Foodborne diseases are ongoing and significant public health concerns. This study analysed data obtained from the Foodborne Outbreaks Surveillance System of Wenzhou to comprehensively summarise the characteristics of foodborne outbreaks from 2012 to 2022. A total of 198 outbreaks were reported, resulting in 2,216 cases, 208 hospitalisations, and eight deaths over 11 years. The findings suggested that foodborne outbreaks were more prevalent in the third quarter, with most cases occurring in households (30.8%). Outbreaks were primarily associated with aquatic products (17.7%) as sources of contamination. The primary transmission pathways were accidental ingestion (20.2%) and multi-pathway transmission (12.1%). Microbiological aetiologies (46.0%), including Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Salmonella ssp., and Staphylococcus aureus, were identified as the main causes of foodborne outbreaks. Furthermore, mushroom toxins (75.0%), poisonous animals (12.5%), and poisonous plants (12.5%) were responsible for deaths from accidental ingestion. This study identified crucial settings and aetiologies that require the attention of both individuals and governments, thereby enabling the development of effective preventive measures to mitigate foodborne outbreaks, particularly in coastal cities.

We study non-abelian versions of the Mellin transformations, originally introduced by Gabber-Loeser on complex affine tori. Our main result is a generalisation to the non-abelian context and with arbitrary coefficients of the t-exactness of Gabber-Loeser’s Mellin transformation. As an intermediate step, we obtain vanishing results for the Sabbah specialisation functors. Our main application is to construct new examples of duality spaces in the sense of Bieri-Eckmann, generalising results of Denham-Suciu.

In this work, we studied an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process of ZrO2 with the precursors of tetrakis(dimethylamido)zirconium(IV) and water. We investigated the growth characteristics and mechanism of the ALD ZrO2 in the temperature range of 50–275 °C. Furthermore, the evolutions of film thickness and morphology were studied and discussed. It was found that the growth rate of ZrO2 decreased almost linearly with the increasing temperature from ∼1.81 Å/cycle at 50 °C to ∼0.8 Å/cycle at 225 °C. Interestingly, it was revealed that the growth of ZrO2 films ceased after a certain number of ALD cycles at a temperature higher than 250 °C. We also verified that the crystallinity of ZrO2 evolved with deposition temperature from amorphous to crystalline phase. In addition, the wettability of ZrO2 films was studied, showing a hydrophobic nature.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) microspheres (CNMS) were fabricated via a solvothermal method by using dicyandiamide and cyanuric chloride as precursors. The morphology, band structure, and defects can be simultaneously regulated by merely adjusting the concentration of precursors. Structural characterization results indicate that all the prepared samples possess spherical morphology, while the band gap decreased as the precursor concentration increased from 8 mmol (CNMS-1) to 24 mmol (CNMS-3). Besides, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy results suggested that the valence band of CNMS-2 (16 mmol) was much higher than that of CNMS-1 and CNMS-3. Additionally, organic elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electron paramagnetic resonance results unveil the formation of nitrogen defects on the surface of prepared samples. Besides, CNMS-2 exhibits an enhanced apparent reaction rate constant of RhB degradation than that of CNMS-1 and CNMS-3. The improved apparent reaction rate constant may be due to the lowered valence band as well as the formation of nitrogen defects. This work might guide the regulation of the morphology and band structure of g-C3N4-based materials prepared via the one-pot hydrothermal method.

Archaeological records of the Neolithic settlements on the eastern China coast between 35°N and 30°N, an area covering the abandoned Yellow River and the Yangtze River delta plains, reveal that Neolithic people moved from the Yellow River basin onto the northern coast for fishing, hunting and dry-land agriculture ~ 7000 yr ago. Marine transgression interrupted their activities on the low-lying (2–5 m in elevation) coastal wetlands between 6000 and 5000 yr ago, after which they reclaimed their land near the river mouths. Their migration routes on the southern Yangtze delta plain indicate another scenario: early Neolithic communities moved onto the plain for wet-rice cultivation. Despite relative sea-level rise from 7000 to 4000 yr ago, a large number of settlements were established on the lowlands between the eastern Chenier Ridges and the western Taihu Lake depression. The Chenier Ridges, with ~ 1.0 m higher topography than the adjacent coastal area, played a role in sheltering the Neolithic people. Subsequently, settlements waned considerably, possibly due to further marine inundation combined with cold climate. The present study shows that migration patterns of the Neolithic settlements are closely associated with a gradually rising sea level between 7000 and 4000 yr ago.

During the mid-Holocene the eastern Taihu area, on China's Yangtze delta plain, was populated by advanced late Neolithic cultures supported by intensive domesticated rice cultivation. This agricultural system collapsed around 4200 cal yr BP, with severe population decline, the end of the Liangzhu culture, and about half a millennium of very low-scale human activity in the area before the re-establishment of agricultural production. Microfossil analyses from six sedimentary sequences, supported by AMS 14C dating, has allowed reconstruction of mid-Holocene hydrological conditions and salinity changes which would have had a major influence on agricultural viability and cultural history in the coastal wetlands. These data, allied to existing stratigraphic and sea-level records, show that chenier ridges that developed after ca. 7000 cal yr BP in the east of the area sheltered it from marine inundation and although still connected to the sea through tidal creeks, low-salinity conditions persisted throughout the Neolithic period. There is no evidence that marine flooding caused the collapse of Liangzhu culture. Marine influence was stable and evolved slowly. Social and cultural causes may also have been important, but if environmental change triggered the collapse of Neolithic agricultural society here, other natural forces must be sought to explain this event.

