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Cronobacter spp. is an important foodborne pathogen that can cause life‐threatening diseases in infants and immunocompromised adults. The present study was carried out to understand the prevalence and characterization of Cronobacter spp. in dried edible mushrooms in Jiangsu province, China. Cronobacter isolates were identified and genotyped by multilocus sequence typing (MLST); the antimicrobial susceptibility of Cronobacter strains was determined by the disk diffusion method; the biofilm formation ability of Cronobacter spp. was assessed using the microtiter plate method. The overall prevalence of Cronobacter spp. in dried edible mushrooms was 14.8%, with the highest contamination rate of after 37.2% found in Auricularia auricular. The Cronobacter isolates were identified as C. sakazakii (n = 26), C. malonaticus (n = 2), C. dublinensis (n = 2) and C. turicensis (n = 1). The MLST scheme produced 20 sequence types (STs), two of which were newly identified. ST148 was the most prevalent ST (n = 5), followed by ST4 (n = 3), ST17 (n = 3), ST64 (n = 3), and ST540 (n = 2). One (3.2%) and 15 (48.4%) Cronobacter isolates were resistant to tetracycline and meropenem, respectively. In contrast, all of the tested isolates were susceptible to the remaining 14 antibiotics. Moreover, 20 (64.5%) Cronobacter isolates showed weak ability to produce biofilm, but no isolates showed strong or moderate biofilm‐forming ability. Practical Application: Our findings revealed a high genetic diversity of Cronobacter spp. in dried edible mushrooms and provided new epidemiological evidence for the widespread existence of Cronobacter spp. in such products. The presence of Cronobacter spp. in dried edible mushrooms may pose potential risks to human health and enhancing the hygiene of such products are necessary to ensure food safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of wind speed on PV power generation is influenced by the monsoon and the complex topography and environmental factors found in mountainous areas. This complexity can reduce the correlation between PV power and irradiance. To better understand the impact of wind speed, we conducted an analysis in various topographical regions of the Hengduan Mountain in China. Our findings show that high wind speeds can enhance PV utilization, particularly in plateau and hill regions. This is due to the blocking and lifting effect of the north-south oriented mountains on the east-west wind, as well as the channeling effect on the north-south wind. To improve the efficiency of utilizing solar energy, it is important to consider the spatial distribution of wind speed when developing PV. Correlation analysis of multi-factors on a spatial and temporal scale can also offer insight. Furthermore, planning the layout of PV systems with meteorological resources in mind can enhance PV utilization in complex mountainous terrain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor swimming performance and low hypoxia tolerance have been suggested as the main reasons for the dramatic decrease in the wild population of Chinese sucker. The present study aimed to investigate the potential for exercise training to enhance swimming performance and hypoxia tolerance in this fish species targeted for stocking enhancement. Fish were exercise trained (force to swim against a flow) once daily, twice daily or not exercise trained for 20 d and then detrained for 10 d (a period of nontraining). Training showed no significant effect on anaerobic swimming performance.. The fish from both training groups showed lower hypoxia tolerance and a lower survival rate under predation. Thus, the present study suggested thatexercise training showed little effect or even a negative effect on physiological function in Chinese sucker, and the forced training might not be the proper protocol to apply for improving the stocking enhancement of Chinese sucker.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This study investigated 478 major industrial accidents in China from 2000 to 2020. • Pearson correlation analysis was carried out between industrial added value and major industrial accidents. • The accident characteristics and domino effect of major industrial accidents in China were analysed. • Helpful information for China's risk assessment and safety management of industrial clusters was obtained. Understanding historical accidents are essential for accident prevention. This study analysed industrial accidents' characteristics and the domino effect of 478 major industrial accidents in China from 2000 to 2020, including time, location, accident levels and types, hazardous substances involved, working situations, and accident causes. Industrial accidents are mainly distributed in the eastern coastal industrial provinces, and concentrated in March, April, July and August, more likely to occur at 9:00–11:00 and 15:00–16:00. More than 80 % of industrial accidents occurred during normal operations and maintenance & overhaul work. 41.6 % were explosions, and 32.4 % were fires. Industrial accidents mainly involved flammable liquids and gases, and 49 % were caused by violations or improper operation. The primary events of industrial domino accidents were mainly explosions. The most frequent final domino sequences were explosion → fire (23.7 %), fire → explosion (15.3 %) and leakage → explosion (15.3 %). The ratio between first-level and second-level domino effect sequences was 2.