Both low and high temperatures can increase the YLLs -Average 1.02 YLL per death is attributed to temperature exposure -Temperature causes larger YLLs per death in males, younger people, and central China ll www.cell.com/the-innovation

As a renewable source of energy, ethanol has been widely used in internal combustion engines as either a gasoline alternative fuel or a fuel additive. However, as the chemical source term of the computational fluid dynamics simulation of combustors, there remains a disagreement in understanding the chemical kinetic mechanism of ethanol. The reaction mechanism of ethanol + HȮ2 is a well-known crucial reaction class in terms of predicting the reactivity of ethanol as well as ethylene formation under engine-relevant conditions. However, the kinetic parameters of the reactions are basically extrapolated by analogy to the n-butanol + HȮ2 system calculated by Zhou et al. (Zhou et al. Int. J. Chem. Kinet. 2012, 44 (3), 155–164). The reliability of such an analogy remains to be seen because no direct theoretical or experimental evidence is available in the literature to date. In this study, thermal rate coefficients of H-atom abstraction reactions for the ethanol + HȮ2 system were determined by using both conventional transition-state theory and canonical variational transition-state theory, with the potential energy surface evaluated at the CCSD­(T)/cc-pVTZ//M06-2x/def-TZVP level. The quantum-mechanical effects were corrected by the zero-curvature tunneling method at low temperatures (<750 K), and difference schemes of two Eckart functions were fitted to optimize the minimum energy path curves. Torsional modes of the −CH3 and −OH groups were treated by using the hindered-internal-rotation approximation. Furthermore, the rate coefficients of the title reaction were calculated at both the CCSD­(T)/cc-pVTZ//M06-2x/def-TZVP and CCSD­(T)/CBS//M06-2x/def-TZVP levels of theory with uncertainty of a factor of 3. Similar to the n-butanol + HȮ2 system, the title system is dominated by α-site H-atom abstraction, but the rate coefficients of the three channels are slightly slower than that of the n-butanol + HȮ2 system. In general, the new calculations show only a limited effect on the ethanol reactivity at low pressures and high temperatures (>1300 K), but they prevent the kinetic mechanisms from overpredicting ignition delay times under engine-relevant conditions.

We report on a case of human infection with influenza A(H7N9) virus in Jilin Province in northeastern China. This case was associated with a poultry farm rather than a live bird market, which may point to a new focus for public health surveillance and interventions in this evolving outbreak.

Background Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a global infectious disease; particularly, it has a high disease burden in China. This study was aimed to explore the temporal and spatial distribution of the disease by analyzing its epidemiological characteristics, and to calculate the early warning signals of HFMD by using a logistic differential equation (LDE) model. Methods This study included datasets of HFMD cases reported in seven regions in Mainland China. The early warning time (week) was calculated using the LDE model with the key parameters estimated by fitting with the data. Two key time points, “epidemic acceleration week (EAW)” and “recommended warning week (RWW)”, were calculated to show the early warning time. Results The mean annual incidence of HFMD cases per 100,000 per year was 218, 360, 223, 124, and 359 in Hunan Province, Shenzhen City, Xiamen City, Chuxiong Prefecture, Yunxiao County across the southern regions, respectively and 60 and 34 in Jilin Province and Longde County across the northern regions, respectively. The LDE model fitted well with the reported data (R2 > 0.65, P < 0.001). Distinct temporal patterns were found across geographical regions: two early warning signals emerged in spring and autumn every year across southern regions while one early warning signals in summer every year across northern regions. Conclusions The disease burden of HFMD in China is still high, with more cases occurring in the southern regions. The early warning of HFMD across the seven regions is heterogeneous. In the northern regions, it has a high incidence during summer and peaks in June every year; in the southern regions, it has two waves every year with the first wave during spring spreading faster than the second wave during autumn. Our findings can help predict and prepare for active periods of HFMD.

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Alkoxy radicals are important intermediates in the gas-phase oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) determining the nature of the first-generation products. An accurate description of their chemistry under atmospheric conditions is essential for understanding the atmospheric oxidation of VOCs. Unfortunately, experimental measurements of the rate coefficients of unimolecular alkoxy radical reactions are scarce, especially for larger systems. As has previously been done for peroxy radical hydrogen shift reactions, we present a cost-effective approach to the practical implementation of multiconformer transition state theory (MC-TST) for alkoxy radical unimolecular (H-shift and decomposition) reactions. Specifically, we test the optimal approach for the conformational sampling as well as the best value for a cutoff of high-energy conformers. In order to obtain accurate rate coefficients at a reduced computational cost, an energy cutoff is employed to reduce the required number of high-level calculations. The rate coefficients obtained with the developed theoretical approach are compared to available experimental rate coefficients for both 1,5 H-shifts and decomposition reactions. For all but one of the reactions tested, the calculated MC-TST rate coefficients agree with experimental results to within a factor of 7. The discrepancy for the final reaction is about a factor of 15, but part of the discrepancy is caused by pressure effects, which are not included in MC-TST. Thus, for the fastest alkoxy reactions, deviation from the highpressure limit even at 1 bar should be considered.

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Essential oils are gaining increasing interest due to their multiple biological activities and great potential for therapeutic use. The antioxidant effect of essential oils is of special interest in diseases with inflammatory aspects. In this paper, the antioxidant activities of eleven essential oils extracted from Australian native plants were examined by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) assays. In the DPPH assay, all of the essential oils showed substantial antioxidant potential, with a radical-scavenging activity ranging from 12.9% ± 0.3% to 86.9% ± 0.2% at the concentration of 1.6 × 10-2 mL/mL. In the ABTS assay, lemon-scented tea-tree oil (Leptospermum petersonii Bailey) (80.6% ± 0.7%), Australian blue cypress oil (Callitris intratropica R. T. Baker & H. G. Smith) (78.6% ± 1.3%), lemon-scented eucalyptus oil (Eucalyptus citriodora Hook.) (56.7% ± 0.9%) and lemon-scented ironbark oil (Eucalyptus staigeriana F. Muell. ex Bailey) (58.9% ± 0.8%) exhibited relatively high radical-scavenging activities at the concentration of 1.6 × 10-2 mL/mL. Taken together, in both DPPH and ABTS assays, lemon-scented tea-tree oil (with IC 50 of 1.5 × 10-3 mL/mL and 1.5 × 10-3 mL/mL, respectively), Australian blue cypress oil (with IC 50 of 9.5 × 10-3 mL/mL and 3.0 × 10-3 mL/mL, respectively), lemon-scented eucalyptus oil (with IC 50 of 4.8 × 10-3 mL/mL and 8.9 × 10-3 mL/mL, respectively) and lemon-scented ironbark oil (with IC 50 of 6.4 × 10-3 mL/mL and 7.0 × 10-3 mL/mL, respectively) showed the highest antioxidant potential of the essential oils tested. By comparison, the antioxidant capacity of vitamin E had IC 50 values of 5.3 × 10-5 mL/mL and 4.3 × 10-6 mL/mL in the DPPH and ABTS tests respectively.