Recent studies have shown that chemical immiscibility is important to achieve enhanced radiation tolerance in metallic multilayers as immiscible layer interfaces are more stable against radiation induced mixing than miscible interfaces. However, as most of these immiscible systems have incoherent interfaces, the influence of coherency on radiation resistance of immiscible systems remains poorly understood. Here, we report on radiation response of immiscible Cu/Fe multilayers, with individual layer thickness h varying from 0.75 to 100 nm, subjected to He ion irradiation. When interface is incoherent, the peak bubble density decreases with decreasing h and reaches a minimum when h is 5 nm. At even smaller h when interface is increasingly coherent, the peak bubble density increases again. However, void swelling in coherent multilayers with smaller h remains less than those in incoherent multilayers. Our study suggests that the coherent immiscible interface is also effective to alleviate radiation induced damage.

A systematic x-ray diffraction (XRD) study was performed on room-temperature Xe-irradiated and postirradiation annealed CeO2. Large scale XRD did not show any additional irradiation-induced phases upon irradiation. Depth profiling the CeO2 (111) diffraction peak over the 150 nm deep Xe-irradiated layer (400 keV, 1 × 1020 Xe/m2) by grazing incidence XRD indicated a lattice expansion at the irradiated layer. Postirradiation annealing (1 h at 1000 °C) in an oxygen-containing environment removed the observed XRD features. Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) was performed for cross-sectional samples before and after postirradiation annealing. EELS showed that the Ce charge state changed from +4 to +3 at the CeO2 surface indicating the presence of O vacancies in both as-irradiated and annealed samples. EELS also indicated that the amount of O vacancies was reduced at the irradiated region by annealing. The experimental results are discussed based on electronic properties of CeO2, annihilation of oxygen vacancies, and evolution of irradiation damage.

Oxide composites are a class of materials with potential uses for nuclear, space, and coating applications. Exploiting their promise, however, requires a detailed understanding of their interfacial structure and chemistry. Using analytical microscopy, we have examined the radiation damage behavior at the interface of a model oxide bilayer, SrTiO3/MgO. The as-synthesized SrTiO3 thin film contained both (100) and (110) oriented domains. We found that after ion beam implantation the (110) domains amorphized at a lower radiation fluence than the (100) domains. Further, a persistent crystalline layer of SrTiO3 forms at the interface even as the rest of the SrTiO3 film amorphizes. We hypothesize that the enhanced amorphization susceptibility of the (110) domains is a consequence of how charged irradiation-induced defects at the interfaces interact with the charged planes of the (110) domains. These results demonstrate the complex relationship between interfacial structure and radiation damage evolution at oxide interfaces.

The irradiation damage behaviors of single crystal (SC), coarse-grained (CG), and nanograined (NG) copper (Cu) films were investigated under Helium (He) ion implantation at 450 °C with different ion fluences. In irradiated SC films, plenty of cavities are nucleated, and some of them preferentially formed on growth defects or dislocation lines. In the irradiated CG Cu, cavities formed both in grain interior and along grain boundaries; obvious void-denuded zones can be identified near grain boundaries. In contrast, irradiation-induced cavities in NG Cu were observed mainly gathering along grain boundaries with much less cavities in the grain interiors. The grains in irradiated NG Cu are significantly coarsened. The number density and average radius of cavities in NG Cu was smaller than that in irradiated SC Cu and CG Cu. These experiments indicate that grain boundaries are efficient sinks for irradiation-induced vacancies and highlight the important role of reducing grain size in suppressing radiation-induced void swelling.

Small-scale testing techniques such as nanoindentation and micro-/nanocompression are promising methods for addressing mechanical properties of ion-beam-irradiated materials. We performed different proton irradiations and critically evaluated the results obtained from nanoindentation and pillar compression, both performed parallel and perpendicular to the irradiation direction. Experiments parallel to beam direction suffer from variation of material properties with penetration depth. This is improved by cross-sectional experiments, thereby probing the effect of different doses along the beam penetration depth on mechanical properties. Finally, we demonstrate that, compared with nanoindentation, miniaturized uniaxial compression experiments offer a more reliable and straightforward interpretation of the mechanical data, as they impose a nominally uniaxial stress on a well-defined volume at a specific position. Moreover, the exposed pillar geometry is not influenced by surface contamination and enables in situ observation of the governing mechanical processes, which is typically not possible during indentation experiments in a half-space geometry.

