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A demonstration is described of electrophoretic separation of carmine and sunset yellow with a paper-based device. The channel in the paper device was fabricated by hand with a wax pen. Electrophoretic separation of carmine and sunset yellow was achieved within a few minutes by applying potential on the channel using a simple and inexpensive power supply. This demonstration could not only motivate the students' passion in learning analytical chemistry but also introduce two important analytical techniques (microfluidic paper-based analytical devices and electrophoresis) to the classroom. With further modification and improvement, this demonstration may be suitable for students to perform as a laboratory experiment in the teaching lab.

Scientific methods have received widespread attention in recent years. Based on the analytical framework derived from Brandon's matrix consisting of four categories of scientific methods, this paper aims to conduct a content analysis to examine how the diversity of scientific methods is represented in college entrance chemistry examination papers from three exam boards in China. It was found that the percentages of the four categories of scientific methods in the examination papers varied significantly from each exam board, highlighting an imbalanced representation of scientific methods. Furthermore, among the four categories of scientific methods, non-manipulative parameter measurement (Non-MPM) accounted for the largest proportion in each examination paper, while the proportion of manipulative hypothesis testing (MHT) was very small, indicating that the practical chemistry items in China are less experimental. At the end of this paper, the implications of the findings and suggestions for further studies are discussed.

As China's university enrollment has been rapidly expanding since 1999, along with a steady increase in graduate enrollment, graduate-level chemistry education is confronted with many challenges, such as how to enhance the connection between fundamental knowledge and advanced frontier knowledge, and how to encourage students to do self-directed study with creativity and passion. In the 2009-2010 autumn and spring terms, the Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences undertook curriculum reform; one change made reduced the instructional time for most courses to 40 hours from the previous practice of 60 hours, with the intention of freeing up more time for students to do self-directed study. This paper reports on curriculum reform efforts implemented in one fundamental graduate course, Organic Structure Analysis, identifying changes in teaching topics, assessment results (including students' feedback), and the syllabus (guest lectures were added). During the teaching process, greater efforts were made to introduce new spectra developments as well as broad "practical" applications gathered from top research papers or related to daily life, which are highly welcomed by the students. Students' feedback data were analyzed and used to guide adjustments to curriculum reform. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Redox reaction is an important concept in chemistry, and a well-organized knowledge structure of redox reaction is beneficial for concept learning. This study investigated the knowledge structure regarding redox reaction from 459 Grade 10 students. The pool of 15 redox reaction concepts was developed by content analysis, questionnaire survey, and interview. Six initial competing models with 15 concepts were identified via exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and paper-pencil test. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to test and modify the six competing models according to the rating data of the students. As a result, six modified models fit the data well. However, the high inter-factor correlations indicate that the two- and three-factor models are the students' knowledge structures of redox reaction. The two-factor model is comprised of two distinct but correlated factors: the process of redox reaction and metrology. The three-factor model is comprised of three factors: the process of redox reaction, reaction ability, and metrology. The finding inflects the abstract relationships between the concepts related to redox reaction in students' minds.

This paper aimed to explore the factors that influenced teachers' adaptations of the curriculum materials of the new senior secondary chemistry curriculum, a standards-based science curriculum, in China. This study was based on the premise that the interaction of the teacher with curriculum materials in a given social context determined what happens in classroom. An interpretive approach was employed and six chemistry teachers in four senior secondary schools participated in this study. Classroom observation and interview were used as research methods. The data analysis revealed that there were seven factors that led to the teachers' adaptations of curriculum materials, and these factors were teacher's pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), external examinations, time constraint, teaching resources, class size, belief about science, and peer coaching. Among these factors, teacher's PCK, external examinations, and time constraint were the more significant factors that influenced teachers' adaptations of curriculum materials. These factors were discussed in the social contexts of China in the last section of this paper.

This study analyzed representations of practical work in 10th grade chemistry textbooks and associated experimental workbooks from different Chinese communities. In the field of textbook research, science education textbooks research is unbalanced between regions. In the case of chemistry textbooks analysis within the Chinese context, textbook studies are even more limited. To close the gap, this paper contributes to the current body of knowledge of how practical work in secondary chemistry education is suggested to be applied in Chinese educational contexts. A total of 508 representations related to practical work were identified in seven sets of textbooks from Mainland China, Taiwan, and the Chinese sector in Malaysia. The goal was to gain basic insights into the features associated with suggested approaches to practical work in the textbooks. Our focus was on the suggested type of learning, intended learning outcomes, inquiry level, and aspects of students' engagement with practical work. The results indicated a prevalence of prescribed experiments. This preference was then followed by illustrations of facts and laboratory operation processes. Only a limited amount of scientific inquires with at least some amount of openness were located among the list of preferred items. The intended learning outcomes mainly aim at learning facts. Most textbooks suggest using a structured learning approach. Some suggestions of inquiry-based learning using either guided or open inquiry approaches do occur, but they are relatively limited in the textbooks and do not appear frequently. The results of this study may provide a view for science textbook editors and curriculum designers to identify areas for further improvement.

