, and most of their knowledge comes from the classroom. Based on the above phenomena, we decided to select a rural middle school, the 16th primary school in Lengshuitan District, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, and carry out propaganda and education on synthetic biology for the students there.

PRIMARY EDUCATION

We selected students in a remote middle school, namely the students of Lengshuitan Primary School in Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, to publicize and educate them.

First, in order to enhance their interest, we played a game with them on synthetic biology. We chose the plasticizer for the material of the game. The meaning of the steps of the game is closely related to synthetic biology, which explains what synthetic biology is and how it affects our lives to pupils who currently have no idea of the microscopic world of biology. For example, we compare a box of silly putty to a chromosome in which different colors of silly putty are different genes. Furthermore, different children exchange different colors of erasers before adding new elements to them, which is equivalent to the process of introducing different genes.

We made a propaganda cartoon about synthetic biology, in which we explained what synthetic biology is and how it affects our lives. We import animation into VR glasses for playback. In this way, we interpret more professional synthetic biology in the form of animation, and integrate traditional animation with modern VR technology.

It is a very very funny cartoon. And the glass is very odd but interesting. I like it because it is cool and I learnt a lot of new things from it.

In order to let them understand the gene therapy better, we hold a painting competition with synthetic biology as its theme, let the children give full play to their imagination and draw the synthetic biology in their hearts with brushes in their hands. A total of 85 pupils participated in the competition and submitted their imaginative works. Many children’s paintings are unexpected fulling of their fantastic ideas. Finally, we assessed one first prize, two second prizes and three third prizes.

Admittedly, there are some differences between the popularity of the concept of genetics simulated in this way and the fact that there are some complex knowledge points, but it is decided by the audience of this popularity of science. And the greatest significance of this activity is that we manage to bring children a new world, arouse their thirst for knowledge, and hope to bury a seed of scientific inquiry into their minds, which may change their lives. This group, children, is more curious about the world than the normal adolescent, and their imagination is richer. So that being exposed to different fields of things from an early age will help them find their own interests and play their strengths.

NORMAL EDUCATION

We want our projects to have a broad and sustained impact, but it's not enough to rely on one group. Since members of our group can’t go forward to popularize science or educate people in remote areas regularly or for a long time, if we want to continue this activity, what else should we do now? At this time, the students of normal universities in our country came up to our minds. A teacher can educate thousands of children in his decades of teaching, and these normal students will go to all parts of the country after graduation, especially in remote areas to bring good education to the children there. So we choose to carry out publicity and education for them. We made a booklet about the science popularization of synthetic biology and distributed it to them. We explained to them the goals we need to achieve, the changes we need to make and so on. Finally, we reached a consensus with them. We hope to use their power to let more children learn new knowledge.

REFERENCES

[1] Cheung, Rensvold. Cross-cultural comparisons using noninvariant measurement items. Applied Behavioral Science Review,1998,6(99):93-110

[2] Cheung, Rensvold. Testing Factorial Invariance across Groups: A Reconceptualization and Proposed New Method. JournalofManagement,1999,25(1):1-27

SENIOR
EDUCATION

In order to improve public participation and make the publicity more effective, We use the form of questionnaire survey to conduct research on how to publicize to adults effectively.

OBJECTS & METHODS

OBEJECT

A total of 486 participants from Hunan Province China participated in the sample. Eight of the questionnaires were not finished completely thus 478 valid questionnaires were finally collected. The age of the interviewees ranges from 18 to 100 years, with an average age of 58.36 ± 3.89 years. Among them, there were 264(55.23%) middle-aged people (18-60 years old), with an average age of 48.54±4.11 years old. There were 214(44.77%) elderly people (60-100 years old), with an average age of 68.59± 3.98 years.

TOOL

Our questionnaire contains 13 items, and the first 5 items collecting the basic information of the interviewees. Five items are multi-choice, in which the more items the interviewees choose, the higher their score is; the score of the ABCD decreases in turn if the item contents three options; if it has two options, then choosing A scores, while choosing B won’t. The higher their score is, the more familiar they are with the corresponding knowledge.

STATISTICAL METHODS

SPSS20.0 and Mplus 7.4 software are used to analyze the data. Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test is used to test the scores of each item. The results showed that all items had significant skewness and kurtosis values (P < 0.001). Therefore, this study chooses to use the robust maximum likelihood estimation method to analyze the data of non-normal distribution.

