Popular science: five viruses carried by animals and the global disasters caused by them

Carl Zimmer reads books on Phoenix.com.

In this paper, the discovery history of five kinds of germs that have been raging and spreading wildly in human beings is discussed, including HIV virus, West Nile virus, Ebola virus, SARS virus and MERS virus. What needs to be known is that although the greatest scientists in the world are still engaged in medical research intensively and have put forward many effective measures to suppress it, even if human beings are expected to completely eliminate these diseases, it is not yet. What we can do is to take the initiative to understand it.

01

HIV virus

From October 1980 to May 1981, five men in Los Angeles, USA, were admitted to hospital for the same rare pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.

This kind of pneumonia is caused by Pneumocystis carinii fungus, its spores are everywhere, and most people have inhaled it into the respiratory tract at some point in their childhood. But people’s immune system will quickly kill these fungi and produce antibodies to protect their owners for life. However, if this person’s immune system is weak, Pneumocystis carinii will get out of control, and the patient’s lungs will be filled with fluid and scarred. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia patients have difficulty in inhaling enough oxygen, so it is difficult to survive. However, the symptoms of these five patients are not typical-they are all young men who were in good health before suffering from pneumonia.

At that time, no one knew that these cases would quickly evolve into the most horrible epidemic in contemporary history. In fact, all patients have immune dysfunction at the cellular level, and the initiator is human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which is HIV. Later researchers discovered that this virus has been quietly infecting humans for 50 years. Since their discovery in the 1980s, they have continued to infect 60 million people and killed half of them.

HIV virus

HIV is well-known, but it is not contagious, and people are not easily infected with AIDS. Even if the patient sneezes next to you or even shakes your hand, you won’t be infected. HIV can only be transmitted through certain kinds of body fluids, such as blood and semen. Therefore, unprotected sex will spread the virus, and people will be infected if they lose blood contaminated by the virus; If expectant mothers are HIV carriers, they may also transmit it to unborn children; Some heroin addicts share needles with others. If others are AIDS patients, the virus is likely to enter his body through contaminated needles.

Once HIV enters the human body, it will attack the human immune system. Its target is an immune cell named CD4. When the virus gene and protein manipulate and gradually take over the whole host cell, these cells can be used to replicate more HIV viruses and infect more cells. At first, the number of HIV virus in the human body will increase rapidly, but once the immune system recognizes the infected cells, it will start a desperate blow, and the infected cells will be destroyed by the autoimmune system, and the number of viruses will decrease. At this time, the patient will feel that he has only a slight flu. The immune system can successfully wipe out most HIV viruses, but a small number of viruses will survive quietly and hide in CD4 cells to continue to grow and divide. They are calm as usual most of the time, and occasionally wake up again, releasing a wave of viruses and infecting more cells. Although at this time, the immune system will rush to suppress the sudden small attack, but repeated many times, the immune system will eventually be exhausted and completely collapsed.

The time of immune system failure varies from person to person, which may take only one year or as long as 20 years. But no matter how long this process takes, the day will come: the patient’s immune system can no longer do its job, and those diseases that could not harm healthy people will become fatal. In the early 1980s, a large number of patients with suspected pneumocystis carinii pneumonia flooded into hospitals, in fact, they were all infected with HIV.

In this way, before finding the virus, the doctor first saw the power of HIV. They named the disease Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) for short. In 1983, two years after people first observed AIDS patients, a group of French scientists really isolated HIV from patients, and more studies also confirmed that the source of AIDS was HIV. But at the same time, in the United States and other countries, AIDS cases have emerged one after another, and in just a few years, it has become a global killer, and it has also become a mystery in the field of epidemiology.

It took scientists 30 years to figure out the root cause of AIDS-

In 1985, scientists tried to add HIV antibody to the serum of monkeys with similar symptoms, and as a result, they actually "fished" a new virus, which was named monkey immunodeficiency virus, or SIV for short. Scientists concluded that HIV may have evolved from one of the SIV viruses, but which one was unknown at that time.

In 1991, a scientist found a virus very similar to HIV in mangabey, West Africa. Later, new research showed that HIV was not of a single origin, and scientists divided it into two types, named HIV-1 and HIV-2 respectively. Among them, HIV-2 evolved independently from SIV virus carried by mangabey, and the source of HIV-1 is still confusing.

But HIV-1 is the main culprit of AIDS, and it took longer to find out the source of HIV-1. Relevant researchers have divided all the HIV-1 viruses in the world into four groups, among which 90% of AIDS is caused by M group virus, and other virus strains belong to N, O and P groups respectively, with a small number. After long-term research, it was not until 2015 that the life experiences of all four groups of HIV-1 viruses were settled. They came from Cameroonian gorillas mainly living in African forests.

Obviously, when scientists discovered HIV in 1983, the virus had become a potential global disaster; When scientists finally started to fight back, the virus had already occupied the first-Mover advantage. In the 1980s and 1990s, the number of people who died of AIDS kept rising. Some scientists are optimistic that a vaccine against the virus can be developed quickly, but a series of failed experiments have dashed their hopes.

It took many years of human efforts to control the epidemic of AIDS. Public health workers have tried a series of public health policies, such as controlling the use of needles and distributing condoms, and achieved corresponding results. Since then, the advent of anti-AIDS drugs has played a great role in the human struggle against the virus.

December 1, World AIDS Day

Today, millions of AIDS patients are receiving cocktail therapy, which uses a series of drugs to interfere with HIV infection of immune cells in order to prevent the virus from replicating with immune cells. In countries with strong economic strength, such as the United States, these drugs have indeed enabled many patients to regain relatively healthy bodies. Government organizations and some non-governmental organizations have sent these drugs to poorer countries, and AIDS victims in these areas have been able to prolong their lives. In 2005, the death rate of AIDS reached the highest in history, and 2.5 million people lost their lives that year, but the power of the virus has been weakened year by year since then. By 2013, the number of people who died of AIDS had dropped to 1.5 million.

Theoretically, we can make this number zero. Aids vaccine is still the best hope to achieve this goal, and recent research has rekindled people’s hope that an effective vaccine may be just around the corner. The widespread use of anti-HIV drugs can also effectively control the number of viruses in infected AIDS patients. At the same time, researchers are actively exploring, hoping to find the fatal weakness of these viruses.

Now human beings have a very deep understanding of HIV, and we even know the molecular changes that the virus has made to adapt to human beings in the past 100 years. It is entirely possible for us to destroy these adaptive traits one by one on this basis. In other words, the future of AIDS prevention and treatment, the answer may be hidden in its past.

02

West Nile virus

In the summer of 1999, some crows died strangely in the Bronx Zoo Park in new york, USA. Then, three flamingos in the zoo died suddenly, followed by a pheasant, a vulture and a cormorant.

At the same time, doctors in Queens, new york discovered a number of cases of encephalitis, the number of which is worrying. Usually, there are only 9 cases of this disease in the whole city of new york a year, but in August 1999, there were 8 cases in Queens just over a weekend. As summer passed, more cases appeared. Some patients were paralyzed by severe fever. By the beginning of September, 9 deaths had been reported.

On the one hand, doctors in Queens, new york are still worried about the strange diseases that broke out in the crowd. On the other hand, Tracy McNamara, chief pathologist of Bronx Zoo, got the answer to the question first. She suspects that it may be the same pathogen that causes the bizarre death of people and birds. Under her persuasion, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began to analyze the genetic material of the virus. On September 22nd, researchers were surprised to find that birds didn’t die of St Louis encephalitis, but the real culprit was a pathogen called West Nile virus. This virus not only infects birds, but also affects people in parts of Asia, Europe and Africa.

At the same time, public health workers are still deeply puzzled by the inexplicable cases of human encephalitis and decide to search deeply. Two research teams have successfully isolated the genetic material from the virus that infects humans, and confirmed the type of virus-the West Nile virus that infects zoo birds actually killed people. This result also surprised researchers. In North and South America, no one has ever been infected with this virus.

Yellow virus, West Nile virus is one of them.

