In recent years severe infectious diseases have been constantly emerging, causing panic in the world. Now we know that many of these terrible diseases are caused by viruses originated from bats (Table 1), such as Ebola virus, Marburg, SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV), MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Nipah virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV). These viruses have co-evolved with bats due to bats' special social, biological and immunological features. Although bats are not in close contact with humans, spillover of viruses from bats to intermediate animal hosts, such as horses, pigs, civets, or non-human primates, is thought to be the most likely mode to cause human infection. Humans may also become infected with viruses through aerosol by intruding into bat roosting caves or via direct contact with bats, such as catching bats or been bitten by bats.

Transstadial and transovarial virus transmission occur among ticks, and transmission to mice can occur through a tick bite.

Dissolved black carbon (DBC) is the largest known slow-cycling organic carbon pool in the world’s oceans. Atmospheric deposition could significantly contribute to the oceanic DBC pool, but respective information is lacking. Here we estimate that, during the dust outbreak season, the atmospheric dry deposition of water-soluble black carbon (WSBC) is ~ 40% of the riverine input to the China coastal seas. The molecular composition of atmospheric WSBC determined by ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry, reveals similar soil-derived sources as for riverine discharge. WSBC is significantly positively correlated with water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) in marine aerosols, and water-soluble black carbon contributes on average 2.8 ± 0.65% to the total WSOC. Based on this relationship, the global atmospheric deposition of DBC to the ocean is estimated to be 1.8 ± 0.83 Tg yr−1. Anticipated future changes in biomass burning and dust mobilization might increase these numbers, with consequences for regional ecosystems and global carbon reservoirs.

No abstract

Background: The novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, also called 2019-nCoV) causes different morbidity risks to individuals in different age groups. This study attempts to quantify the age-specific transmissibility using a mathematical model. Methods: An epidemiological model with five compartments (susceptible-exposed-symptomatic-asymptomaticrecovered/removed [SEIAR]) was developed based on observed transmission features. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases were divided into four age groups: group 1, those ≤ 14 years old; group 2, those 15 to 44 years old; group 3, those 45 to 64 years old; and group 4, those ≥ 65 years old. The model was initially based on cases (including imported cases and secondary cases) collected in Hunan Province from January 5 to February 19, 2020. Another dataset, from Jilin Province, was used to test the model.

In order to evaluate impacts of different source emission on marine atmospheric particles over the South China Sea (SCS), major inorganic ionic concentrations (Na + , Cl − , SO 2− 4 , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , K + , NH + 4 and NO − 3 ) were determined in total suspended particulates (TSPs) at Yongxing Island, from March 2014 to February 2015. The annual average concentration of TSPs was 89.6 ± 68.0 µg m −3 , with 114.7 ± 82.1, 60.4 ± 27.0 and 59.5 ± 25.6 µg m −3 in cool, warm and transition seasons, respectively. Cl − had the highest concentration, with an annual average of 7.73 ± 5.99 µg m −3 , followed by SO 2− 4 (5.54 ± 3.65 µg m −3 ), Na + (4.00 ± 1.88 µg m −3 ),Concentrations of TSPs and the major ions showed seasonal variations, which were higher in the cool season and lower in the warm and transition seasons. Factors of influence were wind speed, temperature, relatively humidity, rain and air mass source region. Back trajectories, concentration-weighted trajectories (CWTs), and positive matrix factorization (PMF) of chemical compositions were analyzed for source apportionment, source contribution and spatiotemporal variation of major ions. Back trajectories and CWTs showed that air masses at Yongxing Island were mainly from the northeast, southwest and southeast in the cool, warm and transition seasons, respectively. The PMF results showed that 77.4 % of Na + and 99.3 % of Cl − were from sea salt; 60.5 % of NH + 4 was from oceanic emission. Anthropogenic sources were very important for atmospheric aerosols over the island. Secondary inorganic aerosol of SO 2 and NO x from fossil fuel combustion (especially coal in Chinese coastal regions) was the dominant source of NO − 3 (69.5 %) and SO 2− 4 (57.5 %).

