ALBERT

Description: 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.

Description: As an important land-surface parameter, vegetation phenology has been estimated from observations by various satellite-borne sensors with substantially different spatial resolutions, ranging from tens of meters to several kilometers. The inconsistency of satellite-derived phenological metrics (e.g., green-up date, GUD, also known as the land-surface spring phenology) among different spatial resolutions, which is referred to as the “scale effect” on GUD, has been recognized in previous studies, but it still needs further efforts to explore the cause of the scale effect on GUD and to quantify the scale effect mechanistically. To address these issues, we performed mathematical analyses and designed up-scaling experiments. We found that the scale effect on GUD is not only related to the heterogeneity of GUD among fine pixels within a coarse pixel, but it is also greatly affected by the covariation between the GUD and vegetation growth speed of fine pixels. GUD of a coarse pixel tends to be closer to that of fine pixels with earlier green-up and higher vegetation growth speed. Therefore, GUD of the coarse pixel is earlier than the average of GUD of fine pixels, if the growth speed is a constant. However, GUD of the coarse pixel could be later than the average from fine pixels, depending on the proportion of fine pixels with later GUD and higher growth speed. Based on those mechanisms, we proposed a model that accounted for the effects of heterogeneity of GUD and its co-variation with growth speed, which explained about 60% of the scale effect, suggesting that the model can help convert GUD estimated at different spatial scales. Our study provides new mechanistic explanations of the scale effect on GUD.

Description: This 2-year field experiment investigated the effects of full straw incorporation on soil fertility and crop yield in a rice-wheat (Oryza sativa L.–Triticum aestivum L.) rotation on sandy, loamy soil. Two treatments were tested: (i) straw removal (CK) and (ii) straw incorporation (STR). The STR significantly increased the wheat yield by an average of 58% compared with CK; however, no significant difference was found in the rice yield. Soil available nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the 0–20 cm soil layer increased by more than 15% with STR compared to CK. The soil cation exchange capacity and organic carbon in the 0–20 cm soil layer increased by 8% and 22%, for STR compared to CK, respectively. Straw incorporation significantly elevated the soil saturated water content but decreased the soil bulk density compared with CK. Soil aggregates 〉2 mm were significantly increased after straw return. STR also notably increased the soil urease, invertase, and catalase activities in the 0–15 cm soil layer by 11.4%, 41.0%, and 12.9%, respectively, and the soil microbial carbon and nitrogen contents in the 0–20 cm soil layer by 59% and 54%. Therefore, full straw incorporation could significantly improve soil fertility and maintain crop yields for the study area.

Description: The biomorphic Silicon Carbide (BioSiC) ceramic with highly interconnected porous three-dimensional (3D) structure was fabricated by utilizing balsa wood cellulose nanofibers aerogel as the biotemplate and polycarbosilane (PCS) as the preceramic precursor. Evolution of morphology, composition, and pore properties from untreated wood to porous BioSiC was investigated systemically. The shrinkage and weight gain during pyrolysis was discussed. It was found that the structure of as-synthesized BioSiC was related to the microstructure of wood aerogel template and the concentration of PCS precursor. The proper microstructure of cellulose skeleton which was essential for the infiltration process could obtained by removing lignin and hemicellulose appropriately. The optimum PCS content was 40 wt. % for easy infiltration and proper SiC content. The results revealed that the dredged skeleton of cellulose was reproduced perfectly by PCS ceramization. The obtained BioSiC presented high porosity (61.03%) and low density (0.86 g/cm3) with good Darcy permeability (19.22 mD).

Description: Few provinces in China have recently conducted population-based surveys on tuberculosis (TB) awareness at the provincial level. Hence, we conducted a population-based, cross-sectional study to evaluate the level of awareness of TB knowledge among residents of Zhejiang Province, China from October 2018 to December 2018. A total of 7174 individuals were randomly selected to participate in this survey. The rate of awareness of key information on TB was found to be 48.0%. The study’s participants exhibited a good understanding of the transmission route (80.8%), curable outcome (78.3%), and designated treatment sites (67.0%) of TB. The rate of awareness of suspicious TB symptoms (36.1%) and the relief policy on diagnosis and first-line therapeutic drugs (38.0%) were found to be relatively low among the respondents. People living in rural areas, those who were less educated, and students all showed a low level of awareness of key knowledge about TB. In conclusion, residents in Zhejiang Province generally lacked key information about TB, which is not conducive to the early detection and treatment of TB. Corresponding efforts should be made for different groups of people to achieve favorable effects on the prevention and control of TB.