The United States is the birthplace of many kinds of human pathogenic viruses, some of which are ancient and some are new types of viruses. About 15 thousand years ago, human footprints reached the western hemisphere, and they brought a lot of viruses with them. When Europeans came to the New World, they brought a second wave of viruses. New diseases, including influenza and smallpox, swept across the American continent, killing millions of Native Americans. Since then, more new viruses have poured in. In the 1970s, HIV was introduced into the United States, and at the end of the 20th century, West Nile virus became a new "immigrant" in the United States.

It is only 60 years since the West Nile virus was first discovered by humans. In 1937, a woman in the West Nile region of Uganda began to have a strange fever. She came to the hospital, and the doctor isolated a new virus from her blood and named it after the discovery area. In the following decades, scientists found the same virus in many patients along the eastern Mediterranean coast, Asia and Australia. However, they also found that this West Nile virus does not mainly rely on human survival, but infects many kinds of birds and uses them to multiply and multiply.

At first, people didn’t know how the West Nile virus spread between people, birds and birds, or birds and people. It was not until scientists found the virus in a completely different species that the truth came out. This mysterious creature is the mosquito, which almost gives the virus a "wing"-when a mosquito carrying the virus bites a bird and sucks blood, it will inject its saliva into the wound of the bird’s skin, and at the same time inject the West Nile virus, which will multiply rapidly in the bird in a short time.

Studies on the genes of West Nile virus show that it originally evolved from Africa. Birds migrate from Africa to other parts of the Eastern Hemisphere, spreading the virus to new bird species and infecting humans. From birds to mosquitoes to birds, West Nile virus spread throughout the United States in just four years. At the same time, the virus also "landed" on millions of people, and only about 25% of those infected will have fever symptoms. Scientists estimate that from 1999 to 2013, more than 780,000 people were infected with West Nile virus, of which 16,196 developed encephalitis and 1,549 died.

After the West Nile virus arrived in the United States, it entered a stable life cycle, and the rhythm of this cycle was controlled by the life history of birds and mosquitoes. When chicks are born in spring, mosquitoes carrying viruses bite them. As a result, the number of birds infected with the virus continued to rise throughout the summer; New mosquitoes infect the virus by sucking the blood of these birds, and then bite people; People often spend more time outdoors in these relatively warm months of the year, and are more vulnerable to mosquito bites, thus being infected with West Nile virus.

Now that the West Nile virus has been integrated into the ecological environment of the United States, it may be difficult to kill them all. Even if doctors can develop vaccines to prevent humans from becoming the host of viruses, they can still thrive with the help of birds. Unfortunately, no West Nile virus vaccine has been approved at present, and probably never will be. Because although the virus infects many people, only a small part of them will develop encephalitis, and even fewer people will die from encephalitis. The cost of widely vaccinating Americans is extremely expensive, far exceeding the cost of treating those infected.

After arriving in America, the development prospect of West Nile virus is "optimistic". This is a warm and humid continent, and when the rainfall is heavy, the humidity and temperature are high, the epidemic situation is more likely to break out. Warm, rainy and sultry weather makes mosquitoes breed faster and lengthen their breeding season. At the same time, this weather can also accelerate the growth of viruses in mosquitoes. It seems that the West Nile virus has settled in this new continent, and our "efforts" are also making this home more comfortable.

03

Ebola virus

On December 2, 2013, a 2-year-old boy fell ill in the village of Meriando in southeastern Guinea. The child, Emil Wamuno, first had a fever, and then he began to vomit violently, accompanied by jet diarrhea and blood in his stool. No one in Meriando has seen similar symptoms. His family tried their best to take care of him, but by December 6, the child was still dead. It was a virus that killed the boy. When he died, the descendants of the virus had spread to other family members. Soon, Emil’s 4-year-old sister developed the same symptoms and died. Then the boy’s mother and grandmother. They probably got infected through the cruelest way we can think of-taking care of the dying boy.

If the virus stops here, this family tragedy is likely to be unknown outside the village of Meriando. Many people in Guinea die from viruses and other pathogens every day, but this virus is completely different. It is extremely deadly, and 70% of infected people will eventually die. The boy’s family has transmitted the virus to a nurse and the village midwife. After they got sick, the midwife was taken back to her hometown, and the virus continued to spread further by taking care of her family. At the same time, some people came from other villages to attend the funeral of Emil’s grandmother, and when they returned to their respective villages, they also fell ill.

Soon, the epidemic began to spread around the world. Meriando village is located on the border of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and people often cross the border to do business or visit their families. The virus broke out in Sierra Leone and Liberia in a short time. However, because the disease is still concentrated in remote villages located in the tropical rain forest, the outside world is too lightly. It was not until March 2014 that the Guinean medical department finally announced that they had confirmed the culprit of the epidemic: Ebola virus.

Ebola virus under microscope

Some viruses are the old enemies of mankind. Rhinovirus began to make ancient Egyptians catch cold thousands of years ago, and endogenous retrovirus invaded the genome of our primate ancestors as early as tens of millions of years ago. There are also young people, and HIV only became a virus that can infect humans about 100 years ago. A large number of viruses have just begun to spread from person to person, triggering waves of new epidemics and arousing human concerns about new global epidemics. But of all these newly discovered viruses, none is more frightening than Ebola.

In 1976, Ebola virus entered the historical stage, and its first appearance showed its terrible lethality. In a remote area in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), people began to have fever and vomit, and some patients were bleeding from all the openings such as nose and mouth, even from their eyes. A doctor collected a blood sample from a dying nun and put it in a thermos. Later, he sent the sample to Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire, and took it all the way back to Belgium by plane and gave it to the young virologist Peter Piot. Through the electron microscope, Pio observed a large group of snake-shaped viruses.

On high alert, scientists rushed to Zaire and finally arrived in Yambuku village to investigate the initial outbreak of the epidemic. There is a hotel here. Some nuns and priests are hiding in it. Visitors are blocked by ropes at the door. There is also a sign hanging on the rope, which reads: "Do not enter, entering may lead to death."

Soon, the Pio team found out how the unnamed virus spread. It turned out that the virus would spread from person to person. There is no evidence that this virus can float in the air like influenza or measles virus. In fact, it is spread by the body fluids of the victims. A local hospital used syringes repeatedly, and as a result, the virus spread to many patients. The staff who take care of the patients and wash the bodies of the dead are also sick.

Although Ebola virus is extremely deadly, its spread is relatively easy to cut off. Pio and his colleagues closed the hospital and isolated people with symptoms. After three months, the epidemic was controlled. 318 people died in this plague.

In the same year, Ebola virus appeared in Sudan, killing 284 people. Three years later, it made a comeback in Sudan, killing 34 people. Then it disappeared for 15 years, and in 1994 it launched an attack in Gabon, killing 52 people. Every outbreak has made Pio’s successors know more about Ebola virus. People gradually realize that as long as the patient’s whereabouts are tracked and properly isolated, new infections can be prevented. But they haven’t found a suitable vaccine, and they haven’t developed corresponding antiviral drugs.

Many viruses can suddenly break out when the conditions are right. But a virus like measles or chickenpox, once it breaks out, will not completely disappear from our bodies. It just hides in a low profile and spreads tepidly. The Ebola virus is different. When a plague subsides, it seems that the Ebola virus will disappear, but it will suddenly appear a few years later and launch a crazy attack again.

Some virologists are curious, where did the Ebola virus disappear in these years? Scientists have found that gorillas and chimpanzees are also infected with Ebola virus, and the mortality rate is very high, while bats have antibodies to Ebola virus, which seems to help bats coexist peacefully with the virus. Perhaps, under normal circumstances, Ebola virus will spread among bat individuals, but it will not cause any harm to them. Sometimes the virus will suddenly penetrate into human beings.