This research aimed to examine the contributions of different sources in developing high school chemistry teachers' practical knowledge of teaching with practical work in China. The examination was conducted on a theoretical framework in which the conceptualization of PCK and nine sources of teachers' PCK were involved. Through a questionnaire survey of 323 chemistry teachers, the findings included the following aspects. Firstly, among the nine sources, overall, 'teaching practices', 'curriculum materials', 'classroom observations', and 'peer coaching' were recognized as the core sources, whereas 'learning experience' was regarded as the peripheral source. Secondly, for the five components of PCK of teaching with practical work, the contributions of the nine sources are different. Thirdly, three sources were found to be significantly different among teachers who have different years of teaching experience: 'pre-service training experience', 'classroom observations', and 'peer coaching'. In the last part of this paper, the implications of the findings and the suggestions for the further studies were discussed.

Moral ethic prevails in the science and education of chemistry. These issues are unique to chemistry and arise from between the theoretical and the practical behavior in laboratory. The study reported in the paper investigated the impact of personal moral philosophies on the safety practices of students in chemistry and related majors. The results showed that lab anxiety, safety attitude, safety knowledge, and idealism were significant predictors of safety practice, with the last item being the strongest predictor. According to Forsyth's four distinct personal moral philosophies, among Chinese students, situationism was the most common, followed by exceptionism and then absolutism, with subjectivism as the least common. All lowest scores are from exceptionism. Idealism was more common among males than females, more among higher grade students than lower, and more among students from eastern as compare to western regions of China. All the results showed that the content of idealism should be incorporated into safety training to improve safety practices. Attention to idealistic education in all aspects of university education can help to improve safety behavior.

Using the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy as the analytic framework, this study examined the impact of the reasoning flow scaffold (RFS) on students' written arguments. Two classes with a total of 88 10th grade students in a school participated in this study. One class, set as the experimental group, was taught scientific argumentation with RFS whereas the control class received conventional argumentation teaching. They all experienced three argument assignments of writing scientific arguments and the measurement task before and after the teaching intervention. The results of data analysis showed that after teaching intervention, students in the experimental group performed significantly better than those in the control group on evidence and rebuttal while there were no significant differences on claim or reason between the two groups. Some implications and suggestions are provided in the last part of this paper.

The practice and research on online chemistry education have received great attention in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. This paper describes the teaching practice of online learning based on three online courses for pre-service chemistry teachers. To adapt online teaching requirements, we reshaped the structure of the physical chemistry course, for example, adjusting the assessment approaches, and reinforcing long-distance instruction. Besides, we also shared the course of training chemistry teaching skills online publicly, and provided multiple learning approaches after class. Moreover, we introduced chemistry education research based on website data in an educational research methods course and shared ideas through the technology platform.

The term 'experiment' is used in different ways to mean different things in school science. This study examines the meanings of 'experiment' and how they have changed in the intended chemistry curriculum (ICC) in China since the early 1950s. A mixed methodology was adopted to analyse the 11 ICC documents from a socio-historical perspective. The qualitative analysis identifies four meanings of 'experiment' in these various documents: (1) subject content, (2) pedagogy, (3) scientific processes, and (4) inquiry. The quantitative analysis shows that the frequency of two meanings of 'experiment', subject content and pedagogy, has decreased while two other ones, scientific processes and inquiry, has experienced an upward trend during the period under study. While analysing five typical ICCs in different decades, it was found that the distribution of the four meanings of 'experiment' in these ICC documents has become more balanced from the past to the present. Moreover, explanations are provided for the changing tendencies and the distributions of the four meanings of 'experiment' in the social contexts of China. The implications for science curriculum development, science teacher development, and future research are discussed in the last part of this paper.

Using Revised Bloom's Taxonomy (RBT), this study has examined the intellectual demands of the Senior High School Chemistry Curriculum (SHSCC) in China from a socio-historical perspective. Document analysis was adopted as a research method to analyze knowledge types and cognitive processes, the two dimensions of the cognitive learning objectives in the three curriculum documents of the SHSCC officially released in 1996, 2003, and 2018 respectively. The changing tendencies of the two dimensions have been found over the past two decades. As for knowledge types, Factual knowledge has increased, whilst Conceptual knowledge has decreased and Procedural knowledge has dramatically increased, and Meta-cognitive knowledge has appeared recently although in a low ratio. With regard to cognitive processes, the lower levels have been decreased, while the higher levels have been increased. Moreover, explanations have been provided for the association between the orientations of the chemistry curriculum and the extents of intellectual demands embodied in the cognitive learning objectives in these versions of the SHSCC. From these findings, it is concluded that the SHSCC in China has become increasingly demanding during the period under study and the newly emergent SHSCC is more challenging than its predecessors. The implications of this study for curriculum researchers, curriculum developers and chemistry teachers are discussed in the last part of this paper.

This paper aimed to explore how pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of teachers influenced their adaptations of the curriculum materials of the new senior secondary chemistry curriculum, a standards-based science curriculum, in China. This study was based on the premise that the interaction of the teacher with the curriculum materials determines what happens in the classroom. An interpretive approach was adopted and five experienced chemistry teachers in four senior secondary schools participated in this study. Classroom observations and interviews were used as research methods. The data analysis revealed that there were four components of PCK that led to teachers' adaptations of curriculum materials and they were knowledge of students' understanding of science, knowledge of assessment in science, knowledge of instructional strategies, and knowledge of science curriculum. Among these four components of PCK, knowledge of students' understanding of science and knowledge of assessment in science were the factors that most influenced teachers' adaptations of curriculum materials. Furthermore, the ways that these four components of PCK influenced teachers' adaptations were different. The implications of the findings and the suggestions for the further studies were discussed in the last section of this paper.