In 2008 January the 24th Chinese expedition team successfully deployed the Chinese Small Telescope ARray (CSTAR) to Dome A, the highest point on the Antarctic plateau. CSTAR consists of four 14.5cm optical telescopes, each with a different filter (g, r, i and open) and has a 4.5°×4.5° field of view (FOV). Based on the CSTAR data, initial statistics of astronomical observational site quality and light curves of variable objects were obtained. To reach higher photometric quality, we are continuing to work to overcome the effects of uneven cirrus cloud cirrus, optical “ghosts” and intra-pixel sensitivity. The snow surface stability is also tested for further astronomical observational instrument and for glaciology studies.

Polycrystalline δ-phase Sc4Zr3O12 was irradiated with 200 keV Ne+ ions at cryogenic temperature to fluences ranging from 2 × 1018 to 1 × 1021 Ne/m2. Irradiation-induced structural evolution was examined by using grazing incidence x-ray diffraction and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. An order-to-disorder (O-D) crystal structure transformation (from an ordered δ-phase to a disordered, fluorite phase) was observed to initiate by a fluence of 2 × 1018 Ne/m2, corresponding to a peak ballistic damage dose of ∼0.075 displacements per atom. This displacement damage dose is much lower than the O-D transformation dose threshold found in previous heavy ion irradiation experiments on δ-Sc4Zr3O12 [J.A. Valdez et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods B250, 148 (2006); K.E. Sickafus et al., Nat. Mater.6, 217 (2007)]. In this study, we contrast the O-D transformation efficiency of the light Ne ions used in these experiments, to the heavy (Kr) ions used previously, and interpret the differences in terms of enhanced damage efficiency for light ions (greater fraction of surviving defects per defect produced). To better quantify this surviving defect phenomenon, we also present new, additional ion irradiation results on δ-Sc4Zr3O12, obtained from 300 keV Kr2+ and 100 keV He+ ion irradiation experiments.

Uranium is an extremely important material for commercial and military applications (i.e. nuclear power, nuclear weapons, conventional weapons, and armor systems) and, like a number of other materials, is vulnerable to corrosion by environmental gases that affect their properties, leading to component degradation, shortened lifetimes and materials failure. For uranium this is particularly true in the case of corrosion by hydrogen. A fundamental understanding of the corrosion process at the nucleation stage is of critical importance. The goal of this work is to study the role of common chemical impurities in uranium with initiation sites for the formation of destructive hydride blisters. Samples were implanted with various ions, annealed under vacuum at 200°C, than exposed to one atm of ultra-pure hydrogen. Scanning force microscopy surface potential imaging was used to characterize the structure and corresponding electrical properties of polycrystalline uranium surfaces that resulted from the implantation of different suspect atoms after exposure to hydrogen gas. Surface potential images revealed features related to different oxide structures and hydride spots/blisters as well as other features not obvious in the corresponding topograph. In the surface potential images, blisters appear as bright (higher potential) features in sharp contrast to the uranium oxide background. Often a possible inclusion was observed in the center of a blister. Blister formation did not appear to correlate with implantation of any specific specie, however, distinct differences were seen between implanted and non implanted sides of the same sample.

This new project relies on the capabilities collocated at Los Alamos in the Trident laser facility of long-pulse laser drive, for laser-plasma formation, and high-intensity short-pulse laser drive, for relativistic laser-matter interaction experiments. Specifically, we are working to understand quantitatively the physics that underlie the generation of laser-driven MeV/nucleon ion beams, in order to extend these capabilities over a range of ion species, to optimize beam generation, and to control those beams. Furthermore, we intend to study the interaction of these novel laser-driven ion beams with dense plasmas, which are relevant to important topics such as the fast-ignition method of inertial confinement fusion (ICF), weapons physics, and planetary physics. We are interested in irradiating metallic foils with the Trident short-pulse laser to generate medium to heavy ion beams (Z = 20–45) with high efficiency. At present, target-surface impurities seem to be the main obstacle to reliable and efficient acceleration of metallic ions in the foil substrate. In order to quantify the problem, measurements of surface impurities on typical metallic-foil laser targets were made. To eliminate these impurities, we resorted to novel target-treatment techniques such as Joule-heating and laser-ablation, using a long-pulse laser intensity of ∼ 1010 W/cm2. Our progress on this promising effort is presented in this paper, along with a summary of the overall project.

The concentrations of growth hormone (GH), insulin (Ins), tri-iodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) in blood samples of growing yaks during different bimonthly seasons were determined by radioimmunoassay. The changes of body weight of growing yaks and composition of grass grazed were measured accordingly. The seasonal changes of hormones were significant (P < 0·01 or P < 0·05). Within season, the variances of hormones depended upon the different growing stages. The body-weight gains in the different groups varied in different seasons, increase being significant in May, July and September, decrease being significant from January to May. Correlation analysis indicated that T4 concentration had a significant positive correlation with the body weight of the growing yaks(r = 0·2509, P < 0·05) and other hormones did not have any significant correlation with body weight. The results showed that the annual cycle of weight loss and gain was attributed to the seasonal change of nutrition status. The seasonal change of the assayed hormones depended on the grass growth.