One thing is clear about Ebola virus: although we are completely unfamiliar with them, they are really an ancient virus. For millions of years, Ebola virus has been spreading in various mammalian hosts. They are harmless in some species, but sometimes they jump to other species and show a fatal side in these species. Humans are the latest target of Ebola virus attack. Meat or fruit contaminated by bat saliva may carry the virus, and people may be infected if they eat these contaminated foods. No matter by what route, once Ebola virus enters our body, it can quickly invade immune cells, leading to a serious inflammatory reaction. Patients will have violent diarrhea, vomiting, and sometimes massive bleeding until they die.

After Ebola virus enters a person’s body from an animal, its fate depends on the behavior of people around the victim. If people come into contact with infected people, they will be infected with Ebola and continue to spread to more people. In the first 37 years of human history, Ebola virus always disappeared by itself within a few months after a new outbreak, with the death or recovery of the host.

But in these 37 years, the living environment of human beings has changed. In the past, the sphere of influence of Ebola virus was generally confined to several neighboring villages, and it was difficult to spread to a larger scope. But now, more and more roads are cutting the rain forest, making people move to more towns, so that Ebola virus can find more hosts. However, in countries such as Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the development of public health is far behind the rapid urbanization. Years of civil war and extreme poverty have left few hospitals and doctors in these countries. When Ebola patients are taken to the hospital, medical staff will be infected and die first. The expertise needed to fight the epidemic in these countries is even more scarce.

No one knows how Emil, a 2-year-old boy, contracted Ebola, but the virus that spread from him to his family continued to make waves on a larger scale, triggering the largest Ebola epidemic in history. More people died in this plague than all those who died in the previous Ebola outbreak.

The virus then spread to Conakry, Freetown and Monrovia, the capitals of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. After a few months, there were no more Ebola patients in the hospital, and the patients were turned away or sent home to die. International health agencies are busy dealing with other epidemics such as influenza and polio, underestimating the extent of Ebola epidemic, and failing to provide help to West Africa that may slow down the epidemic. The governments of West African countries tried to isolate the affected cities and rural areas from their surroundings, but it didn’t play much role. The death toll soared, first 1000, then 2000, and then the number continued to increase.

Outside Africa, people know very little about Ebola, and their information mainly comes from literary works, such as the book Blood Epidemic: The Story of Ebola, which records a terrible virus attack, and movies such as Extreme Panic also make up many plots about the virus. Fear swept across the United States. A poll conducted in October 2014 showed that two-thirds of Americans were worried that the Ebola epidemic would spread to the United States, and 43% were worried that they were personally at risk of contracting Ebola. Rumors even say that Ebola virus can spread in the air. On October 23rd, it was reported that a doctor from new york who treated Ebola patients in Guinea returned to the United States and tested positive for Ebola virus. Before he developed symptoms, he had been to a bowling alley. Worried readers asked The New York Times if bowling could spread the virus. Reporter Donald McNeil Jr. quickly responded: "If someone leaves blood, vomit or feces on the bowling ball, the next person who touches the bowling ball will not even find these, and then touch his eyes, nose or mouth with his hand, which may be contagious." This is actually a euphemism, bowling can’t spread the virus.

Stills of Extreme Panic

Despite the public’s panic, the Ebola virus did not break out on a large scale in the United States. There are no other places. Nigeria used the public health measures used by Pio and others in other epidemics. As a result, the virus only caused 20 infections and 8 deaths before it died down. Senegal recorded a case without any death. Mali has also successfully controlled its epidemic. The reason why these countries have the upper hand in the confrontation with Ebola is that they have all been warned. On the contrary, the epidemics in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone had spread silently before the outbreak, so they continued to be hit by the virus for a long time. In these three countries, the epidemic has expanded to an extent that cannot be easily controlled.

Epidemiologists watched anxiously as the number of infections soared, and they tried to predict how far the epidemic might develop. In September 2014, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention warned that there would be as many as 1.4 million Ebola cases by January 2015 without additional intervention.

Fortunately, some countries, including the United States, China and Cuba, began to send doctors and materials to African countries, and hospitals specifically for Ebola were built one after another. Public health workers also encourage people to bury Ebola patients in a safer way, so as to avoid being infected and dying themselves. Although the defense operation was carried out late and the measures were mild, by the end of November 2014, there was finally a turning point: the number of new cases in Liberia and Guinea began to decline. The following year, the epidemic quickly eased.

Although the Ebola epidemic has temporarily ended, it will not disappear forever. In September, 2014, ecologists and epidemiologists from Oxford University jointly published a research result, and made a detailed prediction on the location of Ebola outbreak in the future. They considered many kinds of animals that can carry the virus, as well as human settlements that overlap with the activities of these animals (such settlements are increasing). In their prediction, a total of 22 million people live in the Ebola risk zone. Although the probability that some of these 22 million people are actually infected with Ebola virus by animals is very low, once infected, the danger will be enormous.

04

SARS, MERS virus

Since the first discovery of Ebola virus, other viruses have also appeared. They have emerged from completely different places, which may be thousands of miles away from each other.

For example, in November 2002, a farmer from China came to the hospital with a high fever and died soon. Then, people in the same area appeared the same disease one after another, but at this time, the epidemic did not get worldwide attention until the disease infected an American. This man went to China to do business. On the plane flying back to Singapore from China, he suddenly started to have a fever. The plane stopped in Hanoi, and the businessman never left there alive. Although most cases are still concentrated in mainland China and Hongkong, people all over the world are getting sick. The death rate of this disease is as high as 10%, and it usually takes only a few days to kill people. This epidemic is brand-new in medical history, and it needs a new name. Doctors call it severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS.

Structural diagram of SARS coronavirus

Based on the accumulated experience of HIV and Ebola virus, scientists suspect that SARS virus evolved from viruses that originally infected other animals. So they set out to analyze the viruses in animals that Chinese often came into contact with. Whenever a new virus was discovered, they added corresponding branches to the evolutionary tree of SARS. After a few months, scientists finally reconstructed the history of SARS.

The virus may have originated from bats in China, and one of them spread to civet cats, a mammal that looks like cats. Civet cats are common in the animal market in China. Humans may have become hosts in the process of buying and selling civets. It turns out that the biological characteristics of this virus just make them suitable for human-to-human transmission, and unlike Ebola virus, SARS virus can attach to tiny aerosol particles and spread in the air.

Although the SARS epidemic has spread beyond Asia, fortunately, public health measures to prevent the early epidemic of Ebola have also successfully subdued SARS. This epidemic has ravaged more than 8,000 people worldwide and killed more than 700 people. In comparison, the flu kills about 250,000 people every year-it can be said that we have successfully escaped a bullet fired by SARS at humans.

Ten years later, another coronavirus appeared in Saudi Arabia. In 2012, doctors in Saudi Arabia noticed that some patients suffered from respiratory diseases with unknown causes, and nearly one third of them died of illness. This disease is called MERS, which is short for "Middle East Respiratory Syndrome". Virologists isolated pathogenic viruses from patients and studied the genes of MERS virus. They used these genes to look for similar fragments in other species, and soon people’s eyes were fixed on bats in Africa.

However, how African bats became the fuse of the Middle East respiratory syndrome epidemic is still incredible. It was not until scientists studied the camel, a mammal on which people in the Middle East depend, that important new clues began to appear. They found that camels generally carry MERS virus. The virus is continuously released through camel nose secretions. A reasonable explanation for the origin of MERS is that bats may transmit the virus to camels in North Africa. Camel trade from North Africa to the Middle East is frequent, and a sick camel may have brought the virus to its new home.

Scientists have reconstructed the transmission history of MERS, and have every reason to worry that once MERS breaks out, the epidemic may be even more terrible than SARS. Every year, more than 2 million Muslims go to Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage to mecca. It is not difficult to imagine that MERS virus will spread rapidly among dense people and then go to their homes around the world with pilgrims. Fortunately, so far, scientists’ fears have not come true. As of February 2015, 1,026 people were diagnosed with MERS, of which 376 died. Almost all cases occurred in Saudi Arabia, especially in hospitals. Perhaps MERS is best at attacking people whose immune system is weakened by illness. Unless MERS undergoes drastic evolution again, it may always be a dangerous but rare threat within hospitals in the Middle East.