Recently, a number of studies have examined the lived experiences of the international teaching assistants (ITAs) in the U.S. classrooms. The findings show that the ITAs face many challenges such as classroom management, instructional, linguistic, cultural and social challenges. Following this line of research, this interview-based study examined the lived experiences of a group of ITAs using a qualitative methodology. The qualitative approach was intentionally selected to add an interpretive stance to the quantitative analyses prevalent in the current research on the ITAs. The paper aims to: (1) to provide insights into the ITAs' perspectives on their first semester of teaching in the U.S. including determining the challenges they face and (2) to consider possible revisions to existing ITAs' preparation programs based on the ITAs' own perspectives and a review of the available literature. This study contributes to the field by presenting information that has the potential to prompt future empirical investigations into educational cultures as they apply to novice instructors in international contexts and to inform and renew curricula for ITAs' preparation programs at the U.S. universities.

As worldwide energy shortages and environmental degradation increase, along with steady increases in population, current science and technology are confronted with many challenges to successfully sustain our society. Among the existing promising choices, photocatalysis has been widely considered as a potential solution to energy and environment problems because of its double functions of producing H2 fuel directly from water and efficiently decomposing organic pollutants. This paper reports on the teaching experience of a graduate course--Photocatalysis: Principles and Applications--in the 2011-2012 spring term at University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), mainly involving the teaching materials, literature discussion, and students' feedback. During instruction, great efforts were made to introduce state-of-the-art research activities as well as related opportunities and challenges identified in top research papers, which are well received by the students. Feedback collected from the students was analyzed and is discussed, in order to improve this course accordingly. In addition, suggestions for potential yet non-expert instructors are provided, as well as ways to adapt the course for undergraduates.

In China, the latest version of the Senior High School Chemistry Curriculum (SHSCC) has been developed in response to social changes. This paper provides an account of the process and the product of the official document of this curriculum, "The Chemistry Curriculum Standards of Senior High School," with the purpose of exploring the way that this new chemistry curriculum has been reconstructed in the era of core competencies. A rationale has been derived from the literature, suggesting five aspects of curriculum analysis: (1) social context, (2) sources, (3) curriculum goals, (4) structure and content, and (5) teaching objectives. Guided by this rationale, the accounting of the 2018 SHSCC proceeds with the analysis of various types of curriculum documents, which fall into four categories: (1) the 2017 curriculum standards, (2) related national education visions and curriculum policies, (3) illustrations of the new SHSCC provided by the curriculum designers, and (4) discussions concerning science and chemistry curricula within or beyond the chemistry-education community in China. On the basis of the analysis, three issues relevant to science- and chemistry-curriculum development are discussed: (1) the curriculum idea and discourses in the view of core competence, (2) the construction of the subject matter of chemistry, and (3) the globalization and localization of chemistry curricula.

Taking the recently released Junior Secondary School Chemistry Curriculum (JSSCC) in the People's Republic of China as a case, this paper approaches the issue of how to realize the idea of scientific literacy within a secondary school science curriculum. Subject matter and its companion meanings were used as the framework to explore the embedding of scientific literacy. Two methods were employed in this study: document analyses and interviews with key informants involved in designing the new JSSCC. From the analysis of the curriculum documents relevant to the JSSCC, it is evident that the idea of scientific literacy has been reflected substantially in the new JSSCC. The embedding of scientific literacy can be explained with reference to sociopolitical background and the national curriculum policies at the macro-level, and to the roles played by chemistry educators, in lieu of academic chemists, at the micro-level. This paper provides an example of curriculum reform in which principles associated with scientific literacy are embedded in the formal curriculum.

The study that is the subject of this paper tested the effects of EDI (explanation-driven inquiry) on students' redox conceptual understanding and their misconceptions. Two classes of 119 10th grade high school students were involved. Two groups of students in the same school were chosen. One class that was taught by EDI teaching was set as the treatment group and another class that received conventional teaching was set as the control group. Students' conceptual understanding was measured by a standardised instrument, and the students' misconceptions were compared. The analysis of covariance showed that EDI teaching had significant effects on students' redox conceptual understanding, and the results of the chi-square test demonstrated that students' conceptual understanding level was improved by using EDI teaching. Also, after comparing the two groups of students' misconceptions of redox, the results indicated that the students' misconceptions changed toward deeper conceptual understanding in the treatment group that used EDI. Finally, some suggestions were made on how to implement EDI in the classroom.

While various quantitative measures for assessing teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) have developed rapidly, few studies to date have comprehensively validated the structure of TPACK through various criteria of validity especially for content specific areas. In this paper, we examined how the TPACK survey measure is aligned with the TPACK lesson plan measure and how they are related to the measure of epistemological beliefs about chemistry. The participants were 280 Chinese preservice chemistry teachers enrolled in a university in China. Both exploratory and confirmatory factory analyses were performed on the TPACK survey measure to help to establish validity, including considerations for convergent and discriminant validity. This was followed by the invariance test to examine factorial validity as related to gender. To establish the predictive validity of TPACK, the relationships among teachers' epistemological beliefs, TPACK, and their capacity for planning technology-integrated lessons were also examined. Overall, the results showed that all four types of validity looked at in this study (i.e., convergent, discriminant, factorial, and predictive) were satisfactorily established. Implications for TPACK research and teacher education are also discussed.

