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Volatiles including water on the Moon has been one of the most interesting scientific objects for decades. In this study, we systematically introduced a concept for China's Chang'E−7 (CE-7) lunar polar exploration mission which consists of five elements, the orbiter, lander, rover, and leaper, and one relay satellite. The orbiter will provide a high-resolution image preparing for landing site selection. We also proposed three phases for in-situ investigation after landing. (1) The rover and leaper will jointly investigate the sunlit area; (2) the leaper will explore cold traps; and (3) the leaper will fly back to the sunlit area and continue an extended exploration mission. An experimental penetrator launched by the lander will penetrate permanently shadowed crater walls for water ice detection. Data will be transmitted to Earth through the relay satellite due to the limited Earth visibility. We also calculated the illumination rate within a 15 × 15 km area that partially covers the Shackleton crater at a high spatial resolution of 20 m/pixel during lunar southern summer. Specifically, we compared two potential landing sites with accumulated illumination at different altitude levels, slopes, and distances to the target. We found that one part of the Shackleton crater rim can be a primary landing site for CE-7's both sunlit areas and cold trap explorations. • We introduce a concept design of China's Chang'E−7 lunar polar exploration mission. • The mission element leaper is newly designed to explore water ice at cold traps. • We calculate illumination rates near the Moon's south pole during southern summer. • Engineering safety and scientific goals constrain polar landing site selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is recognized as the most important component of the greenhouse gases, the concentration of which has increased rapidly since the pre-industrial era due to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). The accurate monitoring of carbon dioxide is essential to study the global carbon cycle and radiation budget on Earth. The Aerosol and Carbon Detection Lidar (ACDL) instrument onboard the Atmospheric Environmental Monitoring Satellite (AEMS) was successfully launched in April 2022, which allows a new perspective to quantify the global spatial distribution of atmospheric CO2 with high accuracy. In this work, the impact of the Doppler shift on CO2 measurements for an integrated-path differential absorption (IPDA) light detection and ranging (lidar) system was evaluated to meet the weighted column-averaged mixing ratio of carbon dioxide (XCO2) measurement requirements of less than one part per million (ppm). The measurement uncertainties due to the Doppler shift were first evaluated in airborne IPDA observations. The result shows that most of the Doppler shift is in the range of 6–8 MHz, resulting in 0.26-0.39 ppm deviations in the XCO2 results. The deviations between the XCO2 retrievals and in situ measurements decreased to 0.16 ppm after the correction of the Doppler shift from 11:28:29 to 11:28:49 in the flight campaign. In addition, the online Doppler shift accounts for 98% of the deviations between XCO2 retrievals and in situ measurements. Furthermore, the impact of the Doppler shift on ACDL measurements is also assessed. The differences between the XCO2 retrievals with and without Doppler shift are used to quantify measurement uncertainties due to the Doppler effect. The simulations reveal that a pointing misalignment of 0.067 mrad can lead to a mean bias of about 0.30 ppm (0.072%) in the CO2 column. In addition, CO2 measurements are more sensitive to the Doppler shift at high altitudes for IPDA lidar, so the largest differences in the CO2 columns are found on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiropractors (DCs) and Osteopaths (DOs) started out primarily by manipulating the human body to cure diseases without the need for drugs. With the development of American medicine, the two professions of chiropractor and osteopath have embarked on two different development paths. The Osteopath (DO) joined the Allopathic medicine (MD), and have become one part of the mainstream of Western medicine. However, Osteopaths are now also increasingly using medication and surgery, considered a departure from their original principles. Chiropractors (DCs) are not integrated with Allopathic medicine (MDs) as they still mainly use manipulations, but also they use other non-medication and non-surgery treatments. How similar is the developmental track of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China and abroad. Comparing the relationship between the segments of spinal nerves and meridians with the whole human body reveals the similarity in schools of thought. Chiropractic and Osteopathic medicine in the United States and acupuncture/Chinese medicine are highly similar in ideas and concepts. Combining these two schools of thought may be the best way to study the human body from the structural perspective and improve the integration of Chinese and Western medicine. The clinical application of AcuChiro Therapy is to optimize various diagnosing and therapeutic techniques, integrate diagnoses and treatments to be safe and efficient. The diagnosis applies the latest spinal health knowledge, dynamic examination of the spine, accurate muscle testing, and meridian