If the epidemic doesn’t always come so unexpectedly (if we can make early warning of these emergencies), we can be better prepared and not caught off guard. However, the next time a virus is transferred from wild animals to human bodies, it is likely to trigger a large-scale epidemic, and we may know nothing about the pathogenic virus.

In order to make up for these cognitive loopholes, scientists are conducting more animal research to find the genetic material of the virus from their bodies. But we live on a veritable "virus planet", and the workload of scientists is huge. Among the new viruses they continue to discover, we don’t know which ones will cause plague, and it is even possible that these viruses will not pose a threat to human society. But that doesn’t mean we can just ignore them. On the contrary, we just need to be vigilant, so that we can take measures to stop them before they have a chance to enter our species.

This article is excerpted from

Virus planet

By Carl Zimmer

Translator: Liu Yang

Press: Guangxi Normal University Press

Publication date: April, 2019

Editor Barbarossa

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Original title: Popular Science: Five Viruses Carried by Animals and Global Disasters Caused by Them

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Recall Lexus in China

Wanche. com expert Zeng Jian

Engaged in automobile maintenance for many years, with rich theoretical knowledge and practical maintenance experience. He also has a deep understanding of vehicle insurance, loss claims and vehicle service procedures.

    

case

Recently, Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd. submitted a recall report to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and recalled some imported Lexus)LS series vehicles from July 19, 2010. According to statistics, there are 5,791 vehicles involved in Chinese mainland.

The reason for the defect is that the strength of the spring is reduced due to the tiny foreign matter mixed in the material of the intake and exhaust valves of the engine, which may cause damage. In this case, the engine will produce abnormal noise and cause poor work. In the worst case, the engine may stop working while driving, which is a potential safety hazard.

    

Expert diagnosis

The function of the valve spring mainly includes the following aspects: (1) to ensure that the intake and exhaust valves automatically return to close and seal; (2) Ensure the seating pressure between the valve and the valve seat; (3) Absorb the inertia force generated by the transmission parts during the opening and closing of the valve, so as to prevent various transmission parts from separating from each other and damage the normal operation of the valve train.

The fatigue life of valve spring mainly depends on working stress, material strength, surface quality, internal quality and manufacturing quality. Automobile valve spring belongs to cylindrical compression coil spring. Under the action of axial force, the shear stress on any cross section of the spring is the largest in the inner diameter of the spring and the smallest in the outer diameter. Therefore, the source of fracture failure and crack caused by design and material strength is often inside the spring.

Because the valve spring has been under the action of alternating stress, if there is a quality problem, the valve spring will have abnormal sound at first, and the acceleration performance of the car will decrease in serious cases, accompanied by difficulties in starting and poor working of individual cylinders.

When the valve spring breaks, the noise of the engine will increase, and in serious cases, the valve will not fully return, which will cause the piston to collide with the intake and exhaust valves, bend the valve stem, damage the piston, and even cause the cylinder head or cylinder block to be scrapped. At the same time, the engine will suddenly shut down, which will easily lead to serious traffic accidents.

    

Expert reminder

How to diagnose valve spring fracture? Whether the valve spring is broken can be seen by disassembling the valve chamber cover. When the engine speed changes, the valve spring will make obvious irregular noise; In static state, you can pry the spring with tools to check it, or you can slide the spring with tools. If the sound is different from other springs and hoarse, it means that the spring is cracked or broken and should be replaced in time.

What should I do when I find that the valve spring is broken? If several springs break at the same time on the way, which has affected the normal running of the vehicle, the driver must stop the engine in time. If there are no accessories or you can’t contact the 4S shop for the time being, you can find a professional maintenance person to remove the broken spring, face the flat parts at both ends, and then install it on the valve stem in the original way. This can temporarily ensure the normal operation of the engine, but the valve spring must be replaced in time after arriving at the 4S shop or the place where the 4S shop can be contacted.

 

  Tips

valve spring

The valve spring is a cylindrical spiral spring and belongs to the valve train of the engine. The function of the valve train is to open and close the intake and exhaust valves regularly according to the needs of the working process of each cylinder of the engine, so that the fresh combustible mixture can enter the cylinder in time and the exhaust gas can be discharged from the cylinder in time.

 

2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition, multi-function steering wheel

2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition, multi-function steering wheel

2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition Gasoline Compared to the old G series, the front face of the Mercedes-Benz G500 is rounded. Many new bumpers are more delicate and look stronger. The middle net is changed to a chrome-plated design, and the iconic solid car logo of Mercedes-Benz indicates that this car is equipped with ACC adaptive cruise and 360 car change effects. Ring shadow 20 wheels, 4.0T, V8, 9 speed, sunroof, front leather seats are ventilated and heated. After massage, the seat is heated. Full LCD instrument Geometric beam of light headlights, LED daytime running lights, 64-color ambient lights, automatic air conditioning, Voice of Berlin audio Three differential locks Reflection front and rear electric eyes, radar ranging, and channel assistance, pedals, rearview mirrors Electric folding

2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition, multi-function steering wheel

2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Version Multi-function Steering Wheel (Bluetooth, Cruise, Paddle Shift) (No consumption tax, the whole G500 has been newly remodeled with luxurious interior style, excellent quality and exquisite craftsmanship are vividly reflected in the car. The excellence of details is an important principle in interior design. The Mercedes-Benz G500 has also adopted a double 12.3-inch giant screen full of technology after the new remodeling of the central control screen and instrument part. The trend of the air conditioner has also been changed to a redesigned barrel type, which greatly enhances the sense of luxury and technology. It greatly facilitates the driver’s overcontrol and also improves the sense of technology.

2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition, multi-function steering wheel

The 2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition has greatly improved the space utilization rate by using the ingenious design, overcoming the lack of space in the old G-class. At the same time, the practical space in the car has been expanded, and each door can have the loading capacity to hold 1L of bottled water. The Mercedes-Benz G500 is equipped with a combination of a 4.0T twin-turbocharged V8 engine and a 9-speed automatic transmission. With the OurHours four-wheel drive system and the iconic front, middle and rear three differential locks, the off-road ability is very powerful. The Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Limited Edition is still impeccable after a new facelift. The headlights have been upgraded. There are square headlights in the round LED daytime running lights. The outer circle and inner shape are full of power. If you look closely, the rearview mirror has also become round.

2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition, multi-function steering wheel

The 21 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Limited Edition has been newly remodeled with luxurious interior style, excellent quality and exquisite craftsmanship are vividly reflected in the car, and the excellence of details is an important principle in interior design. The facing plate is wrapped in high-end leather and decorated with an extremely delicate touch. It is equipped with a mahogany-decorated console, which is stable and atmospheric, and at the same time improves the overall texture. There are all kinds of function buttons. The turbofan air conditioner in the middle of the center console of the Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Limited Edition is trending with a sense of design. At the same time, it takes into account the convenient adjustment of the practical center console. The control buttons of three locks are carefully placed in the order of 1, 2, and 3. The interior arrangement is carefully optimized while maintaining the G-level energy position.

2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition, multi-function steering wheel

2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition 21 Mercedes-Benz G500 has a powerful drive system, as well as a newly developed AMG special transmission mode widescreen cockpit, a new interior, and the iconic AMG driving performance belongs to the 4.0L V8 twin turbo engine. Of course, there is also 9AT all-wheel drive (40:60), three differential locks, double fork arm independent front suspension, adaptive adjustable damping to add the Mercedes-Benz G500G550.g63 to its brocade. Pre-sale opens, the new Mercedes-Benz big G details are exposed, and the version configuration color list takes a look at the male peak dream off-road car. 2020 Mercedes-Benz G500 new generation of existing cars upgrade safety configuration praise, strength crushes opponents, rich color configuration multi-choice pre-sale integrity price reveals secrets.