Chemistry core ideas play an important role in students' chemistry learning. On the basis of the representations of chemistry core ideas about "substances" and "processes" in the Chinese Chemistry Curriculum Standards (CCCS) and the U.S. Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), we conduct a critical comparison of chemistry core ideas between these two documents in this paper. We also discuss the following reasons why there are differences in the representation of chemistry core ideas between them: different research perspectives on science education, different understandings of chemistry core ideas, and different understandings of the nature of teaching process. Our primary intent in this comparative analysis is to promote a deeper understanding of chemistry core ideas, provide advice and resources for chemistry curriculum research and chemistry teaching practice, and raise more attention on goals of science education and aims of chemistry.

In this paper we describe the development and evaluation of two activities for delivery in first year B.Sc. and M.Chem. degree courses, in which we introduced an international context representing either a linguistic or a cultural modification to the previously developed case studies. The case studies focus on an industrial and an environmental scenario. The industrial scenario was recast within a site based in India, whilst the environmental scenario introduced material in several European languages. Evaluation of student attitudes before and after the engagement with the activities suggest that their attitudes towards working in a non-UK environment and towards language learning had become more positive.

This paper investigated the change of the Junior Secondary School Chemistry Curriculum (JSSCC) in the P. R. China over the period from 1978 to 2001. Document analysis was employed as the research method and data were collected from various versions of teaching syllabi, textbooks, and teachers' reference books published during this period. The changes of the purposes and content of the JSSCC were traced in the view of scientific literacy, which incorporates both subject matter and companion meanings in the light of the concept of "curriculum emphases." It was found that subject matter had been increasingly enlarged in its breadth but its requirements gradually decreased while companion meanings at different levels of this curriculum had been increasingly added from 1978 to 2001. On the basis of these findings it was concluded that the JSSCC had experienced a transition from being more elite to more future citizenry oriented during the period under study. Two implications of this study for science curriculum research were discussed.

Taking the Junior Secondary School Chemistry Curriculum (JSSCC) in the People's Republic of China as a case, this paper approaches the issue of the tension between elite and future citizenry orientations in science curriculum. The changes in the JSSCC over the period from 1978 to 2001 are explained from three viewpoints: sociopolitical, individual, and international influences. Based on the data collected from curriculum documents, and interviews with people involved in designing the JSSCC over the period under study, a model is established in terms of the tension between the two curriculum orientations. In this model, it is argued that the elite and future citizenry curriculum orientations are influenced by different forces. For the elite orientation, the forces are the "science for the minority" policy released by the nation, the subject matter centered input from the West, and a dominant role played by academic scientists. For the future citizenry orientation, the forces are the "science for the majority" policy released by the nation, the socially, personally, and culturally relevant input from the West, and an emerging dominant role played by science educators.

