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The coupling of human, management, mechanical, and environmental risk factors increases the probability of accident occurrence at metro construction sites. The degree of coupling risks at metro construction sites is the degree of interdependence among the risks in subsystems during metro construction projects. This paper uses the coupling relationship between the human and environmental risks to predict the progression in overall risk-level of construction process at Rongjiazhai station of Xi'an Metro Line 5 in China. The coupling model and system dynamics simulation are applied in four steps: develop the coupling model, estimate the weight index for metro construction risk factors, calculate the risk levels, and estimate the degrees of coupling risks. This paper identifies that the change of coupling coefficients of human-environmental factors has a significant influence on the risk-level at metro construction sites. The "psychological and physiological quality," "natural and working environment," and "physiological discomfort and working environment" are the most influential factors of the coupling level of human-environmental risks. The simulation results demonstrate that the coupling effects of risk factors should be emphasized in engineering practice. To reduce the risk-level of construction system, the human, mechanical, and environmental risks should be identified, coupled, and monitored in real time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Publications in Renal Failure in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) between 1992 and 2021 were analyzed. Six publication indicators: total, independent, collaborative, first author, corresponding author, and single author publications as well as their related citation indicators, were used to compare performances of countries, institutes, and authors. Comparison of the highly cited papers and journal's impact factor (IF) contributors was discussed. In addition, the main research topics in the journal were presented. Results show that China published the most total articles and reviews, as well as the first-author papers and corresponding-author papers in the journal. The Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan ranked the top in five publication indicators: total, single-institution, inter-institutionally collaborative, first author, and corresponding-author papers. A low percentage of productive authors emerged as a journal IF contributor. Similarly, only a limited relationship between highly cited papers and IF contributing papers was found. Publications related to hemodialysis, chronic kidney disease, and acute kidney injury were the most popular topic, while meta-analysis was new focus in the last decade in the journal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the goal of carbon reduction, China has been piloting the Carbon Emission Trading System (CETS) since 2013. As the economy faces a downward trend, it is significant to explore the impact of CETS on business development. There is still debate in academia about whether this policy can boost the level of business development. This paper, based on all A-share data of listed companies in China from 2009 to 2018, uses the Difference in Differences (DID) model to verify the impact of CETS on the input of capital and labor factors and the level of technology in enterprises and discusses the industry heterogeneity of this impact in detail. Placebo tests, propensity score matching, and triple differences ensure the robustness of the conclusions. In further research, this paper decomposes the policy effect of CETS. It regresses the impact of carbon quota prices and carbon market trading scale on business development. The final conclusion is that CETS has a positive impact on the input of capital and labor in enterprises and a negative impact on the level of technology. After distinguishing industries, this conclusion shows differences according to different characteristics of high emissions and low emissions. In addition, the increase in carbon quota prices hinders business development, while the scale of carbon market trading shows an inverted "U" relationship with business development. The article provides meaningful policy references for China and countries in the early stages of CETS construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2010, the Chinese government has developed several batches of low-carbon pilot provinces and cities continuously. And in the backdrop of carbon peak and carbon neutralisation recently, the carbon emission reduction policies and achievements of China have attracted more and more worldwide attention. In the field of human health, this paper investigates whether the Low-carbon Province Pilot Policy of China has positive effects on residents' health based on the micro data of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2010 to 2016. Using the time-varying difference-in-difference model to solve the endogeneity problem commonly faced in the literature, we find that Low-carbon Province Pilot Policy has a positive impact on public health through air quality improvement and the unemployment level alleviation mainly. And in urban areas, the policy effect is more obvious than that in rural regions. This paper expands the content of national low-carbon governance effects to residents' health further and contribute to China's low-carbon development. Specifically, it reminds us to focus on the dynamic adjustment and effective continuation of the policy, and also the all-round support for 'the disadvantaged' in environmental governance process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wood-rotting basidiomycetes have been investigated in the Chinese forest ecosystem for the past 30 years. Two hundred and five pathogenic wood-decayers belonging to 9 orders, 30 families, and 74 genera have been found in Chinese native forests, plantations, and gardens. Seventy-two species (accounting for 35% of the total pathogenic species) are reported as pathogenic fungi in China for the first time. Among these pathogens, 184 species are polypores, nine are corticioid fungi, eight are agarics and five are hydnoid basidiomycetes. One hundred and seventy-seven species (accounting for 86%) cause white rot, while 28 species (accounting for 14%) result in brown rot; 157 species grow on angiosperm trees (accounting for 76.5%) and 44 species occur on gymnosperm trees (accounting for 21.5%), only four species inhabit both angiosperms and gymnosperms (accounting for 2%); 95 species are distributed in boreal to temperate forests and 110 in subtropical to tropical forests. In addition, 17 species, including Fomitopsis pinicola, Heterobasidion parviporum, and Phellinidium weirii etc. which were previously treated as pathogenic species in China, do not occur in China according to recent studies. In this paper, the host(s), type of forest, rot type, and distribution of each pathogenic species in China are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By conducting discourse analysis on Chinese textual materials around 1962, this paper tries to inductively explore the national identities of Chinese people during the 1962 Sino-Indian border conflict. It finds that China perceived itself as a persistent and resilient nation in the ongoing fight against invasion and oppression. The predominant social discourse around 1962 showed a strong enmity and resistance toward the imperialism which was then imposed on India. These national identities have formed a natural response as maintaining a tough stance toward incursion and repression, and have contributed to China's resolution to defense its territory with resorting to military force, even though it might not be beneficial in terms of diplomatic relations and economic interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial hemp is an important cash crop in