2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition, multi-function steering wheel

One of the biggest highlights of the 2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition, giving people a refreshing feeling, double 12.3-inch LCD full-body screen plus the same air conditioner trend design as Mercedes-Benz E COUPE, making the interior of the big G more luxurious, and the sense of technology has also been enhanced. The four-spoke steering wheel that has been used for many years has also been changed to a three-spoke design. The multi-function buttons at three o’clock and nine o’clock are also the same as those of the S-class model. The black touch buttons on both sides can control the dashboard information. The driving computer and the analog instrument on the right can be switched to display information such as fuel consumption, mileage, and vehicle status. In terms of interior materials, Mercedes-Benz’s new G-class interior is wrapped in leather, which feels excellent. Carbon fiber handrails are also added on the passenger seat.

2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition, multi-function steering wheel

The 2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition Mercedes-Benz G500 has been newly remodeled with luxurious interior style. The excellent quality and exquisite craftsmanship are vividly reflected in the car. The excellence of details is an important principle in interior design. The car is decorated with black piano colors, the black leather sports seats are very comfortable, and the steering wheel is decorated with high-end leather packages. The touch is extremely delicate, stable and atmospheric, and at the same time improves the overall texture. There are all kinds of function buttons, no less than the functions of luxury cars. The Mercedes-Benz G500 has also adopted a double 12.3-inch giant screen full of technology after a new modification of the central control screen and instrument part. The trend of air conditioning has also been changed to a redesigned barrel type, which greatly enhances the sense of luxury and technology. 4.0L double supercharged V8 power,

2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition, multi-function steering wheel

The 2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition is equipped with a 7-speed automatic gearbox, with a maximum horsepower of 422 horsepower 4764 * 1867 * 1954, a front and rear wheelbase of 2850mm, a minimum ground clearance of 205m, a fuel tank volume of 96L, a fuel consumption of about 14.5L in the urban area of 100 kilometers, and a high speed of about 11L. The strong wedge-shaped feature and the eye-catching Mercedes-Benz logo make it feel his unrestrained breath when it is still stationary. The G500 is still unique after a new facelift of the classic and timeless rigid body, but it has undergone earth-shaking changes in the interior. While ensuring strong off-road performance, the G-Class has greatly improved the luxury experience and driving comfort, striving to achieve self-breakthrough. The top off-road vehicle is a purebred off-road vehicle. Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition.

2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition, multi-function steering wheel

The off-road performance of the 2021 Mercedes-Benz G500 Time Inscription Edition is definitely the leading position in the industry. The car’s space is also good, the space utilization is very proper, the sound insulation effect is also good, it has a high return rate, and a powerful off-road weapon. The Mercedes-Benz G500’s sturdy structure and innovative safety systems such as the parking positioning system give the G-class off-road vehicle extremely high safety. The intelligent pilot range function fully helps you start a great journey. In addition to retaining the off-road nature of the new generation of Big G, the interior has earth-shaking changes, sports flat-bottomed steering wheel, comfortable ventilation and massage seats, off-road and urban integration.

Consultation phone: Manager Li 18222755188 (with WeChat)

Disclaimer: The above car purchase discount information is provided by the comprehensive dealer of this website. Due to market factors, the price fluctuates greatly, and it is only for the reference of car purchase. Its authenticity, accuracy and legality are the responsibility of the dealer. This website does not provide any guarantee and does not assume any legal responsibility.

Xingyue L Zhiqing in Kaifeng area has a hot promotion, with the lowest price of 152,700! Limited time promotion

Welcome to [car home Kaifeng Special Promotion Channel], we bring you the latest special information. In the current promotion activities, the high-profile models are giving back to consumers with practical actions, providing real car purchase discounts. In Kaifeng area, this hot-selling model is attracting car buyers with a cash discount of up to 7,000 yuan, and the minimum starting price has been adjusted to 152,700 yuan. This is a good opportunity to buy a car. If you are interested in Xingyue L Zhiqing, click "Check the car price" in the quotation form to ensure that you can get the maximum car discount. Act quickly and lock your favorite car!

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The design of Xingyue L Zhiqing shows the perfect combination of exquisiteness and strength. The front face adopts a family design language and is equipped with a large-area air intake grille. Its lines are smooth and layered, showing a unique gas field. On the whole style, Xingyue L Zhiqing combines the elements of modern city and luxury business, and conveys a strong visual impact through sharp body lines and dynamic contours, which makes people unforgettable.

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The car system Xingyue L Zhiqing outlines a unique side profile with smooth body lines, and its dimensions of length 4795mm, width 1895mm and height 1689mm show a steady body proportion. The wheelbase of 2845mm ensures sufficient internal space and driving stability. In tyre size, the Star Yue L-Smart Engine uses 19-inch wheels with 235/50 R19 tires, which not only provides good grip, but also further enhances the visual impact and driving texture of the vehicle. On the whole, the side design of Xingyue L Zhiqing has found a perfect balance between elegance and strength.

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The interior design of Xingyue L Zhiqing is exquisite and full of sense of technology. It adopts a steering wheel wrapped in high-grade leather, which has a delicate feel and provides manual up and down+front and rear adjustment functions to ensure the driver’s comfortable control. The 12.3-inch central control screen displays clearly and integrates intelligent functions such as multimedia, navigation and telephone to easily meet daily driving needs. In terms of seats, Xingyue L is made of imitation leather, and the main and co-pilot seats support multi-directional adjustment, including front and rear, backrest, height and lumbar support, providing passengers with an excellent riding experience. The front seats are also equipped with heating and ventilation functions, so that drivers can enjoy more advanced comfort, and the driver’s seat also has the memory function of electric seats, which is convenient for remembering common sitting positions. The second row of seats supports backrest adjustment, which is more flexible in space. In addition, Xingyue L is also equipped with USB and Type-C interfaces, as well as mobile phone wireless charging function to meet the entertainment and charging needs of passengers in the car.

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Xingyue L Zhiqing is equipped with a 1.5T turbocharged engine, which can output the maximum power of 120kW and the maximum torque of 255nm. With the 3-speed DHT transmission, it provides efficient power performance and fuel economy. The 163 horsepower output of this engine brings a carefree driving experience to the driver.

To sum up, Xingyue L Zhiqing has successfully captured the hearts of car home car owners with its innovative design. He mentioned that from the fuel version to the intelligent engine version, he was deeply satisfied with the appearance upgrade of the Star Yue L, which not only conformed to his aesthetics, but also further improved his driving experience. Such changes can make every car owner feel the intention and progress of the brand, which undoubtedly adds a solid cornerstone to the reputation of Xingyue L.

Guarding "Children from the Stars"

Red Net Moment Loudi February 21st(Correspondent Zhou Junliang) Recently, the police of Wanbao Police Station of Louxing Branch of Loudi Public Security Bureau successfully helped a lost child find his family and guarded a "child from the stars".
At 10 o’clock on February 19, the Chengnan Police Office of Wanbao Police Station of Louxing Branch of Loudi City Public Security Bureau received an instruction from the police station: "A child was lost near Jing ‘an Street in Loudi City, and asked the Chengnan Police Office to help find it." After receiving the alarm, the police contacted the alarm person for the first time, and while calming the family’s emotions, they learned in detail the physical characteristics of the lost child and the specific location before the loss. Because this 5-year-old boy suffers from severe autism, he doesn’t like to communicate with others and won’t take the initiative to seek police help, which adds a lot of difficulty to finding a job.
After arriving at the lost scene, the police and auxiliary police continued to expand the search scope centering on the lost place of the children through the combination of walking patrol and car patrol, and launched a "carpet search" in the areas where the lost children may appear, and kept in touch with the police station and other service personnel.
Hard work pays off. After nearly an hour of searching, the police finally found the lost children near a certain community. At that time, the child was running back and forth on the road. Due to the heavy traffic, police officers Zhou Junliang and Li Weiqing rushed to stop the child’s behavior and avoid traffic accidents. After that, the police took the little boy away from the road and asked about his family. During the inquiry, the little boy was emotional and unwilling to cooperate. Afterwards, the police immediately contacted the parents, and after asking and comparing again, it was determined that the little boy was the lost child. The police took the child back to the police office and handed it over to the parents. When leaving, the police repeatedly told parents that they must take good care of their children.
Police warm reminder
Parents should do the following when taking their children out to prevent their children from getting lost.
1. Keep the child in sight: Please hold the child in your hand or in your arms and pay attention to it in places where there are many people.
2. Try to prevent children from going out alone: children are young and do not have the ability to protect themselves, so it is best to have a guardian when they go out.
3. Teach children some common sense of self-help: For example, don’t panic when you are lost with your parents, you should immediately ask for help from nearby staff or police, and don’t just walk with strangers.
4. Let the children carry the contact information card with them: put a card on the young children and write down the parents’ names, contact numbers and other information. Once the child is lost, it is convenient for the police to get in touch with the parents.
5. Call the police in time in case of emergency: If you find that your child is lost, you should call the police at the first time and ask the nearby police for help.
6. For children in special circumstances, please be more patient and caring, guide, appease and accompany them, and help them find their families in time.
Reporting/feedback

Liuyang Dayao: Fireworks bloom for thousands of years in an instant.

