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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between ambient temperature and hospital admissions for schizophrenia in Hefei, China. STUDY DESIGN: An ecological design was used to explore the effect of ambient temperature on hospital admissions for schizophrenia. METHODS: Daily data on hospital admissions for schizophrenia and meteorological data for the warm season (May-October) in 2005-2014 were obtained from Anhui Mental Health Centre and Hefei Bureau of Meteorology, respectively. Poisson generalised linear regression model combined with a distributed lag non-linear model was used to analyse the effects of temperature on admissions for schizophrenia. Stratified analyses according to individual characteristics, such as age and sex, were also conducted. RESULTS: A significant relationship was found between ambient temperature and admissions for schizophrenia. High temperature appeared to have a delayed effect on admissions for schizophrenia, and a temperature of 28°C (75th percentile) at lag 0-4 days was associated with a 7% (95% confidence interval: 4-11%) increase in admissions for schizophrenia. Stratified analyses showed that male patients, patients aged 21-60 years and married patients were more vulnerable to high temperature, and the temperature effects for those groups occurred at a lag of 1 day. CONCLUSION: High temperature poses significant risks for schizophrenia in subtropical regions. Future preventive measures for reducing the occurrence of schizophrenia should be considered for susceptible populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The short-term temperature variation has been shown to be significantly associated with human health. However, little is known about whether temperature change between neighbouring days (TCN) and diurnal temperature range (DTR) have any effect on childhood hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). This study aims to explore whether temperature variability has any effect on childhood HFMD. Study design: Ecological study. Methods: The association between meteorological variables and HFMD cases in Huainan, China, from January 1st 2012 to December 31st 2014 was analysed using Poisson generalized linear regression combined with distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) after controlling for long-term trend and seasonality, mean temperature and relative humidity. Results: An adverse effect of TCN on childhood HFMD was observed, and the impact of TCN was the greatest at five days lag, with a 10% (95% CI: 4%-15%) increase of daily number of HFMD cases per 3 °C (10th percentile) decrease of TCN. Male children, children aged 0e5 years, scattered children and children in high-risk areas appeared to be more vulnerable to the TCN effect than others. However, there was no significant association between DTR and childhood HFMD. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that TCN drops may increase the incidence of childhood HFMD in Huainan, highlighting the importance of protecting children from forthcoming TCN drops, particularly for those who are male, young, scattered and from high-risk areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years, many studies have found that ambient temperature is significantly associated with bacillary dysentery (BD). However, there is limited evidence on the relationship between temperature and childhood BD in temperate areas. Objectives: To investigate the relationship between daily mean temperature (MT) and childhood BD in China. Methods: Data on daily MT and childhood BD between 2006 and 2012 were collected from the Bureau of Meteorology and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Hefei, Anhui Province, China. A Poisson generalized linear regression model combined with a distributed lag non-linear model was used to analyse the effects of temperature on childhood BD across different age and sex subgroups. Results: An increase in temperature was significantly associated with childhood BD, and each 1 °C increase corresponded to an increase of 1.58% [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.46 -2.71%] in the number of cases of BD. Children aged 0-5 years and girls were particularly sensitive to the effects of temperature. Conclusions: High temperatures may increase the risk of childhood BD in Hefei. Children aged 0-5 years and girls appear to be particularly sensitive to the effects of high temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper establishes a mathematical model for lockage scheduling of Three Gorges-Gezhouba Dams (LSTGD) problem based on the requirement of scheduling procedure in Three Gorges-Gezhouba Dams (TG-GD) system. The lockage scheduling is separated into three sub-problems: lockage assignment (LA), timetable optimization (TO) and ship dispatch (SD) problem. We propose chaotic embedded particle swarm optimization algorithm to solve the LSTGD problem. Meanwhile, three different chaotic maps are studied and the results are compared to evaluate the effect of different maps on PSO. In addition, heuristic-adjusted strategies are proposed based on the analysis of scheduling regulation to enhance the performance of the final solution. Finally, the proposed method is tested with the real historical execution data of lockage scheduling system in Three Gorges-Gezhouba Dams. The results show that the proposed method is efficient for solving the LSTGD problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is devoted to the evolution of the competition of energy alternative pathway in China, and the influence of energy policy on economic growth by using a dynamical system method. Firstly, the relation between energy and economic growth is taken into account, and a dynamic evolution model is established. It is observed that Hopf bifurcation and chaotic behavior occurs with the varying investment in renewable energy production. Secondly, when there is no policy intervention in energy market, the evolution of competition in energy alternative pathway is also investigated. Thirdly, the system parameters are also identified by using an artificial neural network method on the basis of certain empirical statistical data in China, and the dynamics of the parameters-identified system are studied. Finally, the influences of energy policy on economic growth are empirically analyzed, and some policy recommendations are given based on the results of empirical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We develop a 10.8-Myr astronomical time scale for the Early Cambrian Stage 2-Stage 3. • ∼1.5-Myr obliquity cycles significantly affect sea-level oscillations in the greenhouse period. • New chaotic resonance of Mars-Earth system may occur in the Early Cambrian Period. • Constraints on the Earth-Moon system evolution in deep time are refined. The early Cambrian was a critical period of Earth history, marked by explosive diversification of metazoans and several profound changes in Earth's surface environments and global climate. A valid temporal framework for the early Cambrian Period and across the major bio-events is poorly constrained, and the key underlying forcings of million-year (Myr) scale sea-level variations in a greenhouse lacking polar ice sheets are still disputed. Here, the high-resolution gamma-ray logs (GR) and Fe/Al records are utilized to conduct cyclostratigraphic analysis of the early Cambrian Stage 2-Stage 3 Qiongzhusi Formation of the Well A borehole in South China. A ∼10.8 Myr-long high-resolution astronomical time scale across Stage 2-Stage 3 is developed by astronomical tuning of gamma-ray logs and Fe/Al series to the stable 405-kyr long-eccentricity cycles. The Myr-scale sea-level fluctuations in the early Cambrian greenhouse are reconstructed through the sedimentary noise modeling of the 405-tuned GR series and agree with sequence stratigraphic interpretations, lithofacies stacking patterns, and depositional environment changes. The antiphase correlation of filtered ∼1.5 Myr cycles of sedimentary noise curves with the ∼1.5 Myr obliquity modulation cycles demonstrates that the variations in land-ocean water exchange linked to changes in poleward moisture and heat transport dominated by ∼1.5 Myr obliquity modulation cycles may be a primary driver for eustasy during non-glacial early Cambrian period. A new resonance state in the early Cambrian Stage 2-Stage 3, manifested by ∼1.5 Myr eccentricity: ∼1.5 Myr obliquity, could be mainly associated with the Earth-Mars secular resonance and constrain the chaotic evolution of the Solar System in deep time. Two independent approaches are employed to reconstruct the history of Earth-Moon system characteristics, including the precession constant, the Earth-Moon distance and the day length. Our results enhance knowledge of the connection of Myr-scale sea-level variations to astronomically induced climate change under greenhouse climate and provide new empirical constraints on the chaotic motion of the Solar System and the evolution of the Earth-Moon System in deep time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]