China is facing severe pressure on its water resources and water environments. Calculating the industrial water efficiency of each province is an important index for the central government to evaluate local governments. In the traditional water resources evaluation index, the industrial water use efficiency and pollutant discharge are evaluated separately. In this paper, we collected industrial input data, output data and pollutant discharge data with a four-stage data envelopment analysis to calculate China's industrial water use efficiency with and without considering pollutant discharge, and then analyzed the factors influencing the industrial water use efficiency. The results show that the eastern coastal provinces of China have the highest water use efficiency and are less affected by pollutant discharge than other provinces. The industrial water use efficiency of the central and western provinces is lower than that of the other provinces, and the industrial water use efficiency in the central provinces is greatly affected by pollutant discharge. Factor endowment, economic development level, scientific and technological progress, industrial structure, proportion of foreign investment, water consumption per 10000 yuan of value-added by industry, industrial sewage treatment capacity and educational investment have a significant influence on the industrial water use efficiency of China. We suggest that the government strengthen the construction of sewage plants and other related infrastructure in central provinces when conducting the industrial transfer of heavy polluting enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the heterogeneous effects of exchange rate and stock market on carbon emission allowance price in four emissions trading scheme pilots in China. We employ a panel quantile regression model, which can describe both individual and distributional heterogeneity. The empirical results illustrate that the effects of explanatory variables on carbon emission allowance price is heterogeneous along the whole quantiles. Specifically, exchange rate has a negative effect on carbon emission allowance price at lower quantiles, while becomes a positive effect at higher quantiles. In addition, a negative effect exists between domestic stock market and carbon emission allowance price, and the intensity decreasing along with the increase of quantile. By contrast, an increasing positive effect is discovered between European stock market and domestic carbon emission allowance prices. Finally, heterogeneous effects on carbon emission allowance price can also be proved in European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU-ETS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gunpowder is one of the four great inventions of ancient China, which once had an important impact on the world pattern and development process. However, after the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty, gunpowder firearms gradually declined in China. Gunpowder moved to the West with the war and became black powder, which promoted the birth and development of modern chemical science. The development of chemical science is of great significance to the dynamite family. The brilliant achievements of China's modern king of dynamite revitalize the glory of Chinese gunpowder. This paper reviews the legendary development course and the groundbreaking role of dynamite, describes the properties, rich types and unique working principles of its special chemical energy, and tries to trace the internal mechanism of gunpowder combustion and explosion. It aims to highlight the importance of scientific thinking mode and the development of chemistry discipline to the study of explosives, so as to continuously enrich the knowledge connotation of chemistry students, stimulate their enthusiasm for innovative thinking, enhance their professional confidence, cultural confidence and national confidence, and promote the spirit of scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most scientists consider that sonochemistry became recognised as a discrete subject in the 1980's - some 40 years ago which coincidentally is when my own interests in the subject began. This review briefly outlines how I first became involved in sonochemistry and then in its development. However its main theme is the way in which my links with China through sonochemistry have developed from their beginnings in 1990. This was the subject of my presentation at AOSS4 and involves a range of topics which started with the extraction of natural products and surface treatment but later expanded to include therapeutic ultrasound and environmental protection., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Although studies have increasingly linked air pollution to specific health outcomes, less well understood is how public perceptions of air quality respond to changing pollutant levels. The growing availability of air pollution measurements and the proliferation of social media provide an opportunity to gauge public discussion of air quality conditions. In this paper, we consider particulate matter (PM) measurements from four Chinese megacities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu) together with 112 million posts on Weibo (a popular Chinese microblogging system) from corresponding days in 2011–2013 to identify terms whose frequency was most correlated with PM levels. These correlations are used to construct an Air Discussion Index (ADI) for estimating daily PM based on the content of Weibo posts. In Beijing, the Chinese city with the most PM as measured by U.S. Embassy monitor stations, we found a strong correlation (R = 0.88) between the ADI and measured PM. In other Chinese cities with lower pollution levels, the correlation was weaker. Nonetheless, our results show that social media may be a useful proxy measurement for pollution, particularly when traditional measurement stations are unavailable, censored or misreported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deterioration of water quality has become a primary environmental concern worldwide. Understanding the status of water quality and identifying the influencing factors are important for water resources management. However, reported analyses have mostly been conducted in small and focused areas. It is still unclear if factors driving spatial variation in water quality would be different in extended spatial scales. In this paper, we analyzed spatial pattern of inland surface water quality in China using a dataset with four water quality parameters (i.e., pH, DO, NH4+-N and CODMn) and the water quality level. We tested the effects of anthropogenic (i.e., land use and socio-economic) and natural (i.e., climatic and topographic) factors on spatial variation in water quality. The study concluded that the overall inland surface water quality in China was at level III (fair). Water quality level was strongly correlated with CODMn and NH4+-N concentration. In contrast to reported studies that suggested land use patterns were the determinants of inland surface water quality, this study revealed that both anthropogenic and natural factors played important roles in explaining spatial variation of inland surface water quality in China. Among the tested explanatory variables, mean elevation within watershed appeared as the best predictor for pH, while annual precipitation and mean air temperature were the most important explanatory variables for CODMn and DO, respectively. NH4+-N concentration and water quality level were most strongly correlated with the percent of forest cover in watershed. Compared to studies at smaller spatial scales, this study found different influencing factors of surface water quality, suggesting that factors may play different roles at different spatial scales of consideration. Therefore management policies and measures in water quality control must be established and implemented accordingly. Since currently adopted parameters for monitoring of inland surface water quality