Multiple confirmatory factor analysis is used to test the measurement equivalence between urban adolescents and rural adolescents, including the following four aspects:

  1. Morphological Equivalent Model (Model 1), i.e. to test whether the composition of latent variables among different groups is the same;
  2. Weak Equivalent Model (Model 2), i.e. to test whether the load of factors is equal among groups;
  3. Strong Equivalent Model (Model 3), i.e. to test the intercept of observed variables is the same;
  4. Strict Equivalent Model (Model 4), i.e. to test whether the error variance between different groups is equal.

The difference between CFI and TLI (ΔCFI, ΔTLI) and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) are used to evaluate the measurement equivalence[1]. When ΔCFI is less than 0.010, ΔTLI is less than 0.010 and BIC is reduced, the equivalent model is considered acceptable[2].

Independent sample t test is used to compare the total score of the scale and the scores of each factor between middle-aged people and the elderly.

RESULTS

DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS

The absolute skewness of 9 items in descriptive statistics ranged from 0.26 to 1.39, and the absolute value of kurtosis ranged from 0.45 to 1.85. The skewness and kurtosis values of normal distribution data should be equal to zero. The absolute values of the above reports indicate that the scores of each item are non-normal distribution data. In this study, the questionnaire showed highly internal consistency in the total sample, middle-aged people and the elderly. Cronbach's α value is 0.876, 0.885 and 0.893 respectively. The correlation coefficients among the average items are 0.384, 0.403 and 0.365, respectively.

MEASUREMENT EQUIVALENCE TEST

The measurement equivalence test shows that each model achieves the ideal fitting level, and the model fitting index CFI, TLI, SRMR and RMSEA are all meet the requirements of surveying. Comparing the weak equivalent model with the morphological equivalent model (2 vs 1), the strong equivalent model with the weak equivalent model (3 vs 2), and the strong equivalent model with the strict equivalent model (4 vs 3), we can see that the values of ΔCFI ≤ 0.010, ΔTLI ≤ 0.010 and BIC decrease.

COMPARISON OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT BREAST CANCER IN MIDDLE-AGED AND ELDERLY PEOPLE
Model TLI CFI RMSEA(90%CI) SRMR ΔTLI ΔCFI
Model 1 0.896 0.914 0.048(0.034,0.046) 0.05 0.008 0.004
Model 2 0.908 0.918 0.038(0.032,0.043) 0.049 -0.021 -0.024
Model 3 0.886 0.894 0.038(0.032,0.043) 0.049 -0.001 -0.001
Model 4 0.907 0.917 0.038(0.032,0.043) 0.048 -0.022 -0.022
Note: Model 1 = Morphological Equivalent Model; Model 2 = Weak Equivalent Model; Model 3 = Strong Equivalent Model; Model 4 = Strict Equivalent Model; *P < 0.01.

The total score of elderly people group was significantly lower than that of middle-aged people group (P < 0.05).

ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION

According to the results of our research, it is found that the elderly group has a very poor understanding of breast cancer and related aspects. Compared with middle-aged people, the elderly are lack of knowledge and attention on the prevention and management of breast cancer, but the elderly are the high-risk group of breast cancer, which leads to a high incidence of breast cancer in the elderly.

ACTION

INVESTIGATE COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT OF BREAST CANCER

In order to make the elderly attach great importance to the prevention of breast cancer and to learn more about breast cancer, our team went to the Heyetang Community of Xianjiahu Street to help the elderly in the community with the help of Mr. Dehui Yin. They said they learned a lot about breast cancer. In order to understand the community's management of chronic diseases of breast cancer, we consulted the staff of the community health service center and found that they have insufficient knowledge about breast cancer prevention and care, and there are many defects in the management of breast cancer in the community.

CONSULT A PROFESSOR AND WRITE AN ARTICLE

We consulted the professor of public health school of Central South University on this phenomenon. The professor suggested us to think about what we can do to better manage the community and actually help the elderly patients with breast cancer. After discussion with the professor and our group members, we turned a specific scheme into an article Community Management of Elderly Breast Cancer Patients, which has been submitted for publication. The article mainly mentions that the community can carry out monthly breast examination, ask specialized doctors to carry out preliminary clinical breast examination, and pay attention to the psychological status of elderly breast cancer patients by offering psychological counseling of elderly breast cancer patients through PDCA management mode[3][4]. These methods are believed to help elderly breast cancer patients practically.

