Epidemiological Trend of Typhoid and Paratyphoid Fevers in Zhejiang Province, China from 1953 to 2014

Background: The incidences of typhoid and paratyphoid remain high and these diseases still pose a public health problem in China and in Zhejiang Province in particular. This study aimed to investigate the trend of typhoid and paratyphoid in Zhejiang Province from 1953 to 2014 and to provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of these diseases. Methods: Included in this study were compiled epidemiological data of typhoid and paratyphoid cases in Zhejiang from 1953 to 2003 and epidemiological data of those from 2004 to 2014 registered in the China Information System for Diseases Control and Prevention. Description methods were employed to explore the epidemiological characteristics, including long-term trend, gender distribution, age distribution, and occupation distribution. Incidence maps were made to represent the annual average incidences for each municipality. Spearman’s rank correlation was performed to detect the correlation between incidence and average elevation, and circular distribution was calculated to identify the seasonality and peak days of the diseases. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 182,602 typhoid and paratyphoid cases were reported in Zhejiang Province from 1953 to 2014, and the average annual incidence was 7.89 per 100,000 population. The incidence in 2014 decreased by 93.82% compared with that in 1953 and by 95.00% compared with the highest incidence rate. The average incidence before 2003 was negatively correlated with the average elevation of each region in Zhejiang province (r < 0, p < 0.05), but there was no statistically significant correlation from 2003. The peak period of diseases fell in the months from April to October every year. The incidence among the population group aged over 35 rose gradually but declined sharply among those between 20 and 34. Conclusions: The incidence of typhoid and paratyphoid decreased in Zhejiang Province from 1953 to 2014 but remained high in some regions. Proper measures for prevention and control are warranted in the southeast coast areas and for high-risk populations

Catalytic Conversion of High Fructose Corn Syrup to Methyl Lactate with CoO@silicalite-1

Methyl lactate (MLA), a versatile biomass platform, was typically produced from the catalytic conversion of high-priced fructose. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a mixture of glucose, fructose, water, etc., which is viewed as an economical substitute for fructose to produce MLA due to the much lower cost of separation and drying processes. However, the transformation of HFCS to MLA is still a challenge due to its complex components and the presence of water. In this work, the catalytic conversion of HFCS to MLA over CoO@silicalite-1 catalyst synthesized via a straightforward post citric acid treatment approach was reported. The maximum MLA yield reached 43.8% at 180 °C for 18 h after optimizing the reaction conditions and Co loading. Interestingly, adding extra 3% water could further increase the MLA yield, implying that our CoO@silicalite-1 catalyst is also capable for upgrading wet HFCS. As a result, the costly drying process of wet HFCS can be avoided. Moreover, the activity of CoO@silicalite-1 catalyst can be regenerated for at least four cycles via facile calcination in air. This study, therefore, will provide a new opportunity to not only solve the HFCS-overproduction issues but also produce value-added MLA

Reconciliation of hydroclimate sequences from the Chinese Loess Plateauand low-latitude East Asian Summer Monsoon regions over thepast 14,500 years

We discuss replicated stalagmite &delta;18O records with interannual-to-multidecadal resolution from Lianhua Cave on the Chinese Loess Plateau to illustrate the precipitation history of the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) region over the last 14.5 thousand years (ka BP, before 1950 CE, hereafter), and to re-evaluate the inconsistency in the proxy-inferred palaeoclimate time series in northern China. Agreement between the stalagmite &delta;18O from Lianhua and other caves from central-southern China indicates that regional climate changes after the Last Glacial were concurrent across mainland China, indicating that insolation was the primary factor controlling the evolution of the Asian Summer Monsoon (ASM). The stalagmite 18O enrichment of 2.5&permil; in the Younger Dryas and 1.7&permil; during the 8.2-ka BP event in Lianhua were larger than those in caves from central and southern China. The evidence suggests that different meridional responses of weak precipitation conditions in the ASM realm occurred during these two abrupt events, driven by high-latitude forcing in the Northern Hemisphere. The heterogeneous hydroclimate sequences in northern China inferred from different natural archives are most likely attributable to the complexity of the formations and/or some chronological uncertainty.</p

Southern Europe climate oscillations at marine isotope stage 5a

International audienc

Is Chinese stalagmite delta O-18 solely controlled by the Indian summer monsoon?

As a unique continental archive, speleothem has been widely used in reconstructing paleoclimate change. However, the interpretation of Chinese speleothems delta O-18 has remained a subject of debate. Recently, a Community Atmosphere Model version 3 (CAM3) study indicated that the stalagmite delta O-18 from eastern China reflected the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) intensity rather than the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) intensity during Heinrich events. Here, we present a high-resolution speleothem delta O-18 record from Xianglong Cave in Shaanxi province, China, covering the period of 25.5-10.9 ka BP. The XL15 record shows similar variations with ice core record from Greenland and other climate records from China and India on millennial scale, including Heinrich 2 (H2), Heinrich 1 (H1), Bolling-Allerod (BA) and Younger Dryas (YD) events, supporting the connection between the Asian monsoon and northern high latitude climate. The delta O-18 amplitude of our record is larger than or similar to the stalagmite delta O-18 records from India during these events. In addition, differences of stalagmite delta O-18 in eastern China and the ISM region were observed on glacial-interglacial as well as decadal timescales. That means the ISM is not the sole controlling factor of Chinese stalagmite delta O-18 during Heinrich events. When subtracting the Indian stalagmite delta O-18 series from our XL15 record during H1 period, we found a significant negative correlation with sea surface temperature (SST) record of Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP). Consequently, our study suggests that the Chinese stalagmite delta O-18 is controlled by both the ISM and EASM on orbital-, millennial-, and decadal timescales

Abrupt decadal-to-centennial hydroclimate changes in the Mediterranean region since the mid-Holocene

Abrupt decadal-to-centennial hydroclimate changes in the Mediterranean region since the mid-Holocen

Tropical Pacific forcing on decadal-to-centennial NAO-dominated precipitation variability in northern Mediterranean over the past 6500 years

Tropical Pacific forcing on decadal-to-centennial NAO-dominated precipitation variability in northern Mediterranean over the past 6500 year

Chinese stalagmite δ&lt;SUP&gt;18&lt;/SUP&gt;O records reveal the diverse moisture trajectories during the middle to late last glacial period

International audienceBased on 30 high-resolution U-Th dating controls, we reconstruct stalagmite delta O-18 records from 45 to 15 thousand years ago (ka B.P., before AD 1950) from the Shizhu Cave, which is located in southwestern China under the influence of both the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM). By integrating with the other stalagmite delta O-18 records in Asia during the middle to late last glacial, our results reveal two main moisture trajectories: one from the Indian Ocean, through the Shizhu Cave towards central China, and the other from the Pacific Ocean to central and northern China. The systematic decrease of the average values of stalagmite delta O-18 records from oceans to inland China reveals a spatial pattern of water vapour fractionation and moisture trajectory during the middle to late last glacial. In contrast, the variation amplitude, which is defined as the departures apart from the background delta O-18 records during Heinrich stadials 1 to 4 (HS1-HS4), show an increasing trend from the coastal oceans to mid-latitude inland China, presenting a &#039;coastal-inland&#039; pattern, which can be interpreted by the enhanced East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM) and the weakened EASM. More specifically, the enriched stalagmite delta O-18 records in the EASM region during HS1 to HS4 are caused by the decreased summer rainfall amount or/and the increased proportion of summer moisture resources from the Pacific Ocean. These new observations deepen our understanding of the complicated stalagmite delta O-18 records in the EASM region