China and has a very important role to play in increasing farmers’ income and eliminating poverty. However, drug loss risks, policy risks and regulatory challenges in the industrial hemp supply chain plague the healthy development of the industrial hemp indus)try. In order to address the problems in the industrial hemp industry, this paper described the problems in financing, traceability, and regulation, which are typical supply chain problems, by analyzing the industry of industrial hemp in China. Through a literature review, this paper reviewed the research results of blockchain technology in the agricultural supply chain, and analyzed the feasibility of blockchain technology to solve the financing problem of industrial hemp industry in combination with Chinese agricul)tural production and management modes, and analyzed the feasibility of blockchain technology to solve the traceability and supervision problems of industrial hemp industry in combination with Chinese anti-drug policies. Finally, based on the feasibility analysis, the idea of building a consortium blockchain consisting of market entities, financial institutions and drug-fighting agencies in the industrial hemp industry was proposed to solve the problems existing in the industrial hemp industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has been contributing to new approaches to global governance. The Health Silk Road (HSR), a significant component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), was proposed by China in 2016. This paper claims that HSR is a new institution introduced alongside the existing WHO-led multilateral health system, and its relationship with the existing system can be described as layering. Having explored the new development of HSR during COVID-19, this paper further argues that while HSR has its unique strength in making contributions to global health governance and economic recovery, it faces a prominent issue of securitisation in the context of China-U.S. strategic competition, suspicion of the quality of medical products and sectoral fragmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By conducting discourse analysis on Chinese textual materials around 1962, this paper tries to inductively explore the national identities of Chinese people during the 1962 Sino-Indian border conflict. It finds that China perceived itself as a persistent and resilient nation in the ongoing fight against invasion and oppression. The predominant social discourse around 1962 showed a strong enmity and resistance toward the imperialism which was then imposed on India. These national identities have formed a natural response as maintaining a tough stance toward incursion and repression, and have contributed to China's resolution to defense its territory with resorting to military force, even though it might not be beneficial in terms of diplomatic relations and economic interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflective teaching has long been regarded as playing an important, and potentially empowering, role in teachers' professional learning. The study reported in this paper considered the longer-term significance of teachers' self-reflective learning in the course of their daily emergency remote teaching during COVID-19, and how this supported teacher agency. This small-scale case study sought to explore, in depth, teachers' perceptions of how their professional learning was realised through reflective practice during emergency remote teaching. Three teachers from primary, junior high, and high schools in mainland China participated in the case study during the spring and fall semesters in 2020. They considered the accommodations they made for emergency remote teaching and the corresponding implications for their professional learning and sense of agency. Data were collected via four-monthly, semi-structured interviews, resulting in a total of five interviews per teacher. These charted the progress of their emergency remote courses in the spring, and allowed for final reflections via a follow-up interview in the fall. Data were analysed thematically. The resultant four themes and eight categories related to aspects including pedagogical strategies, home-school communication, classroom management, and teachers' technological literacy. Within these, approaches to blending online and offline coursework, valuing sociocultural concerns in classroom interaction, and developing adaptive mindsets were among areas identified as relevant to teachers' professional learning beyond the emergency remote teaching situation. The findings highlight the multiple ways in which professional learning took place through reflective teaching in the remote teaching environment. They draw attention to the importance of situating some professional learning in everyday practice. Understandings gained during remote teaching have broader implications for educators' professional learning and growth in pre-tertiary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of health, China's contribution is generally addressed either through its cooperation programmes or by the opening of private clinics by Chinese 'doctors'. In Yaoundé and Douala, some private practices have been opened and various works have highlighted their role in the dissemination of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in Cameroon. Yet the craze for these structures did not last long. Today, while signs of their existence are still visible, many of these firms are closed. China's influence in the health field is, however, far from negligible, but it is taking place in unexpected areas. The circulation of goods and knowledge from China leaves more room for local reappropriation. Indeed, some Cameroonian traditional healers include knowledge from China in their daily practice through the use of 'machines' coming from China to 'purify the body', to 'eliminate fat', to regulate the tension, to 'stimulate acupuncture points' or 'make diagnosis' (using the quantum analyser or a 'diagnostic machine'). From direct observations conducted between 2014 and 2021, this article presents the issues at stake for the practice of traditional healers by the modernization of the field through specific therapeutic devices and the quantum analyser coming from China into the health Cameroonian landscape. The paper demonstrates that the performance of the diagnostic machine has less to do with the concrete efficiency of the diagnosis of pathologies than with the dynamics of visibility vis-à-vis patients. The quantum analyser is, therefore, an interesting element revealing the constant process of renewal of medical pluralism in Cameroon, in which China is playing a central role today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Mozambique (in 2017 and 2019) and China (in 2019), this paper looks at the ways that Chinese garments and textiles are presented and promoted as being fashionable in everyday business interactions in Mozambique. It explores how fashion is mediated in informal, South–South contexts that are largely detached from Euro–American fashion systems. Several different groups make use of their own specific strengths and advantages – be it access to capital and networks, long-term trading experience, business expertise, or an intimate knowledge of local tastes and trends – to sell Chinese-made clothes, shoes, and fabrics in Mozambique. These groups include Indian traders, West African individual traders, Chinese entrepreneurs, Chinese textile companies, and since recently, young Mozambicans, including women, who see the availability and affordability of Chinese-made products as an opportunity to start their own businesses. These diverse actors partly complement and partly contradict each other in mediating the fashionability of Chinese-made products, while jointly constructing them as fashion. Through this unintentional co-construction, the groups selling Chinese-made