Fireworks have been blooming in Liuyang Dayao for thousands of years.
Located at the junction of Hunan and Jiangxi provinces, it is deeply hidden in the mountains. Since Li Fang, the ancestor of fireworks, was born here 1400 years ago, Dayao Town has been attached to fireworks.
Starting from Changsha, after getting off the expressway at Dayao Interchange, the first thing you see is Liuyang International Fireworks Trade City, which covers an area of 200 mu. Entering the town center, the "brand" of fireworks can be seen everywhere.
At present, there are 58 fireworks manufacturers and 413 fireworks-related enterprises in Dayao, and their products are exported to more than 100 countries and regions. A complete fireworks industrial chain with fireworks production and management, raw and auxiliary materials supply, packaging and printing, commercial transportation and so on as the core is formed here.
Fireworks have been blooming in Dayao, Liuyang for thousands of years. Photo courtesy of Dayao Town
Innovating traditional industries in development and increasing motivation
"Fireworks are traditional industries, and there is no’ sophisticated’ technology to rely on. Affected by environmental protection, safety, epidemic situation and other factors, sales in recent years have been cold and the market is weak. To develop, we must constantly seek breakthroughs. " As soon as they met, Qiu Chunliang, the head of Tanghua Fireworks Co., Ltd., came straight to the point and threw out his thoughts on the fireworks industry.
Qiu Chunliang, a post-80s student, studied abroad and joined the fireworks industry in 2013. In 1990, after his father Qiu Shunming retired from the army, he returned to Dayao and founded Tanghua Fireworks Co., Ltd. As a new generation of fireworks, Qiu Chunliang has a stronger sense of market crisis than his parents.
Last year, affected by the epidemic, the export of Tanghua fireworks dropped sharply, from 50 million yuan in 2019 to about 20 million yuan. This year, Qiu Chunliang decisively changed the business direction of professional fireworks export in the past, and increased the export proportion of consumer fireworks.
"Professional discharge fireworks are mainly supplied to discharge companies and will not be sold to individuals. Consumer fireworks can be retailed to individuals. " Qiu Chunliang introduced that in the past, the company’s consumer fireworks exports were very small. Since last year, due to the epidemic situation, the number of foreign large-scale fireworks shows has decreased, resulting in a sharp decline in the professional fireworks market, but the demand for consumer fireworks has not decreased.
Looking for an opportunity in a crisis can turn a crisis into an opportunity. After adjusting the direction, Tanghua Company’s export of consumer fireworks is expected to increase tenfold this year, from more than 1 million yuan to about 10 million yuan.
The real-time status of more than 400 workshops in the monitoring room of Tanghua Company’s production plant is clear at a glance on 10 electronic display screens. Charging, granulating and other processes are only allowed to be operated by a single person in a single room. If there is an over-capacity, the system will automatically give an alarm at the first time. Today, 58 fireworks production enterprises in Dayao have been connected to the safety production risk early warning and prevention and control system, and realized the networking at the town and city levels.
While fireworks production is safe and standardized, the forms of discharge are also more diverse.
"The younger generation pays more attention to the artistic appreciation of fireworks, and enterprises have to keep up with market trends." At present, Qiu Chunliang has set up two companies, focusing on fireworks display creativity, product research and development, and integrating music, dance, laser and other multicultural arts into fireworks display, and has participated in more than 1,000 large-scale fireworks display activities at home and abroad.
The spirit of innovation in development has pushed Dayao Fireworks from a scattered, small and chaotic family workshop to a large-scale industry step by step.
In recent years, in order to continuously promote the transformation and upgrading of the traditional fireworks industry, Dayao Town has implemented the strategy of "four modernizations and two types" (intensification, mechanization, specialization, informationization, safety and environmental protection), and invested more than 50 million yuan to build a scientific and technological platform for the fireworks industry, an industrial service support platform for the fireworks town, and set up a research and innovation cluster for the fireworks industry.
Today, Dayao has formed six industrial clusters, including fireworks production, fireworks management, raw and auxiliary materials management, packaging and printing, papermaking and machinery. In the past five years, the town’s fiscal revenue has jumped from 228 million yuan to 384 million yuan. Last year, the total industrial output value exceeded 12.6 billion yuan.
The form of fireworks display is also constantly innovating. Photo courtesy of Dayao Town
Inheriting fireworks culture in development and adding vitality
Liu Yuwen, 59, is a native of Dayao. When he was 5 or 6 years old, he followed his grandfather to plug in the lead and pull the fireworks bobbin, and successively set up two fireworks factories. Last year, according to the relevant regulations of the town, the Yinfeng Fireworks Factory, which Liu Yuwen had operated for more than ten years, withdrew from the production ranks and switched to the fireworks trading business.
"Industrial development, no rules, no Fiona Fang, my factory quit in an orderly manner when it expired, and I have no complaints." Now, Liu Yuwen has left the trading company to his son to take care of, and he has devoted himself to being the curator of "China Fireworks Culture Museum".
"I took the lead in building this museum in 2001. At that time, many people didn’t understand and asked me why I spent this effort. I said, the fireworks in China are going out from here. Can there be a decent museum? " In the square in front of the museum, surrounded by bamboo, Liu Yuwen’s words are full of feelings.
Industry is the root and culture is the soul. In the Fireworks Museum, there are more than 100 printed fireworks and trolleys in Ming and Qing Dynasties, which record the development history of Liuyang Fireworks for more than 1400 years and display more than 200 photos of each period. In addition to the physical display, the museum also vividly shows 72 processes of traditional fireworks production, such as pulling the tube, winding the tube, loading the plate and drilling the hole. It attracts more than 200,000 domestic and foreign tourists every year.
Promote production with the city, and prosper the city with production. In recent years, Dayao Town has invested 1.06 billion yuan to build a series of core attractions, such as Li Miao Temple, Li Fang Square, Fireworks Cultural Pedestrian Street, Fireworks Museum, etc., which has shaped the characteristics of the fireworks town and made the cultural heritage of the Millennium fireworks increasingly prominent.
On June 12th, last year, Dayao Town successfully held the first fireworks "Yuan" Happy Festival in Hunan and Jiangxi (Dayao). This is the second consecutive year that the town has held a grand event related to urban fireworks. At present, Dayao has opened four fine tourist routes of fireworks culture. Through the festival, the industry will sing opera and promote the integration of fireworks and cultural tourism industry.
At present, in order to seize the strategic opportunity of the regional cooperation demonstration zone along the Hunan-Jiangxi border, Dayao is actively introducing well-known fireworks enterprises and cultural and creative companies to settle in, and gradually forming a big development pattern with fireworks towns as the core circle, surrounding towns as the sub-core circle and the main producing areas along the Hunan-Jiangxi border as the radiation circle.
A river of poems and paintings, fireworks all over the city. "Fireworks Town" is making the Millennium fireworks bloom with new colors!
Source of this article: People’s Network-Hunan Channel
Reporting/feedback

The Central Meteorological Observatory is very busy! It’s hot and rainy. Will it turn around next Monday?