Abstract. The cumulative atmospheric nitrogen deposition has been found to profoundly impact the nutrient stoichiometry of the eastern China seas (ECSs: the Yellow Sea and East China Sea) and the northwestern Pacific Ocean (NWPO). In spite of the potential significance of dry deposition in those regions, shipboard observations of atmospheric aerosols remain insufficient, particularly regarding the compositions of water-soluble nitrogen species (nitrate, ammonium and water-soluble organic nitrogen – WSON). We conducted a cruise covering the ECSs and the NWPO during the spring of 2014 and observed three types of atmospheric aerosols. Aluminum content, air mass backward trajectories, weather conditions, and ion stoichiometry allowed us to discern dust aerosol patches and sea-fog-modified aerosols (widespread over the ECSs) from background aerosols (open ocean). Among the three types, sea-fog-modified aerosols contained the highest concentrations of nitrate (536 ± 300 nmol N m−3), ammonium (442 ± 194 nmol N m−3) and WSON (147 ± 171 nmol N m−3); furthermore, ammonium and nitrate together occupied  ∼  65 % of the molar fraction of total ions. The dust aerosols also contained significant amounts of nitrate (100 ± 23 nmol N m−3) and ammonium (138 ± 24 nmol N m−3) which were obviously larger than those in the background aerosols (26 ± 32 for nitrate and 54 ± 45 nmol N m−3 for ammonium), yet this was not the case for WSON. It appeared that dust aerosols had less of a chance to come in contact with WSON during their transport. In the open ocean, we found that sea salt (e.g., Na+, Cl−, Mg2+), as well as WSON, correlated positively with wind speed. Apparently, marine dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) was emitted from breaking waves. Regardless of the variable wind speeds from 0.8 to as high as 18 m s−1, nitrate and ammonium, by contrast, remained in narrow ranges, implying that some supply and consumption processes of nitrate and ammonium were required to maintain such a quasi-static condition. Mean dry deposition of total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) for sea-fog-modified aerosols (1090 ± 671 µmol N m−2 d−1) was 5 times higher than that for dust aerosols (190 ± 41.6 µmol N m−2 d−1) and around 20 times higher than that for background aerosols (56.8 ± 59.1 µmol N m−2 d−1). Apparently, spring sea fog on the ECSs played an important role in removing atmospheric reactive nitrogen from the Chinese mainland and depositing it into the ECSs, thus effectively preventing its seaward export to the NWPO.

ObjectivesChina launched the National Healthcare Improvement Initiative (NHII) in 2015 to improve patient experiences in healthcare. This study aimed to generate evidence of hospital care quality from the patients’ perspective.DesignThis nationwide cross-sectional study interviewed participants from 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across China.SettingA total of 117 tertiary hospitals in mainland China.Participants48 422 responses from outpatients and 35 957 responses from inpatients were included in this study.Primary outcome measureThe scores of six predefined domains in the Chinese Patient Experience Questionnaire, five of which were designed to reflect specific dimensions of care, and one of which indicated the overall rating.ResultsMore than 80% of the respondents viewed their care experiences as positive. The NHII seems to have had a positive impact, as indicated by the steady, although unremarkable, increase in the patient experience scores over the 2016–2018 period. The Chinese patients generally reported a positive experience with the clinical aspects of care, but reported a less positive experience with the environmental, interpersonal and social services aspects of care. The institutional factors, including region and type of hospital, and personal factors, such as gender, age, education and occupation, were factors affecting the patient experience in China. Humanistic care was the aspect of care with the greatest association with the overall patient experience rating in both the outpatient and inpatient settings.ConclusionsThe national survey indicated an overall positive patient perspective of care in China. Older age, higher education level and formal employment status were found to be correlated with positive care experiences, as were higher levels of economic development of the region, a more generous insurance benefits package and a higher degree of coordinated care. The interpersonal-related initiatives had substantial roles in the improvement of the patient experience. In the regions where farmers and users of traditional Chinese medicine services constitute a greater proportion of the population, improvement of patient experiences for these groups deserves special policy attention.