garments and textiles in Mozambique carve out market niches for themselves, stimulate local dress culture, and diversify the way fashion mediation is understood, adding a South–South perspective to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black and odorous water seriously affects the ecological balance of rivers and the health of people living nearby. Satellite remote sensing technology with its advantages of a large range, long-time series, low cost, and high efficiency, has provided a new area for water quality detection. Much archived remote sensing satellite data can be further processed and used as a data source for black and odorous water detection. In this paper, Gaofen-2 remote sensing data with a spatial resolution of 1 m is leveraged as the data source. To enrich the data source in the northern coastal zone of China, we have built a high-quality remote sensing dataset, called the remote sensing images for black and odorous water detection (RSBD) dataset, which is collected from the Gaofen-2 satellite in Yantai, China. In addition, we propose a network with an encoder-decoder discriminant structure for black and odorous water detection. In the network, an augmented attention module is designed to capture a more comprehensive semantic feature representation. Further, the median balancing loss function is adopted to solve the imbalance issues. Experimental results demonstrate that the network is superior to other state-of-the-art semantic segmentation methods on our dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a representative industry of agricultural product quality and safety, food is an important cornerstone of stable social development and international status. However, frequent food quality and safety incidents reveal the complexity and difficulty of governance. Therefore, it is urgent to treat and solve food quality and safety problems through comprehensive, multi-level and multi perspective research. Through the research on the current situation of food quality and safety in China, this paper puts forward the perspective of food quality and safety management based on the theory of industrial agglomeration, clarifies the technical route of this paper, constructs two theoretical models of enterprise and government, and expounds the internal mechanism of the model. Finally, according to the conclusion of the theoretical model, the realization path of food quality and safety management based on industrial agglomeration theory is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of the epidemic and a series of strict prevention and control measures taken to prevent the spread of the epidemic will have a significant impact on the entire chain and various fields of agricultural production and operation. Based on the realistic basis of China's current international cooperation in agricultural ecological environmental protection, this paper proposes an international coordination mechanism for agricultural product trade legal systems. There is a certain degree of conflict between ecological environment protection and trade facilitation and liberalisation, but they are not completely uncoordinated. Therefore, the establishment of a set of coordination mechanisms that can restrain and encourage countries to carry out international cooperation plays a key role in resolving the conflict between the two. In addition, this paper analyzes the legal regulation of agricultural trade in the post-epidemic era through intelligent model analysis and proposes corresponding countermeasures. Through analysis and research, it also provides a corresponding reference for legal regulations of agricultural trade in the post-epidemic era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional rural cultural heritage is not only the crystallisation of China's long agricultural history but also can guide the development of modern agriculture to some extent. It has its values for scientific research, education, tourism and other aspects. About exploration on the value of agricultural cultural heritage, there are some problems such as landscape homogenisation as well as iconic landscape deficiency. This paper focuses on the concept of rural culture, studies the planning of ecological agricultural circular economy in combination with agricultural ecological scenery, analyses the actual situation of regional rural culture and its actual planning needs, and verifies it through practice. From the researching point of view, the planning method proposed in this paper can be effectively combined with the traditional agricultural culture concept and can promote the development of agriculture and tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the legal framework of Chinese-funded enterprises' agricultural investment under the background of big data. To analyses the policies even that contradictions with several entities and their problems were undertaken to choose the best judgements using a decision making support system in the context analysis of the big data approach. Under the conditions of the market economy, to ensure the sustainable development of China's agricultural investment, the construction and improvement of the legal system is an effective way. Meanwhile, under on the background of big data, on the basis of in-depth reflection on the history, current situation, problems and institutional roots of China's agricultural investment legal system, this paper draws on the experience and lessons of foreign agricultural investment legal systems to conduct a more systematic analysis of China's agricultural investment legal system from the perspective of economic law. Finally, this paper gives advice on agricultural investment decision-making through problem analysis, which provides a reference for subsequent related research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically analyses the promotional effect of preferential fiscal and tax policies on the performance of agricultural enterprises in the straw power generation industry chain through the small- and medium-sized enterprises in the straw gasification cogeneration project industry chain. It has a positive effect. This paper discusses the implementation of agricultural enterprises straw power generation project industry chain, the situation of pollution reduction and efficiency improvement of agricultural enterprises, and the positive effects of fiscal and tax preferential policies on promoting agricultural enterprises straw power generation project industry chain. It points out that it is highly important to promote agricultural enterprises straw power generation project industry chain in China and implement fiscal and tax preferential policies for corresponding projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dark brick tea, a unique kind of dark tea has a history of more than 100 years in China. In this paper, 1 and 10 years old dark brick tea were used to regulate blood lipid. The results showed that dark brick tea could significantly reduce the total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels in serum and liver homogenate. It also significantly increased the level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). In addition, dark brick tea can enhance the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in rats, reduce the content of malondialdehyde (MDA), promote the activities of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and liver lipase (HL) in rats, and effectively reduce blood lipid levels. In conclusion, the experimental results of this study will provide a scientific basis for the lipid-lowering effects of black brick tea with a theoretical basis for its further development and utilization in the form different products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the rapid increasing of the number of the satellites, the number of facilities of the satellite ground stations is becoming insufficient