Abstract. Brucellosis remains a serious public health issue in developing countries, including China. On August 8, 2013, four cases of brucellosis from one extended family were reported at Shuyang County, Jiangsu Province, China. Active case finding was performed to identify the source and the risk factors of the infection and to prevent additional cases. Multiple-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) was used for molecular subtyping analysis. Six people from two extended families met the case definition for brucellosis infection; four were blood culture positive for Brucella melitensis biotype 3. Four additional family members were found seropositive by using a serological test. Isolates from the four patients were indistinguishable by MLVA profiling, displaying a unique type for Jiangsu Province. Field epidemiological data combined with MLVA genotyping supported a common source of the isolates from the different patients. We recommend stronger reinforcement measures for animal quarantine practices, enhanced cooperation with veterinary service organizations, and implementation of measures that strengthen public education on brucellosis to prevent further human outbreaks in Jiangsu Province.

The physical vapor transport (PVT) method is being widely used to grow large-size single SiC crystals. The growth process is associated with heat and mass transport in the growth chamber, chemical reactions among multiple species as well as phase change at the crystal/gas interface. The current paper aims at studying and verifying the transport mechanism and growth kinetics model by demonstrating the flow field and species concentration distribution in the growth system.We have developed a coupled model, which takes into account the mass transport and growth kinetics. Numerical simulation is carried out by employing an in-house developed software based on finite volume method. The results calculated are in good agreement with the experimental observation. r

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A finite element-based thermoelastic anisotropic stress model for hexagonal silicon carbide polytype is developed for the calculation of thermal stresses in SiC crystals grown by the physical vapor transport method. The composite structure of the growing SiC crystal and graphite lid is considered in the model. The thermal expansion match between the crucible lid and SiC crystal is studied for the first time. The influence of thermal stress on the dislocation density and crystal quality is discussed.