       CCTV News:To say which department is the busiest recently, the Central Meteorological Observatory should count as one. For a while, the high temperature here continued to be dry, and for a while, there was hail in strong convective weather. The Central Meteorological Observatory had to forecast the weather to the public in time. It coincides with the summer vacation, and people with travel plans are more concerned about whether going out to play will be disturbed by the weather. Recently, the hot weather is obvious to all. Let’s see when this round of hot weather will be eased.

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       Central Meteorological Observatory: A large area of high temperature weather appeared in central and eastern China on the 4th.

       Yesterday, there was a large area of high temperature weather in central and eastern China. Meteorological monitoring by the Central Meteorological Observatory showed that the temperature in Beijing, southern Hebei, south-central Shaanxi, western Henan, eastern Sichuan, Chongqing, western Hubei, northwestern Hunan, Zhejiang and Shanghai exceeded 37℃, while that in Chongqing and Shaanxi was 40 ~ 42℃.

       Wanzhou, Chongqing: 20 days without rain and 4 days of high temperature red warning.

       On the morning of the 4th, Wanzhou District of Chongqing issued a high-temperature red warning signal for the fourth consecutive day. The meteorological department reminded that there was no obvious precipitation in the local area for 20 days, which has reached the standard of high-temperature summer drought. All units should do a good job in heatstroke prevention and drought relief. According to the monitoring of Wanzhou Meteorological Observatory, the temperature in Wanzhou has rushed to 40 degrees Celsius for several days, and the local maximum temperature has reached 43.8 degrees Celsius. The sunny and hot weather makes Wanzhou citizens feel very tormented.

       Shaanxi: High temperature orange warning was issued for two consecutive days.

       On August 3rd and 4th, Shaanxi Meteorological Bureau issued high-temperature orange warning twice in a row, and started high-temperature three-level emergency response.

       According to the statistics of meteorological department, the highest temperature in 65 districts and counties in Shaanxi Province exceeded 35 degrees Celsius on August 3rd. Among them, the highest temperature in Xunyang County, Ankang City reached 42.6 degrees Celsius, and Shaanxi launched a high-temperature level III emergency response. According to the meteorological satellite land surface temperature monitoring, on the afternoon of August 3, the surface temperature in the north-central part of northern Shaanxi and most parts of Guanzhong was above 40 degrees Celsius, with the surface temperature in the areas under the jurisdiction of Xi ‘an, Baoji, Xianyang, Weinan and Hanzhong exceeding 50 degrees Celsius.

       Central Meteorological Observatory: On the 5th, it continued to issue a yellow warning of high temperature.

       The Central Meteorological Observatory continued to issue a yellow warning of high temperature. During the day on the 5th, there was high temperature above 35℃ in eastern southern Xinjiang, southeastern part of northwest China, eastern North China, central and western Huanghuai, most of Jianghuai, Jianghan, Jiangnan and northern South China. Among them, the highest temperature in some areas of southwestern Shaanxi, northwestern Henan, southern and northwestern Hubei, most of Chongqing, western and southeastern Jiangnan can reach 37 ~ 39℃, and the local temperature can exceed 40℃.

       Central Meteorological Observatory: High temperature yellow warning Huanghuai Jiangnan high temperature continues

       Today, the hot weather in the southeastern part of the northwest, Huanghuai, Jianghuai and most parts of the south of the Yangtze River will continue, and the Central Meteorological Observatory will continue to issue a yellow warning of high temperature.

       In the southeast of northwest China, Huanghuai, Jianghuai, and most parts of the south of the Yangtze River, the high temperature weather continues today, and the Central Meteorological Observatory continues to issue a yellow warning of high temperature. It is estimated that the highest temperature in some areas of southwestern Shaanxi, northwestern Henan, southern and northwestern Hubei, most of Chongqing, western and southeastern Jiangnan can reach 37-39 C, and the local temperature can exceed 40 C, reminding people to take measures to prevent heatstroke and cool down.

       Next week, the cold air will go south and the high temperature will ease.

       It is expected that the high temperature range will expand tomorrow, with the highest temperature above 35℃ in a large area from the south of Shaanxi, the south of North China, the south of Huanghuai West to the north of South China. However, from next Monday, due to the combined influence of cold air and rain, the high temperature weather in the above areas will gradually ease.

       Central Meteorological Observatory: Heavy rainfall occurred in Shandong, Liaoning and other places yesterday

       On the 4th, heavy rain occurred in eastern Liaoning, Shandong Peninsula and parts of eastern Sichuan, northern Chongqing, western Yunnan, western Guangxi and northern Hainan, and heavy rain fell in eastern Liaoning and Shandong Peninsula, and a heavy rain of 250-342 mm fell in Dandong, Liaoning.

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       Central Meteorological Observatory: There will be strong precipitation in Jianghan, the eastern part of northwest China.

       According to the latest weather released by the Central Meteorological Observatory this morning, due to the influence of high-altitude trough and low-level shear, there will be an obvious precipitation process from west to east in the eastern part of northwest China to Jianghan, Huanghuai and Jianghuai areas from night to 7, with moderate to heavy rain as the precipitation intensity, with heavy rain in some areas.

       In the next 24 hours, there will be moderate to heavy rain in parts of Jilin, eastern Liaoning, eastern North China, northern and eastern Shandong, southern Gansu, eastern and southern Southwest China, southwestern Jianghuai, northern Jiangnan and southwestern South China, with local heavy rain; Some of the above areas have short-term heavy precipitation, accompanied by strong convective weather such as thunderstorms and strong winds.

       Central Meteorological Observatory: Heavy rainfall is scattered, and rainfall in Northeast China is weakened.

       According to the Central Meteorological Observatory, from day to night, there is obvious rainfall in the northeast, north China, southwest China and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, mainly small to moderate rain, and the distribution of heavy rain is relatively scattered.

       Recently, affected by typhoon residual circulation and cold air, North China, Northeast China and other places have experienced heavy rainfall. According to meteorological monitoring, the rain weakened in most areas yesterday, but there were still heavy rains in eastern Liaoning and Shandong Peninsula, among which heavy rains fell in Dandong, Liaoning.

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       The Central Meteorological Observatory predicts that the rainfall in Northeast China will be further weakened today. Although there is a wide range of rainfall in the country, the distribution of heavy rainfall is scattered. Among them, Jilin, eastern Liaoning, eastern North China, northern and eastern Shandong, southern Gansu, Yunnan and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have moderate to heavy rains and local heavy rains. Some of the above areas have short-term heavy precipitation, accompanied by strong convective weather such as thunderstorms and strong winds, reminding people to pay attention to rain and lightning protection during weekend trips.

       Tomorrow, the heavy rainfall will be transferred to Qinghai, Gansu and other places, among which there is heavy rain in the eastern part of Gansu, so it is necessary to guard against geological disasters that may be caused by rainfall.

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       Guide to severe convective weather prevention:

       1. The government and relevant departments shall, in accordance with their duties, do a good job in emergency defense against short-term rainstorm, lightning protection and strong wind, and the meteorological department shall prepare for artificial hail suppression and conduct operations at the right time;

       2. The driver should slow down when passing through the waterlogged section to confirm the safety before passing, and the traffic control department should take traffic control measures and traffic guidance in the heavy rainfall section and waterlogged section according to the road conditions;

       3. Outdoor personnel should reduce or suspend outdoor work in open places, choose to enter buildings with strong wind resistance and lightning protection measures, and close doors and windows away from dangerous power sources;

       4. Airports, railways, highways and water transportation units should take measures such as flight restriction, speed limit or temporary closure to ensure personnel and traffic safety. Water operations and passing ships in relevant waters should return to Hong Kong to evade and strengthen port facilities;

       5. Check the drainage systems of cities, farmland and fish ponds, and make necessary drainage measures and prepare for disasters such as mountain torrents, landslides and mudslides.