in China are largely influenced by natural variables, additional physicochemical and biological indicators are needed for a robust assessment of human impacts on water quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the causality between energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth is helpful for policymakers to formulate energy, environmental and economic policies. For the first time, based on nonlinear dynamics, this paper employs multispatial convergent cross mapping (CCM) to revisit the energy-carbon-economy causation for China, India and the G7 countries using both aggregate data and per capita data. The findings indicate that there are significant differences between developing countries and developed countries. A bidirectional nexus between energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth is found in China and India, but various causal relationships are identified in the G7 countries, including bidirectional, unidirectional and neutral nexus. The results confirm that the decoupling phenomenon is common in most G7 countries. By leveraging a variety of samples and a new approach, this study provides new evidence for policy authorities to formulate country-specific policies to obtain better environmental quality while achieving sustainable economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A reasonable micro-pits texture has been initially proved that it can improve friction characteristics between wood and cemented carbide surface and reduce surface friction coefficient. In order to study the cutting performance of the micro-texture when it is applied to the cutting tool for cutting wood more effectively, this paper selected micro-pit texture for studying influence of surface micro-texture cutting tool on wood cutting performance and cutting temperature, finding that when micro-pit cemented carbide cutting tool is adopted for turning the northeast China ash (Fraxinus spp.), it can reduce cutting force of turning and surface friction coefficient between rake face and cuttings. Moreover, for type A and type B cutting tools, when the texture parameters are that the diameter of the micro-pit is 80μm, the depth of the micro pit is: 10μm, area occupancy is 20% and the diameter of the micro-pit is 120μm, the depth of the micro-pit is 10μm and the area occupancy is 20%, the effect generated is the best. When a texture cutting tool is used for cutting, the decrease of the highest temperature in the cutting area is not very great, but the average temperature in the cutting area changes a lot, which is mainly caused by that micro-texture is processed at a position of the rake face close to the main cutting edge and that the highest temperature of cutting is mainly generated on the contact point between tool tip and wood. A reasonable micro-texture parameter can form a layer of liquid lubricating film on the up and down contact surfaces such that the direct contact between cemented carbide and northeast China ash is changed into indirect contact between lubricating films formed by the liquid so as to reduce the surface friction coefficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited data exist related to low birth weight (LBW) incidence and risk factors in Western China. This paper aims to assess LBW and its relationship with antenatal care (ANC) in the poor counties of Western China. A community-based study in rural Western China was conducted in 2011. A kernel distribution was used to estimate the adjusted LBW incidence, and associations between LBW and socio-demographic or maternal factors were examined using multilevel logistic regression. Among 8,964 participants, 65.7% were weighed at birth. Crude LBW incidence was 6.6% and the adjusted rate was 9.3%. The study revealed that risk factors of LBW are being female, raised within a minority group, and with a family income below the national poverty line. For maternal risk factors, LBW was positively associated with not attending at least five or eight ANC visits, not receiving any ANC during the first trimester, and not having access to assess certain ANC content (weight, blood pressure, blood test, urine test, B-scan ultrasound, and folic acid supplement). There is urgent need to promote quality ANC in poor and rural areas of Western China and to prioritize vulnerable women and children who will benefit from quality ANC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintaining crop outputs to feed its large population with limited resources while simultaneously mitigating carbon emissions are great challenges for China. Improving the efficiency of resource use in crop production is important in reducing carbon emissions. This paper constructs a methodological framework combining emergy-based indicator accounting and a nonseparable undesirable output slack-based measurement (SBM) data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. This framework is used to explore the efficiency of inputs and outputs and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction potential for crop production systems, using Zhejiang province, China, as a case study. It is found that an emergy synthesis and a nonseparable undesirable output SBM-DEA framework is compatible with the case study. Crop production in Zhejiang province has relied heavily on an increase in agrochemical inputs to maintain agricultural output. Energy and chemical fertilizer use are determined as the province’s major carbon emissions sources. Although carbon emissions per unit of monetary output has decreased sharply, the carbon emissions per unit emergy output has increased, demonstrating a high carbon intensity reality. The DEA highlighted the differences in crop production efficiency, resource factor redundancy and carbon mitigation potential in the different prefectures of the province. To conclude this research, policies to support low carbon agriculture development, including subsidizing low carbon agriculture technology development and expansion and the cancellation of subsidies to high carbon production factors, such as chemical fertilizer production and sales, are discussed to conclude the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates the impact of an endemic fossorial animal, plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae), on soil properties and N2O flux at the Zoige Wetland. Pika burrow and control sites without disturbance by pika were selected to measure the soil water content, bulk density, soil organic matter (SOM), NH4-N content and NO3-N content in August 2012. N2O fluxes were measured with static opaque chambers at these sites in June and August 2012. Pika burrowing altered soil aeration by transferring deeper soil to the surface and by constructing underground burrows, which significantly increased bulk density, and reduced soil water content, SOM and NH4-N content at 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm soil depth. N2O flux had a significant correlation with bulk density, SOM and NH4-N content. Pika burrowing significantly influenced N2O flux by increasing N2O flux at the control site from near zero to 0.063±0.011 mg m-2 h-1. Our findings described how pika burrowing influences the soil traits and significantly increases the principal greenhouse gas N2O emission. As plateau pika was commonly considered as a pest, our findings give a novel clue to effectively manage populations of plateau pika on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from the perspective of greenhouse gas emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies indicated that industrialization and urbanization caused serious soil heavy metal pollution from industrialized age. However, fewer previous studies have conducted a combined analysis of the landscape pattern, urbanization, industrialization, and heavy metal pollution. This paper was aimed at exploring the relationships of heavy metals in the soil (Pb, Cu, Ni, As, Cd, Cr, Hg, and Zn) with landscape pattern, industrialisation, urbanisation in Taiyuan city using