and the conflicts of serving satellite data missions exist. To make full use of the facilities of the China Remote Sensing Satellite Ground Station (RSGS), scheduling optimization of these facilities was studied in this paper, which was not well-solved by the original method in the operation system of RSGS. The problem is formulated as a continuous time-based mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model. A decomposition optimization algorithm is proposed to solve the large-scale problem, which is difficult to solve using traditional methods. In the first step, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to optimize the multi-ground station relay tasks, and the multi-ground station optimization problem is transformed into several single ground station optimization problems. Next, in two additional steps, optimization of the facilities at a single ground station is performed to further reduce the size of the model. The proposed method has been applied to operations systems of RSGS, and the approach presented in this article has demonstrated stable performance and sufficient efficiency online, resulting in the automation of facility scheduling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the status and change trend of forest in China, an indicator framework was developed using SDG sub-indicators. In this paper, we propose an improved methodology and a set of workflows for calculating SDG indicators. The main modification include the use of moderate and high spatial resolution satellite data, as well as state-of-the-art machine learning techniques for forest cover classification and estimation of forest above-ground biomass (AGB). This research employs GF-1 and GF-2 data with enhanced texture information to map forest cover, while time series Landsat data is used to estimate forest AGB across the whole territory of China. The study calculate two SDG sub-indicators: SDG15.1.1 for forest area and SDG15.2.1 for sustainable forest management. The evaluation results showed that the total forest area in China was approximately 219 million hectares at the end of 2021, accounting for about 23.51% of the land area. The average annual forest AGB from 2015 to 2021 was estimated to be 105.01Mg/ha, and the overall trend of forest AGB change in China was positive, albeit with some spatial differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to address societal, economic and environmental sustainability issues. The efficiency of SDGs monitoring could be improved by essential variables (EVs), which can help to better deal with massive data, interdisciplinary knowledge and workloads. However, in practice, effectively combining EVs with SDGs monitoring remains challenging. In this paper, we proposed a refining method of essential SDGs variables (ESDGVs) to land degradation. Firstly, we selected northwest China as our experimental region and extracted a group of variables related to land degradation from SDG indicators based on the DPSIR framework. Next, we identify the essential ones using a combined qualitative and quantitative methods with the criteria of feasibility, spatialization, and relevance which considered the issues of data acquisition, monitoring scale, and closeness to the land degradation. Finally, we analysed the monitoring role of ESDGVs. Results show that, compared to conventional observations, ESDGVs facilitate the monitoring and evaluation of regional SDGs with reduced efforts. And both climate and human activities have a facilitating or inhibiting effect on land degradation processes. In the future, we hope to have more mature data sets and consider adding more SDG indicators for ESDGVs' refinement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire was a serious natural disturbance to forest ecosystems. In this study, a national-scale forest fire risk model (RF_NTL) was proposed in mainland China by incorporating a new human activity factor (NTL) from nighttime light data. For objective verification of model's performance, the logistic regression model (LR) and random forest model (RF) were also built in this paper. Results showed that the RF_NTL model fitted with an AUC value up to 0.95, which was superior to the conventional LR model and RF model. The RF_NTL model also had good generalization ability and stability on annual and monthly scales, helping to accurately forecast forest fire risk. Moreover, the spatial distribution of forest fire risk based on RF_NTL model was detailed and reasonable on a national scale. Forest fire high-risk areas in China were mainly concentrated in the northeast and southwest regions. This study could provide references for future relevant research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the driving factors behind urban polycentricity is of paramount significance for advancing the implementation of urban polycentric strategies. In this, paper takes 41 cities in the China's Yangtze River Delta region are taken as the research objects, and the degree of urban polycentricity is measured using non-parametric and social network methods. Then, the geographic probe method is applied to reveal the driving factors of the spatial differentiation of urban polycentricity. The research results showed that (1) the distribution of hot and cold spots of the urban polycentricity index was roughly the same between 2006 and 2015, while and the distribution of hot and cold spots of the urban polycentricity index varied greatly between 2015 and 2020. (2) In 2010, the proportions of the secondary and industry tertiary industries and the topographic relief were the main driving factors of urban polycentricity. By 2020, the population size and topographic relief were the key drivers of urban polycentricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the monitoring of rocky desertification(RD) is concentrated in the karst area, whereas the study in red-bed areas is rare. In this paper, we present a multi-scale classification framework for RD monitoring based on spectral-spatial features. At the pixel scale, we explored several spectral indices based on spectral statistics and separability analysis of land cover samples. The homogeneous land covers were classified by the decision rules from the selected spectral indices (such as NDIOI, NRRI and NDGI); At the patch scale, RD classes were further distinguished by spatial decision rules based on multiple neighborhood features including proximity, linear density, and buffer distance. The method was applied on an OLI image over the red-bed area of northwestern Jiangxi, south central China, and validated using ground-based observations. The experimental results of verification and comparison are satisfactory. This work demonstrates a methodological supplement to the monitoring of red bed RD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The China-France Oceanography Satellite SCATterometer (CSCAT) can observe radar backscatter values on the same sea surface at multiple incidence angles, and is often used to estimate the ocean near-surface wind. However, CSCAT utilizes a novel scanning mechanism and the wind vector cell has a spatial resolution is 25 km or 12.5 km, which limit the study of high-resolution land and sea ice monitoring. To address this issue, this paper constructs a geometric model of the main lobe-to-ground projection relationship and generates the enhanced-resolution radar images. CSCAT data are applied to three main image reconstruction algorithms (SIR, AART, and MART), and experiments are performed in the Iceland and Hudson Bay, and verified by Sentinel-2 optical remote sensing data. The experiments show the geometric model for CSCAT improves the spatial resolution from traditional 25 km to 5 km, and the SIR-reconstructed images are characterized by higher accuracy and better suppression of noise than are those obtained with the AART and MART methods. Therefore, this study extends the application