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel hybrid short-term wind power forecasting method is proposed. • The automatic relevance determination algorithm is used to correct NWP data. • The spatial correlation of wind speed series between wind farms is extracted. • The corrected NWP and spatial correlation are integrated into a Gaussian process. Wind power generation rapidly grows worldwide with declining costs and the pursuit of decarbonised energy systems. However, the utilization of wind energy remains challenging due to its strong stochastic nature. Accurate wind power forecasting is one of the effective ways to address this problem. Meteorological data are generally regarded as critical inputs for wind power forecasting. However, the direct use of numerical weather prediction in forecasting may not provide a high degree of accuracy due to unavoidable uncertainties, particularly for areas with complex topography. This study proposes a hybrid short-term wind power forecasting method, which integrates the corrected numerical weather prediction and spatial correlation into a Gaussian process. First, the Gaussian process model is built using the optimal combination of different kernel functions. Then, a correction model for the wind speed is designed by using an automatic relevance determination algorithm to correct the errors in the primary numerical weather prediction. Moreover, the spatial correlation of wind speed series between neighbouring wind farms is extracted to complement the input data. Finally, the modified numerical weather prediction and spatial correlation are incorporated into the hybrid model to enable reliable forecasting. The actual data in East China are used to demonstrate its performance. In comparison with the basic Gaussian process, in different seasons, the forecasting accuracy is improved by 7.02%–29.7% by using additional corrected numerical weather prediction, by 0.65–10.23% after integrating with the spatial correlation, and by 10.88–37.49% through using the proposed hybrid method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normalization and weighting are two life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) steps that are often uncertain and subjective. To make them more reliable, this article aims to contribute to the development of an up-to-date normalization reference (NR) and a better set of weighting factors (WF) for China through distance-to-target (DTT) weighting. In the present work, eight environmental criteria were assessed by policy targets, and the NRs of the contribution inventories were calculated. They included global warming (GW), ozone layer depletion (OD), acidification (Ac), eutrophication (Eu), photochemical oxidation (PO), abiotic depletion (fossil fuels) (ADF), freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity (FAET), and human toxicity (HT). Two WF sets with the target year of 2020 and 2030 were obtained; in both sets, GW had the highest relative importance and ADF had the lowest. Comparing the new WF sets with the WF sets of Europe and Thailand revealed the different emphasis of countries/regions with different development levels on environmental control. In addition, 1-kWh electricity generation was used as a case study to verify the differences and effects on the NR and WF results. This policy-based DTT method showed both strengths and weaknesses in the construction of Chinese WF sets. A clear policy based on every five-year plan would facilitate setting targets and simplifying data collation. Further attention needs to be paid to toxicity indicators, including the characterization factors for emerging pollutants such as new pesticides and policies on marine aquatic eco-toxicity and terrestrial eco-toxicity. [Display omitted] • The normalization reference set in LCIA for China in 2015 is calculated. • Policy-based normalization reference sets in LCIA for China in 2020 and 2030 are forecasted. • The weighting factor sets in LCIA are calculated based on the distance-to-target method. • The critical environmental indicator is identified as ozone depletion in China during 2015–2020. • Global warming is the most important and alarming environmental indicator in the coming future (2020–2030). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has promoted its biogas industry for a long time and begun to support bio-natural gas (BNG; also known as biogas upgrading or biogas-to-biomethane) projects for the first time in 2015 at the central government level. This study presented a comprehensive overview of the BNG industry in China, including its status quo, national strategic planning, upgrading technologies, investment cost, potential, and opportunities and challenges. A total of 65 BNG demonstration projects were approved by the central government between 2015 and 2017, and 197 projects are expected to have been built by 2020 as part of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–2020). BNG is an emerging industry, and its development provides several opportunities, including a huge natural gas demand, national policy incentives, integrated agriculture, and reduced carbon emissions. The challenges and barriers to such developments include the high upgrading cost, fluctuating natural gas prices, unsound market access mechanism for biomethane and biofertilizer, scarce competition-oriented feedstock resources, incomplete standard system and cross-sectorial management, imperfect policy and subsidy mechanism, and lagging technology and equipment. China can learn from other developed countries in four ways. First, the country must enhance the cost effectiveness of its subsidies. Then, China must highlight the operations of its BNG industry and evaluate its performance; prioritize digestate management in the planning stage; improve its project service level and reinforce research and development. The findings of this work provide a valuable reference for other developing countries that intend to address energy shortage issues and integrate waste management into their regional planning. • Current status of BNG industry in China is presented and elaborated. • Opportunities and potential challenges for BNG industry in China are analyzed. • Suggestions for sound development of BNG industry are presented. • BNG development in China could provide references for other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]