Under the epidemic situation, the beauty industry entered the Warring States Period: Where is the outlet for brands with frequent price-breaking live broadcasts?

Every reporter: Zhang Xiaoyin Every editor: Wen Duo

The domestic cosmetics retail industry is gradually recovering.

According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to July this year, the total retail sales of consumer goods nationwide decreased by 9.9% year-on-year, but the retail value of cosmetics products gradually recovered, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 1%. In the previous quarter, the retail value of domestic cosmetics products once fell by more than 13%.

From the sharp decline to the gradual recovery, many beauty brands are trying to adapt to the special consumption environment: the head international brands have increased their promotion on the e-commerce platform, and the live broadcast room has become a "heavy place" for the marketing of major brands.

However, for the new Xiaomei makeup brand, the low-price strategy is obviously unsustainable. From the current fiery live broadcast industry, there are "sales myths" and "tragic rollover". Behind the rapid increase in sales, there are also hidden concerns about high return rate. How can beauty brands play the live broadcast card well?

Under the epidemic situation, one of the measures taken by many beauty brands to boost sales is to exchange price for quantity. Even for international brands with stable pricing, "promotion" has become something that has to be done now.

Jian Weiqing, president of Taomei Beauty Business Association, described this year’s beauty industry as "the Warring States Period". "The market competition is too fierce. We made an analysis during the’ 618′ period and found that the promotion efforts of mainstream brands this year can be said to be’ unprecedented’, especially the cross-border big brands. The shipment prices have plummeted this year, and many brands have dropped by 20% to 30% compared with previous years."

Zhongtai Securities related research report pointed out that during the "618" period this year, platform and brand discounts increased. On the platform side, the discount and duration of Tmall’s "6.1 Activity" were expanded and extended respectively. In terms of brands, the pre-sale prices of major items of international brands with stable pricing in "618" are close to last year’s "Double Eleven". According to the data of the research report, from the data of the "6.1 Activity", the sales of Tmall beauty products broke through 100 million yuan in one minute and 500 million yuan in 22 minutes that night. One hour after the opening, the sales of L ‘Oreal, Estee Lauder, Lancome and OLAY exceeded 100 million yuan. Two hours later, the sales of 61 beauty brands such as Estee Lauder, SKII and HR exceeded the whole day of last year.

Under the epidemic situation, the online transaction volume of international brands has increased significantly. In this regard, Tu Xian, the head of Taobao’s global purchase brand and supply chain, has the same feeling: "Under the epidemic, the growth rate of global purchase is very fast, reaching 30% to 40%, of which the fastest growth rate is the bonded mode, while the direct mail mode shows a downward trend. Because of the restrictions on leaving the country this year, our buyers can no longer run overseas, so our overseas direct mail business has dropped by about 13% compared with last year."

The figure further indicates: "From the perspective of the entire Haitao market, the growth rate of Haitao people is very fast this year. We predict that the number of people who pay attention to Haitao goods will reach 235 million this year. In the entire Taobao ecosystem, nearly one-third of the 800 million monthly users focus on overseas brands."

The figure also mentioned that affected by the epidemic, Taobao Haitao beauty market has undergone three changes: first, the consumption classification brought by segmentation, local care such as head and eyes have become the habitual demand after the epidemic, and the sales of nose paste, eyelash growth liquid, mask, hair dye cream and eye essence have increased significantly; Second, the beauty users are younger, and the generation after 00 and generation Z are the fastest growing groups of beauty consumption, with a per capita expenditure of 1713 yuan/year, far exceeding the traditional quality population after 80; Third, product ingredients exceed brand awareness and other factors, which has become the first choice for consumers to consider new products. More than 50% Haitao users will pay attention to the main functional ingredients of products when purchasing cosmetics.

With Li Jiaqi and other head anchors creating sales "myths", many company executives also walked into the live broadcast room to bring goods. Under the superimposed epidemic, physical sales suffered setbacks, and "live broadcast" became the key word of online sales of major brands, especially in the online beauty industry, where the original sales relied heavily.

Image source: vision china

In the past six months, many cosmetics brands have tried to seek new sources of growth. However, under the hot live broadcast, the repeated rollover of brand live broadcasts and the frequent price break of big-name cosmetics have also brought thoughts to enterprises: How long can the price war in the live broadcast room last? How do new and small brands get a slice of the pie from big names?

According to Zhang Mofan, the anchor of Red Man and the founder of Meimo Emore brand, many brands entering the live broadcast room hope to get short-term sales promotion through live broadcast, but ignore the high return rate behind the promotion. "In fact, we pay great attention to the long tail effect and commodity return rate in live broadcast. I think these can represent your brand. The ultimate goal of live broadcast should be to let consumers buy because of the brand, not because they are discounted today. However, during the live broadcast, I found that many brands are particularly anxious, and they will ignore consumer cognition and brand tonality, and only remember the transformation and promotion. Therefore, we will see many brands overturned in the live broadcast, because he did not lay the foundation of the brand itself, and immediately promoted it, relying on impulse consumption of consumers to temporarily increase sales, and finally the return rate was very high. "

In fact, although the low-price strategy of live broadcast can break through the sales bottleneck through the "hawking" of the red anchor on the one hand, on the other hand, many brands are beginning to worry that the low-price promotion used in the live broadcast room will have an impact on their own brand image.

Jian Weiqing, president of the Taomei Beauty Business Association, said: "Since this year, due to changes in brand ecology and the international consumer market, there have been many cases of brand price breaks in the industry, which actually has a great impact on small and medium-sized brands and retailers, because small and medium-sized brands are more dependent on the channels of small and medium-sized retailers. However, as small and medium-sized retailers, they don’t have the traffic of big brands, and the traffic of big brands is in the hands of mainstream platforms, super big anchors and absolute head-on operating companies. Therefore, if big brands go down to seize market share, small and medium-sized brands will be under great pressure. "

With the price reduction of big brands, where is the way out for the new Xiaomei makeup brand?

Image source: photo network

Jian Weiqing believes that it is not wise to spell the price for the new Xiaomei makeup brand. "Personally, I think it is necessary to stick to the price strategy, which is the lifeline of a brand. New and small brands must pay attention to it. If some big brands dive in price, it is only a short-term strategy. The price of big brands will dive in a short period of time, the brand will be wiped clean, and new clothes will be replaced. You can still go ashore, but if new and small brands follow suit, the C-end will label the brand as low-priced, so it is difficult to go back." Jian Weiqing said.

According to Huang Yong, the founding partner of Baojiehui Innovation Consumer Fund, if domestic beauty brands want to be unicorns, they need to aim at subdivided tracks. "From the past experience, in the field of beauty care, great companies, such as Durex and Weiting, are easy to appear on the subdivided track. Although the category is not big, if the brand becomes the champion on the subdivided track, the market is very big. From the current beauty care industry, I think the product combination of high-priced instruments and consumables such as beauty instruments and essence is the easiest to go abroad. " Huang Yong said.

In addition, Huang Yong said in an interview with national business daily that although beauty brands were affected in retail during the epidemic, from the perspective of the capital market, the popularity of investing in beauty brands remained unabated. "In the past, we saw domestic beauty brands with perfect diaries, flowers and other heads. In fact, this is just the beginning. From the overall trend, China’s beauty industry has been developing at a high speed, and the research and development and production capacity of domestic beauty brands have been improved, and now we can make good products. We predict that in the future, we will have cutting-edge domestic brands in various segments. At the same time, we believe that in the next ten or even twenty years, China’s Procter & Gamble, Unilever and L ‘Oreal will appear. " Huang Yong said.

Cui Jing, vice chairman of Cosme Beauty Group, expressed his optimism about domestic beauty products. He told national business daily that Cosme Beauty has launched a minimum order quantity of 500 as a beauty OEM. "According to our experience, in fact, local beauty companies in China often do better in localization than international brands. We hope to provide support to local beauty companies in China and reduce their trial and error costs by reducing the minimum order volume." Cui Jing said.

national business daily