of domestic remote sensors and provides data support for high-resolution applications, such as land and sea ice monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, field spectroradiometer and aboveground biomass (AGB) data were acquired at the harvest stage at two sites in semiarid grasslands in Inner Mongolia, China. Four forms of commonly used vegetation indices (VIs) using all possible combinations of narrow-band first derivative (FDR) and raw reflectance (RR) were calculated, and the best FDR-VIs and RR-VIs were chosen by a linear regression analysis against AGB. The stepwise multiple linear regression (SMLR) models using the optimal FDR-VIs, RR-VIs, and both FDR-VIs and RR-VIs as input variables were developed for estimating the AGB. Results demonstrated that the estimation performance using the best FDR-VIs were comparable with the best RR-VIs, while the accuracy has been further improved by combining the best FDR-VIs and RR-VIs (maximum decrease in RMSE of 44% and minimum RMAE of 4.7%). The approach was found to be an important step for more accurate and effective grassland AGB estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GM crops, as a widely researched and applied biotechnology, hold significant strategic and practical implications for promoting the commercialization of GM crops in China, driving agricultural industry upgrading, and fostering economic and social development. However, despite their potential benefits, the commercialization of GM crops in China has been consistently delayed. Therefore, this study aims to explore the trust relationship between the government and the public in the field of genetically modified organisms and the heterogeneous impacts generated at the production and consumption ends. We primarily focus on insect-resistant cotton and genetically modified papaya as representatives and base our research on survey data from Xinjiang and Guangdong. By employing factor analysis and establishing multiple Probit models with government trust, crop purposes, and farmer expectations as independent variables, and the commercialization of GM crops as the dependent variable, we conduct two sets of empirical analyses. The study finds that government trust has a more significant impact on consumer concerns about whether to consume GM products than on producers, who prioritize farmers' desire for agricultural product profitability. Age and education levels also influence the public's acceptance of planting GM crops, but the effects are not as significant as the core variables mentioned earlier. Based on this, we conclude that consumers and farmers have different positions and contradictions in the specific scenario of delayed GM commercialization in China. In this context, this paper argues that diversified strategies should be adopted to address the issue of commercialization of GM crops in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic cancer is with the poorest prognosis of all common cancers worldwide. Despite the advances in treatment the results are poor throughout the different methods. Pancreatic resection still yields the best outcome. However only a quarter of the patients present at operable stage. HIFU is a noninvasive technique that can be used to treat pancreatic cancer. The aim of this review is to perform a systematic review on the data about the resection rate after HIFU ablation in patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer (BRPC) and the impact of this technique over the oncological results. The PubMed and Wanfang databases were searched using keywords: pancreatic cancer, HIFU ablation and high-intensity focused ultrasound. All found articles were reviewed. The systematic review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standard guidelines. This study was financially supported by 2019 'Kuan-Ren Elite' Program of 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, China (Grant no. KY2019G019). The English database search showed 109 papers, of which 3 met the inclusion criteria. The Wanfang database resulted in 110 papers; however, none met the inclusion criteria of the review. From the included studies 97 patients underwent neoadjuvant HIFU ablation ± chemotherapy. Thirty-four patients reached resection (35.1%). In two patients, residual tumor (R) classification was not reported. R0 resection rate in all reported patients is 30.5% (29/95). R1 resection rate is 3.2% (3/95). HIFU is found to be safe and feasible in locally advanced and metastatic pancreatic cancer with proven downstaging and downsizing effects. Further research on role of HIFU ablation as a neoadjuvant treatment for borderline resectable pancreatic cancer is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a critique of the "specialty towns" program, a key constituent of China's current new-style urbanization campaign. It problematizes the contradictory accounts of the program, namely, emphasizing "place-based" strengths while simultaneously standardizing forms, functions, and goals with a strong "place-neutral" approach. We argue that three key building blocks are critical for understanding specialty towns: place dependence, embeddedness, and locational advantage. Through multiple-case studies in Zhejiang, evidence has shown that there is a mismatch between national policies and local practices in specialty town development. The latter has its own place-specific logic of development shaped by history, geography, institutions, and agency. In particular, existing small-scale growth settings (e.g., industrial parks, specialized markets) and characteristics of local agency are the main factors affecting local practices. This paper argues that without considering the specificities of places in a broader socioeconomic context, the program may fail to work as effectively as expected in its local implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robust detection of patterns at low signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) is a fundamental challenge of analysing high-frequency data, particularly in water quality monitoring. When conducting water quality data analysis, an indispensable step is to clean the data noise. In this paper, a new method named ADAPTIVE-EWT-MFE, based on empirical wavelet transform (EWT) and multiscale fuzzy entropy (MFE), is proposed to implement time series data cleaning. EWT-MFE can decompose the spectrum into different intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). According to different characteristics of the IMFs, an adaptive and adjustable parameter based on MFE, which reflects the intrinsic characteristics, is introduced into the threshold function to improve the performance of noise cleaning. Finally, this hybrid data cleaning method is designed to filter the high-frequency noise on the IMFs. Results show that our proposed method not only has great potential to improve the noise-cleaning performance but also does not distort noise-free data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a significant decision support tool, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been legally necessitated since 2003 when the Environmental Impact Assessment Law of the P.R. China was put into effect. However, the different national development targets and the social and economic development gaps between the western region and the eastern region of China greatly influence the SEA implementation. This paper demonstrates the differences in the SEA implementation between the western region and the eastern region of China and discusses the reasons for the disparities. Reviewing government policies and conducting in-depth interviews are selected as the two main research methods. The disparities of SEA implementation existing in intervention time, alternatives, public participation, and monitoring are presented. The differences are caused by the impacts of local SEA regulations and policies, institutions and experts, public