Chemical analyses of ancient organics absorbed into pottery jars from the early Neolithic village of Jiahu in Henan province in China have revealed that a mixed fermented beverage of rice, honey, and fruit (hawthorn fruit and͞or grape) was being produced as early as the seventh millennium before Christ (B.C.). This prehistoric drink paved the way for unique cereal beverages of the proto-historic second millennium B.C., remarkably preserved as liquids inside sealed bronze vessels of the Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties. These findings provide direct evidence for fermented beverages in ancient Chinese culture, which were of considerable social, religious, and medical significance, and help elucidate their earliest descriptions in the Shang Dynasty oracle inscriptions.archaeological chemistry ͉ Neolithic period ͉ Shang Dynasty ͉ alcohol ͉ saccharification

Herd immunity through vaccination is a key measure to control COVID-19 pandemic. However, vaccine hesitancy remains a public health threat, which is still common among healthcare workers (HCWs). This systematic review aimed to synthesise evidence on HCWs’ attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination and analyse associated factors to provide information for vaccine policy development and practice. We searched PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and three Chinese databases for literature published on 12 February 2021. Two researchers screened the literature independently, and 13 studies were included in the systematic review. Vaccine acceptance varied widely and ranged from 27.7% to 77.3%. HCWs had positive attitudes towards future COVID-19 vaccines, while vaccine hesitancy was still common. Demographic variables such as men, older age and physicians were positive predictive factors. Women and nurses had more vaccine hesitancy. Previous influenza vaccination and self-perceived risk were facilitators. Concerns for safety, efficacy and effectiveness and distrust of the government were barriers. Influences of direct (COVID-19) patient care towards vaccination intention were less conclusive. Tailored communication strategies were needed to increase the uptake rate of COVID-19 vaccines among HCWs. More importantly, more data and information on the safety and efficacy of vaccines should be provided with transparency.

The climatic effects of irrigation over the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain (3HP) in China are investigated by using the weather research and forecasting model coupled with an operational-like irrigation scheme. Multiple numerical experiments with irrigation off/on during spring, summer, and both spring and summer are conducted. Results show that the warm bias in surface temperature and dry bias in soil moisture are reduced over the 3HP region during the growing seasons by considering the irrigation in the model. The air temperature during nongrowing seasons is also affected by irrigation because of the persistent effects of soil moisture on land-air energy exchanges and ground heat storage. Irrigation can induce significant cooling in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) during the growing seasons and lead to a relatively wet PBL with increased low-level clouds during spring but a relatively dry condition in summer. Further analyses indicate that irrigation leads to increased summer precipitation over the Yangtze River Basin and decreased summer precipitation in southern and northern China. These responses are associated with the changes in the large-scale circulation induced by irrigation. Irrigation tends to cool the atmosphere and forces a possible southward shift of the upper level jet that can further affect the precipitation distribution. Our model results suggest that in addition to local-scale processes, large-scale impacts should also be considered when studying the precipitation response to irrigation over East Asia.

In December 2019, a number of patients with a new type of pneumonia of unknown etiology were detected in Wuhan, China. (1) It was then soon determined that it was a new severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that was caused by a new coronavirus, the SARS-CoV-2 virus. (2) The new pneumonia was later named the Novel 2019 Coronavirus or COVID-19. (3) In 2002-2003, another SARS-causing coronavirus, the SARS-CoV virus, caused one of the most deadly epidemics in recent history. The outbreak of SARS-CoV caused more than 8,000 reported cases and 774 deaths, with a case-fatality rate (CFR) of 7% in China. (4) Less than a decade later in 2012, another coronavirus, the Middle-East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus, the MERS-CoV virus, emerged. (5) An outbreak of this virus in 2014 resulted in 662 reported cases and a CFR of 32.97%. (6) Together, these had informed us that coronaviruses represent a new kind of viral pathogens that are characterized by their ability to cause

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