multivariate analysis. The multivariate analysis included correlation analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), independent-sample T test, and principal component analysis (PCA). Geographic information system (GIS) was also applied to determine the spatial distribution of the heavy metals. The spatial distribution maps showed that the heavy metal pollution of the soil was more serious in the centre of the study area. The results of the multivariate analysis indicated that the correlations among heavy metals were significant, and industrialisation could significantly affect the concentrations of some heavy metals. Landscape diversity showed a significant negative correlation with the heavy metal concentrations. The PCA showed that a two-factor model for heavy metal pollution, industrialisation, and the landscape pattern could effectively demonstrate the relationships between these variables. The model explained 86.71% of the total variance of the data. Moreover, the first factor was mainly loaded with the comprehensive pollution index (P), and the second factor was primarily loaded with landscape diversity and dominance (H and D). An ordination of 80 samples could show the pollution pattern of all the samples. The results revealed that local industrialisation caused heavy metal pollution of the soil, but such pollution could respond negatively to the landscape pattern. The results of the study could provide a basis for agricultural, suburban, and urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, China is facing a very serious issue of Air Pollution due to its dreadful impact on the human health as well as the environment. The urban cities in China are the most affected due to their rapid industrial and economic growth. Therefore, it is of extreme importance to come up with new, better and more reliable forecasting models to accurately predict the air quality. This paper selected Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang as three cities from the Jingjinji Region for the study to come up with a new model of collaborative forecasting using Support Vector Regression (SVR) for Urban Air Quality Index (AQI) prediction in China. The present study is aimed to improve the forecasting results by minimizing the prediction error of present machine learning algorithms by taking into account multiple city multi-dimensional air quality information and weather conditions as input. The results show that there is a decrease in MAPE in case of multiple city multi-dimensional regression when there is a strong interaction and correlation of the air quality characteristic attributes with AQI. Also, the geographical location is found to play a significant role in Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang AQI prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global management of wetlands to suppress greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, facilitate carbon (C) sequestration, and reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations while simultaneously promoting agricultural gains is paramount. However, studies that relate variability in CO2 and CH4 emissions at large spatial scales are limited. We investigated three-year emissions of soil CO2 and CH4 from the primary wetland types of the Liaohe Delta, China, by focusing on a total wetland area of 3287 km2. One percent is Suaeda salsa, 24% is Phragmites australis, and 75% is rice. While S. salsa wetlands are under somewhat natural tidal influence, P. australis and rice are managed hydrologically for paper and food, respectively. Total C emissions from CO2 and CH4 from these wetland soils were 2.9 Tg C/year, ranging from 2.5 to 3.3 Tg C/year depending on the year assessed. Primary emissions were from CO2 (~98%). Photosynthetic uptake of CO2 would mitigate most of the soil CO2 emissions, but CH4 emissions would persist. Overall, CH4 fluxes were high when soil temperatures were >18°C and pore water salinity <18 PSU. CH4 emissions from rice habitat alone in the Liaohe Delta represent 0.2% of CH4 carbon emissions globally from rice. With such a large area and interannual sensitivity in soil GHG fluxes, management practices in the Delta and similar wetlands around the world have the potential not only to influence local C budgeting, but also to influence global biogeochemical cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overgrazing has been the primary cause of grassland degradation in the semi-arid grasslands of the agro-pastoral transition zone in northern China. However, there has been little evidence regarding grazing intensity impacts on vegetation change and soil C and N dynamics in this region. This paper reports the effects of four grazing intensities namely un-grazed (UG), lightly grazed (LG), moderately grazed (MG) and heavily grazed (HG) on vegetation characteristics and soil properties of grasslands in the Guyuan county in the agro-pastoral transition region, Hebei province, northern China. Our study showed that the vegetation height, canopy cover, plant species abundance and aboveground biomass decreased significantly with increased grazing intensity. Similarly, soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (STN) in the 0–50 cm were highest under UG (13.3 kg C m−2 and 1.69 kg N m−2) and lowest under HG (9.8 kg C m−2 and 1.22 kg N m−2). Soil available nitrogen (SAN) was significantly lower under HG (644 kg N hm−2) than under other treatments (725–731 kg N hm−2) in the 0–50 cm. Our results indicate that the pasture management of “take half-leave half” has potential benefits for primary production and livestock grazing in this region. However, grazing exclusion was perhaps the most effective choice for restoring degraded grasslands in this region. Therefore, flexible rangeland management should be adopted in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conversion of farmland to forestland not only changes the ecological environment but also enriches the soil with organic matter and affects the global carbon cycle. This paper reviews the influence of land use changes on the soil organic carbon sink to determine whether the Chinese “Grain-for-Green” (conversion of farmland to forestland) project increased the rate of SOC content during its implementation between 1999 and 2010 in the hilly and gully areas of the Loess Plateau in north-central China. The carbon sink was quantified, and the effects of the main species were assessed. The carbon sink increased from 2.26×106 kg in 1999 to 8.32×106 kg in 2010 with the sustainable growth of the converted areas. The black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) soil increased SOC content in the top soil (0–100 cm) in the initial 7-yr period, while the sequestration occurred later (>7 yr) in the 100–120 cm layer after the “Grain-for-Green” project was implemented. The carbon sink function measured for the afforested land provides evidence that the Grain-for-Green project has successfully excavated the carbon sink potential of the Shaanxi province and served as an important milestone for establishing an effective organic carbon management program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on carbon spot prices selected from seven carbon pilots, we assess the financial performances related to carbon volatility in China on the overall perspective. According to the results, the Chinese carbon market fluctuated severely at the beginning of carbon trading, but has stabilised in general, despite several dramatic changes related to ‘yearly compliance events’. Long-term memory exists in the volatility series. Moreover, asymmetry exists in the Chinese carbon market, and volatility reacts more severely to good news than to bad news. Finally, we discuss our empirical results, and make certain suggestions regarding firms’ awareness, international cooperation and individual investors not only for policy makers in China but also for other developing countries who are contemplating either commencing carbon trading or improving the current