attitudes, local government attitudes, strength of Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB), funding, national government strategies, and policies and regulations of environmental management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigation of intergovernmental conferences is an important lens to examine international geopolitical issues that seem to remain understudied in the existing literature, especially from the perspective of how emerging countries shape their discourse, image, and geopolitical imaginations through such conferences. This paper aims to read China's relationships with the outside world from both its holding and participating in intergovernmental conferences between 2002 to 2017. Based on the textual analysis of conference materials from 919 intergovernmental conferences in which China has been involved, this paper highlights three lines with which China's self-definition of its geopolitical positions in international politics can be understood. First, China's delicate balance between the United States and Russia consists of the most fundamental structure of Chinese geopolitical views; second, China's self-construction as a responsible regional power also makes up a large portion of China's geopolitical view; third, the crucial role of intergovernmental conferences for the Chinese government is to convey China's nonthreatening model of development, which is also the most important principle of China's foreign relations. This paper helps to understand how China constructs its international relations and shapes international discourse and image through intergovernmental conferences. Such conference-based and self-defined geopolitics has furnished a special and, most importantly, a Chinese-styled geopolitical view that can further the understanding of international politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avian nephritis virus infections of chicken flocks cause enteric and kidney disease, uneven growth, and runting stunting syndrome, leading to economic losses in the poultry industry. In this study, one ANV strain, designated as AH202017, was isolated from a diseased broiler flock in Anhui province, China, in 2020. Virus production in LMH cell culture was confirmed by real-time RT–PCR and immunofluorescence assay. The complete genome sequencing analysis indicated that AH202017 shares 77.5–85.5% identity with 12 reference strains in GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis of the capsid protein revealed that AH202017 is more closely related to VIC-6a/Australia/2014 belonging to ANV genotype 2. However, the phylogenetic tree, based on the ORF1a protein and ORF1b protein, indicated that AH202017 manifests a close relationship with GXJL815/China/2017 belonging to genotype 8. In infection experiments, four infected chickens showed depression and one chicken died at 6 days post-infection, corresponding to 5% mortality. The virus was shed daily in the faeces of infected chickens, and was found distributed in multiple organs. Macroscopic and microscopic lesions in the kidneys were observed. This is the first paper that describes the genomic characteristics and pathogenicity of a novel ANV strain in China. A novel ANV strain was isolated for the first time from diseased broilers in China. The ANV strain caused nephritis and 5% mortality rate in 1-day-old SPF chickens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elodea nuttallii (Planch.) H. St John is an invasive alien submerged macrophyte, which grows very fast and dominates in many Chinese waters. Bellamya aeruginosa (Reeve) is a widely distributed benthonic organism in China. This snail species rarely grazes submerged macrophytes and may promote their growth by feeding on epiphyte and phytoplankton. The above two species can commonly be found together in nature waters and their interaction may promote the growth of both species, which could disturb the ecological balance. In this paper, effects of different densities of B. aeruginosa at two different nutrient stages on water quality and the growth of E. nuttallii were studied. The results showed that the growth rates (GRs) of E. nuttallii were not significantly affected by different B. aeruginosa densities in the low nutrient (LN) stage. However, in the high nutrient (HN) stage, the GRs of the aboveground parts of E. nuttallii in the high density (HD) groups were considerably higher than the control (CK) and low density (LD) groups. The water chlorophyll (Chl) and nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) contents increased substantially with increasing B. aeruginosa density in the LN stage, while the Chl and NO3-N contents in the LD groups were significantly higher than in the HD and CK groups in the HN stage. The results of this paper indicated that B. aeruginosa could promote the growth of E. nuttallii by reducing the Chl contents in the water in high-nutrient environment rather than in low-nutrient environment, which highlighted that B. aeruginosa may strengthen the invisibility of E. nuttallii in eutrophic water caused by human activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is the main technology research and development country in the world’s bamboo industry, as well as the main producer and exporter of bamboo products. It ranks at the international leading level in terms of bamboo forest area, stock volume, bamboo product output and scientific research level. However, through literature review, it is found that the development of bamboo products in the modern social environment still faces many challenges. The author searched the keyword “bamboo product design” through CNKI and SCOPUS database systems, and initially retrieved 562 literatures. According to the screening criteria “Bamboo Product Design Status and Strategies”, and excluding redundant and repetitive studies, 76 papers were finally screened and identified. The author uses the A-type graphical tool of the KJ method to combine, classify and analyze the keywords in the “problem” literature, and use the relationship between these materials to organically combine and summarize these facts. It is found that there is a gap in capability between bamboo product designers and craftsmen. What is the gap between them? How to narrow the gap between them and improve their design capability? This is the research question of this study. To a certain extent, it is one of the key factors for the insufficient design innovation of bamboo products and the inability to meet consumer demands. Therefore, this study constructs a strategic framework of five capability dimensions by reviewing the literature on design capability management, combining product design standards and design capability demand theory, and incorporating the unique relevant factors of bamboo product design. The framework aims to improve the knowledge system and professional capability of craftsmen and designers to enhance the diversification and innovation of bamboo products, help the bamboo industry to clarify the market positioning of products, and meet people’s needs for bamboo products in modern life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese sweet lily (Lilium davidii var. unicolor), the only edible lily in the world, has high nutritional value. At present, the application of preservation technology is relatively backward, resulting in a large loss of lily. Therefore, the preservation has become one of the key factors limiting the development of the edible lily bulbs industry. This paper reviews the various application of pretreatment and storage technologies for the preservation of lily bulbs. It is considered that irradiation and proper preservative can be used for pretreatment. Vacuum packaging can be used for short-term storage and transportation. Phase temperature storage could be as a long-term storage mode of lily bulbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to evaluate