PROPOSE TO THE CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Based on our article, we put together a proposal with clear requirements. We suggest carry out monthly breast examination in the community health center. The community should pay attention to the vulnerable groups of breast cancer patients, and submit the information of potential breast cancer patients with disease characteristics to the superior hospital, and suggest the patients go to the superior hospital for more detailed examination. In addition, we post our proposal on the website of Changsha municipal civil affairs bureau, hoping to put our proposal into practice in the community in the future and bring practical help to breast cancer patients.

SUBMIT OUR PROPOSAL

In addition, we submitted suggestions on community management to a number of nursing homes and community committees, and worked with relevant personnel to promote these activities. Hopefully, these suggestions would help potential breast cancer patients get regular breast cancer screening in the community, increase the survival rate of breast cancer patients, and care for the mental health of breast cancer patients.

REFERENCES

[1] Cheung, Rensvold. Cross-cultural comparisons using noninvariant measurement items. Applied Behavioral Science Review,1998,6(99):93-110

[2] Cheung, Rensvold. Testing Factorial Invariance across Groups: A Reconceptualization and Proposed New Method. JournalofManagement,1999,25(1):1-27

[3] Lu Ruiguang, Chen Limin, Huang Yi, etal. Application of PDCA cycle in quality control of electronic nursing records in delivery room[J].PLA Journal of Nursing,2012,29(5A):64-65.

[4] Mongkhonthawornchai S, Pradubwong s, Augsornwan D, etal. Nursing care system development for patients with cleft lip-palate and craniofacial deformities at Srinagarind hospital[J]. Med Assoc Thai, 2012,95(Suppl1l):49-54.

BUSINESS PLAN

After the experimental group completed the basic experiment, we drafted a business plan, which mainly analyzed the technical maturity of our project, peer technical conditions, industry conditions, profit model, project risks & countermeasures, and market consumption analysis, etc.

While conducting market analysis, we find it difficult to obtain current market policies and data.

Therefore, we decided to conduct field research on biotechnology companies in order to better evaluate our own situation and realize the business transformation.

CONSULT WITH A BIOLOGICAL COMPANY

Will there be any difficulties in commercializing our project?

Your project does not involve the embryo or germ cells, only involves the somatic cells, I suggested that the ethical issues that our project may meet lie in patients’ level. To be specific, in the process of gene therapy the risks is unknown, which may cause panic among the patients. In this case, you need to consider the safety and ethical questions of gene therapy.

In addition, the person in charge fully affirmed our project, described the future trend of gene therapy industry, and deeply analyzed the future development direction and the prospect of the consumer market. Then, we reviewed several hot therapeutic directions, including the transformation of genomic data into clinical applications, pharmacogenomic research, non-invasive cancer screening, etc. She believes that our project will eventually go to market after advancing step by step.

Government

APPLICATION PROBLEMS

During our experiment, we realized that our project will mature and put into use in the near future. In that case, it will involve the issue of the marketing of gene therapy drugs, as well as the price and public burden of clinical gene therapy.

LAWYER CONSULTANCY

Then, we put forward our ideas and discussed them, sorted out a proposal with clear requirements, and went to Jianghua County People's Court of Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, to consult Lawyer Wu with experience in this field.

SUGGESTION FROM LAWYER WU

  • Speed up drug approval
    • Reducing the number of drugs applied
    • Improving the efficiency of the drug approval
  • Security
    • Gene therapy should be included in medical security
    • The government could reduce the financial burden by installments

OUR PROPRSALS

We put forward our suggestions to the government through the official website of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People's Republic of China and the official website of the State Drug Administration. We hope to receive a response from the government soon. Hopefully, our bill will promote the development and popularization of gene therapy in the future, accelerate the speed of gene therapy entering the future market, and help gene therapy really enter the domestic market.

Consultancy

We consult the gene therapy and the philosophy of ethical problems encountered in our project to public health professor Jian-ping Ouyang who is the science philosophy department of Central South University. At present, gene therapy is not mature, and thus its security cannot be guaranteed. The ethical problems caused by are concern by the public, so professor advised us to use a philosophical point of view and the dialectical reflection to look at ethical problems brought by the gene therapy technology, as well as study the division problem of scientific culture and humanistic culture, and look at gene therapy security ethical issues as well.

Action

According to the professor's suggestion, we write an article on the ethical thinking of gene therapy safety. The article explores the safety of gene therapy from two aspects of gene technology and technology application, and carries out philosophical thinking on this issue, dialectically reflecting on ethical issues brought about by gene therapy technology. Now the article is ready for submission, hoping to enhance public awareness of the safety and ethics problems of gene therapy.

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