market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the future time the exploration of marine oil and gas will be one of the significant domains in China. In this paper the biomarker assemblage characteristics of oilshow in the Nanlinghu Formation of the Majiashan profile, which is located in Chaoxian County, south of Anhui Province, are described in the light of gas chromatography/mass spectrometric (GCMS) analysis on the qualitative and quantitative basis. Based on the investigation of the biomarker assemblage characteristics of possible source rocks developed in the area studied, a conclusion is drawn that the oilshow was generated from the Nanlinghu Formation source rocks (abbreviated as T1 n), instead of the Qixia Formation source rocks (abbreviated as P1 q). It is pointed out that the T1 n is of strong potential for future oil exploration, and therefore much attention should be paid to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the change of the Junior Secondary School Chemistry Curriculum (JSSCC) in the P. R. China over the period from 1978 to 2001. Document analysis was employed as the research method and data were collected from various versions of teaching syllabi, textbooks, and teachers' reference books published during this period. The changes of the purposes and content of the JSSCC were traced in the view of scientific literacy, which incorporates both subject matter and companion meanings in the light of the concept of ‘curriculum emphases.’ It was found that subject matter had been increasingly enlarged in its breadth but its requirements gradually decreased while companion meanings at different levels of this curriculum had been increasingly added from 1978 to 2001. On the basis of these findings it was concluded that the JSSCC had experienced a transition from being more elite to more future citizenry oriented during the period under study. Two implications of this study for science curriculum research were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacology relevance: Dichondra repens J.R.Forst. and G.Forst (DRF; Convolvulaceae, called Matijin in Chinese), has been traditionally used to treat jaundice, bacillary dysentery, urinary tract infection, edema, contusions, and strains and sprains based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) concepts. Aim of study: This paper intends to provide a comprehensive and critical analysis of research on DRF focusing on a relationship between traditional uses and pharmacological effects, evaluating the therapeutic potential of this plant. Methods: Relevant data on DRF were retrieved from available databases. Results: The heat-clearing and detoxifying, and removing the phlegm and turbid urine effects of DRF are linked to its anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV), anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective activities. Especially, the hepatoprotective effects of DRF are mainly based on anti-HBV activities of phenylalanine dipeptides Matijin-Su (MTS) and its derivatives derived from this plant. Further, a phase I anti-HBV clinical trial of a candidate compound named bentysrepinine (Y101, Chinese name Tifentai) has been completed. Also, anti-tumor, analgesic, and antibacterial properties have been reported in the extracts and compounds from DRF. Although pharmacy, pharmacodynamics, toxicology, and pharmacokinetics of bentysrepinine have been systemically reported, no studies have reported chemistry, safety, pharmacology of other compounds or extracts systemically. Conclusion: Phenylalanine dipeptide compounds are main components and MTS is a characteristic substance of DRF. The main pharmacological effect of DRF is anti-HBV activity, which is coherent with the traditional use of this plant in China. Except bentysrepinine, few studies have been conducted on toxicities of the extracts or compounds from DRF. Thus, it is still necessary to evaluate safety, chemistry, pharmacology of the extracts or compounds from DRF regarding the link between traditional uses and modern applications before the future clinical trials. Bacterial sepsis, cholecystitis and tumors may be prior therapeutic targets of this plant in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mature understanding of the sandstone gas reservoir in the Xiaoheba Formation in the southeastern Sichuan Basin remains lacking. To assess the reservoir characteristics and the origin of the high-quality reservoir in the Xiaoheba Formation, this paper uses systematic field investigations, physical property analysis, thin section identification, scanning electron microscopy and electron microprobe methods. The results indicate that the Xiaoheba sandstone is an ultra-tight and ultra-low permeability reservoir, with an average porosity of 2.97% and an average permeability of 0.56×10−3 μm2. This promising reservoir is mainly distributed in the Lengshuixi and Shuangliuba regions and the latter has a relatively high-quality reservoir with an average porosity of 5.28% and average permeability of 0.53×10−3 μm2. The reservoir space comprises secondary intergranular dissolved pores, moldic pores and fractures. Microfacies, feldspar dissolution and fracture connectivity control the quality of this reservoir. The relatively weak compaction and cementation in the interbedded delta front distal bar and interdistributary bay microfacies indirectly protected the primary intergranular pores and enhanced late-stage dissolution. Late-stage potassium feldspar dissolution was controlled by the early-stage organic acid dissolution intensity and the distance from the hydrocarbon generation center. Early-stage fractures acted as pathways for organic acid migration and were therefore important factors in the formation of the reservoir. Based on these observations, the area to the west of the Shuangliuba and Lengshuixi regions has potential for gas exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the latest round of curriculum reform in the People's Republic of China, school chemistry curriculum is experiencing a transition. A major feature of this curriculum reform is that the form of national standards has been used to construct the official document of secondary school chemistry curriculum. This paper focused on accounts of the social background, producing process, rationale, structure of the national standards of senior secondary school chemistry curriculum (SSSCC). In order to discern the differences of the new SSSCC with the traditional ones, a comparison was made between the national standards and the previous syllabi in terms of curriculum intentions and contents. The experiences and problems involved in developing the national standards of the SSSCC are discussed in the final part of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we portray an inquiry into the problematic impact of the Chinese National Examination system on Chinese chemistry teaching and learning. The inquiry was conducted as a soulful autoethnography, illuminating the first-hand experiences of a Chinese chemistry teacher struggling to reconcile contradictions between his humanistic ideals (of 'loose' teaching) and the technical forces (of 'strict' teaching) prevailing in his professional culture. This narrative inquiry yielded a mix of short stories and reflective commentary. In this article, selected stories present vignettes of the teacher's enactment of the national chemistry curriculum at critical periods early in his career. The article demonstrates the value of adopting soulful autoethnogaphy as a form of professional development, illustrating how multiple modes of inquiry can open up spaces for practical moral reflection (phronesis), soulful attunement (poesis) and contemplative thinking (theoria) which, taken together contribute to a loving praxis of transformative education. Consistent with the narrative representational form of the research, this article has a diachronic storied structure, which mirrors the process of the inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]