the susceptibility of debris flows in large areas, especially in mountainous regions, are often hampered by the alpine and canyon terrain. This paper proposes a convolution neural network (CNN) model named dense residual shuffle net (DRSNet). It is successfully applied to Nujiang Prefecture in Yunnan Province of China, a typical alpine area with frequent debris flows. DRSNet uses digital elevation model, remote sensing, lithology, soil type and precipitation data as input. First, dense connection and residual structure were used to extract the shallow features of various data. Next, channel shuffle, fuse block and fully connection were applied to strengthen the correlation between different shallow features and give inner danger scores. Finally, precipitation as the activation factor was introduced giving the valleys susceptibility. To verify the feasibility of DRSNet, comparative tests were conducted on 7 CNN models and 3 other machine learning (ML) methods. Experimental results show that DRSNet can achieve 78.6% accuracy in debris flow valley classification, which is at least 7.4% higher than common CNN models and 15.2% higher than other ML methods. This article provides new ideas for debris flow susceptibility evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable assessment of landslide susceptibility in broad areas of terrain remains challenging due to complex topography and poor representation of randomly selected negative samples. Assessment in broad areas is now primarily based on grid units, which do not have a clear physical meaning like slope units, and their accuracy is not ideal. Nevertheless, the large amount of manual editing, due to the incorrectly generated horizontal and vertical lines during slope unit partitioning, limits using slope units for rapid assessment over large areas. Hence, this paper proposes a reliable susceptibility assessment approach to solve this problem based on optimal slope units and negative samples involving prior knowledge. Precisely, an algorithm to automatically extract slope units is designed to eliminate fragmented and erroneous units. Second, a samples labeling index (SLI) is defined based on the certainty factors model to select negative samples reasonably. Sichuan Province, China is selected for experimental analysis, with the results demonstrate that the optimized slope unit and the negative samples selection strategy consider prior knowledge achieve better results in the random forest model, support vector machine model, and artificial neural network model. In particular, the composite performance index AUC of artificial neural network model improved from 0.81 to 0.90. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) onboard National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites can provide over 40 years of global remote sensing observations, which can be used to retrieve long-term aerosol optical depth (AOD). This is of great significance to the study of global climate change. In this paper, we proposed an algorithm to jointly calculate AOD and land surface properties from AVHRR observations. With assumptions that AOD doesn't vary in adjacent space and earth surface property doesn't vary in two days, the algorithm considered non-Lambertian surface reflection based on the shape of bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF shape) and obtained AOD and surface property by optimal estimation (OE) method. The algorithm has been applied to NOAA-7, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, and 19 satellites and AVHRR-retrieved AOD with 5 × 10 km over China (15°–60° N, 70°–140°E) has been obtained from 1982 to 2016. Comparisons of AVHRR-retrieved AOD against AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) (in and around China) and China Aerosol Remote Sensing Network (CARSNET) AOD show good consistency with 62.62% points within the uncertainty of Δτ = ± (0.05 + 0.25τ) and root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.26. Further comparison of the monthly mean AOD of multiple AOD datasets in the 'Beijing', 'Dalanzadgad', 'NCU_Taiwan' and 'Kanpur' stations shows that the results of the algorithm are stable. The yearly averaged AOD data also has similar agreements with MERRA-2 (The Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2) and AVHRRDB data (AVHRR 'Deep Blue' aerosol data set). The multi-year mean correlation coefficient is 0.70 and 0.61 and the percentages within the uncertainty are 80.01% and 67.29% compared with MERRA-2 AOD and AVHRRDB AOD respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic population distributions by activity type (e.g. working, shopping or in-home) are vital for resource allocation, urban planning and epidemic containment. Although studies have incorporated individual-level human mobility data to map population distribution by activity type, access to such data is hindered due to privacy issues and they rely on auxiliary data to provide priori activity knowledge. This paper presents a method for generating the population dynamics by activity type. We first introduce more readily available sequential snapshot data to construct the population mixture model, then decompose the population mixture, and finally estimate the dynamic population size for each activity. We test the method in the central districts of Guangzhou city, China, based on real-time Tencent user density data. Correlation analysis and accuracy assessment prove that our method can accurately estimate hourly distributions for populations engaging in working, stay-at-home, and socializing activities. The temporal distribution of the working population reproduces the regular work scenarios and socializing population displays complex spatial patterns. We also find that there is an underlying relationship between a region's function and its dynamic population structure. The presented method has great potential for application and could provide new insight for studying urban dynamic functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In map multiscale visualization, typification is the process of replacing original objects, such as buildings, using a smaller number of objects while maintaining initial geometrical and distribution characteristics. During the past few decades, many vector-based methods for building typification have been developed, whereas raster-based methods have received less attention. In this paper, a new method for the typification of buildings with different distribution patterns called superpixel building typification (SUBT) is developed based on raster data. Using this method, buildings with different distribution patterns, such as linear, grid and irregular patterns, are first grouped by image connected component detection and superpixel analysis. Then, the new positions for building typification are determined by superpixel resegmentation. Finally, a new representation of the buildings is determined through analysis of the orientation and shape of the buildings in each superpixel. To test the proposed SUBT method, buildings from both cities and countrysides in China are applied to perform typification. The experimental results show that the proposed SUBT method can realize typification for buildings with linear, grid and irregular distributions while effectively maintaining the original distribution characteristics of the buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has been investing heavily in biotechnology to increase agricultural productivity. While a number of Chinese developed GM crops have cleared the required scientific hurdles – some more than a decade ago – commercialization has not been approved. The regulatory regime for GMOs in China is relatively less well understood than that of the US or the EU. This paper provides a systematic overview of China's regulatory regime, R&D investment and delayed commercialization decisions on biotechnology over the last 40 years and draws some conclusions regarding the likelihood of the commercialization for major GM crops in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of policy-oriented agricultural insurance on increasing farmers' income has been controversial all the time. In light of this, this paper first clarifies the operation mechanism of policy-oriented agricultural insurance and its influence mechanism on farmers' income from the theoretical level. Secondly, the fixed-effect model and panel quantile regression are used to empirically test the income effect of policy-based agricultural insurance on farmers, especially the effect on farmers of different income groups based on the panel data of 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) in China from 2007 to 2019. The results show that although policy-oriented agricultural insurance is beneficial to the increase of farmers' income on the whole, which has significant heterogeneity on farmers of different income groups, and its influence becomes greater with the increase of farmers' income. In the future, China should attach importance to the design of differentiated subsidy system, adhere to demand orientation so as to be vigilant that agricultural insurance will become the inducement of widening income gap in rural areas on the basis of vigorously develop policy-based agricultural insurance in a continuous manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaporation is important basic information for irrigation decision making in water resources management. Developing countries usually use a small pan to observe surface evaporation, but the relationship between evaporation in different small pans is not sufficiently clear. In this paper, we use an extreme learning machine (ELM) model to predict and convert E20 (diameter 0.20 m) and E601 (diameter 0.62 m) pan data for 38 meteorological stations in southern China. Firstly, we obtained the best combination of meteorological parameters for forecasting E20 and E601, respectively, and we also found that the accuracy of the model can be significantly improved by adding pan data. Secondly, we found that during the conversion between E20 and E601, the model performance when using E601 data to predict the E20 evaporation is better than that when using E20 data to predict the E601 evaporation. Finally, the geographical factors were analysed, and the model performance was found to be relatively poor in the coastal area and the North–South junction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusarium wilt of tomato is widespread throughout China, and the large spread of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.lycopersici (FOC) in the soil is the main reason. The application of vermicompost provides abundant antagonists and is an ecologically-friendly method for the biological control of Fusarium wilt of tomatoes. In this paper, Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing were used to explore the relationship between the incidence of Fusarium wilt of tomato and soil microorganisms in more detail and analyse the contributing factors of changes. Compared with the control treatment, vermicompost treatment promoted the growth of Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Saccharibacteria and Planctomycetes and inhibited the growth of Proteobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Firmicutes, Verrucomicrobia, and Cyanobacteria. The relative abundance of Ascomycota was negatively related to that of Basidiomycota. The results showed that the incidence of Fusarium wilt of vermicompost treatment was 36.5%∼73.9% lower than that of the control treatment. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria was positively related to the incidence of Fusarium wilt, while the ACE and Chao diversity indices of bacterial communities were significantly negatively related to the incidence of Fusarium wilt (p<0.05). Compared with other treatments, the 1:1 group exhibited a maximum diversity index, suggesting superior efficiency in the control of Fusarium wilt of tomato. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of Internet technology, due to the uneven distribution of information, poor stability of various links, low product quality and standards, and immature development of cold chain logistics network, China's agricultural products e-commerce omnichannel supply chain cannot match the diversified needs of consumers. Based on the background of Internet technology, on the basis of exploring the reverse integration value demands of agricultural products e-commerce omnichannel supply chain, this paper constructs three modes of consumption leading business process, service leading organisation and linear value creation, and puts forward the specific implementation path, so as to realise the standardisation and modern operation of agricultural products e-commerce omnichannel supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is widely used in the field of international evaluation, but its application in China has been limited. Based on the dual requirements of developing the economy and maintaining stability, social stability risk assessment (SSRA) systems have come into being in China at a historic moment. Starting from the similarities and differences between SIA and SSRA, this paper reviews the influencing factors, sources, evaluation methods, existing problems and suggestions of SSRA in major decision-making, policy, reform and construction projects. On this basis, considering Wudongde hydropower station as an example, the social stability risk of land acquisition and resettlement (LAR) is assessed by using fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) methods. The research shows that relying solely on SIA or SSRA makes it difficult to meet the social risk management requirements of major matters. SIA should be identified as a necessary link, and SSRA content should be embedded in SIA to achieve effective integration of the two. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) projects should share their benefits with those affected by them. This paper shows that in the case of the Yangtze-Huai River Diversion Project in China perceptions of compensation received differs amongst different groups of resettled people even if levels of compensation are similar. Based on a survey with displaced people, a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation concludes that those with generic skills' sets are the most satisfied, mainly because they are able to find new work and re-establish livelihoods after resettlement more quickly. On the other hand, those with only agricultural skills find it difficult to re-establish their livelihood and are often dissatisfied. Finally, those who did not have any work before resettlement were found to be satisfied overall as their life quality is said to have improved. The skills of those affected are therefore a key explanatory factor for satisfaction with compensation following resettlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the coordination problem between Chinese rural supermarket chains and farmers' consumption behaviour, this paper uses the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to construct the evaluation system of coordination between rural supermarket chains and farmers' consumption behaviour. The results show that although the coordination degree between rural supermarket chains and farmers' consumption behaviour is generally on the rise, it fluctuates relatively in the past 12 years, which does not meet the relative effectiveness required by the evaluation model. This shows that the coordination between rural supermarket chains and farmers' consumption behaviour still needs to be further improved. Finally, it puts forward specific strategies to improve the coordinated development of China's rural chain supermarkets and farmers' consumption behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]