differentiation that are particularly related to acupuncture. The treatment is based on acupuncture and chiropractic techniques combined with acupressure/tuina, stretching, exercises and so on. Typical examples have been reported previously on AcuChiro Therapy for spinal and whole body disorders. The combination model of acupuncture and chiropractic is the integration of Chinese and Western medicine theories, and the optimized application of various clinical techniques such as acupuncture and chiropractic to form AcuChiro Therapy. Under the circumstance that the integrative Chinese and Western medicine has been criticized, AcuChiro Therapy attempts to organically integrate Chinese and Western medicine, and explores a way for future integrative medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve energy consumption structure in Guizhou province, China, the efficient development of shale gas becomes more and more important. However, the theoretical understanding, towards microscopic gas flow mechanism, is still weak and insufficient. Although many models have been established, one part of them fails to cover all flow mechanisms, and the other part contains several fitting parameters. Moreover, nanopores can be divided into circular pore and slit pore in accordance with pore geometry. For cylindrical nanopores, by fully comparing with the existed models, a new bulk-gas transport model is proposed by weight superposition of slip flow and Knudsen diffusion, in which weight factors are obtained by Wu's model and Knudsen's model, respectively. For slit pores, an analytical equation for bulk-gas flow is proposed as well, which is free of any fitting parameters. The reliability of the proposed models has been clarified. The impacts of reservoir pressure, pore scale, and gas flow mechanism on bulk-gas flow behavior in process of shale gas development are analyzed. It is found that gas transport capacity of slit nanopores is significantly higher than that of cylindrical nanopores at the same pore scale. For slit nanopores, the larger the aspect ratio, the stronger bulk-gas transmission capacity. As the established models are free of fitting parameters and can be applied into the entire K n range with sufficient accuracy, the research will greatly benefit shale gas development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water and land resource utilization is an important driving force of changes in ecosystem services; therefore, research on multi-parameter coupling systems that consider "ecosystem services, water resources, and land resources" together has key significance for river basins. This study aims to reveal the interaction and mutual influence of ecosystem services and water and land resources in the Daguhe River Basin, China, based on the coupling coordination degree model. The results showed that during the period from 2000 to 2010, the coupling coordination degree values for the years 2000, 2005, and 2010 were 0.6005, 0.7292, and 0.8037. The corresponding coupling coordination classifications were categorized as "primary coordinated development", "intermediate coordinated development," and "well-coordinated development", respectively. These results reflected the fact that the relationship between water and land resource utilization and the environment tends to evolve in the direction of coordinated development (an improvement in one part corresponds to an improvement in another part) with variation in water and land utilization types, and eventually pushes the whole resource, as well as ecological and environmental systems, from low to high levels of coupling coordination degrees as observed in case of the Daguhe River Basin, China. Our research provides an overview of the interaction between ecosystem services and water and land resources in the Daguhe Basin and even in the Shandong Province. With our results, we offer new perspectives on river basin management and for planning future eco-environmental policies (the policy is specifically designed for the ecological environment) by combining water and land resource utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on animal health economics has emphasised the importance of accounting for the indirect economic effects of animal disease outbreaks. Although recent studies have advanced in this direction by assessing consumer and producer welfare losses due to asymmetric price adjustments, potential over-shifting effects along the supply chain and spill-overs to substitute markets have been under-examined. This study contributes to this field of research by assessing the direct and indirect effects of the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak on the pork market in China. We employ impulse response functions estimated by local projection to calculate the price adjustments for consumers and producers, as well as the cross-effect in other meat markets. The results show that the ASF outbreak led to increases in both farmgate and retail prices but the rise in retail prices exceeded the corresponding change in farmgate prices. Furthermore, beef and chicken prices also rose, demonstrating the spill-over impacts of the outbreak to other markets. Overall, the evidence illustrates that a disruption in one part of a food system can have significant ripple effects across other parts of the system. • Animal disease outbreaks constitute a significant and increasing threat to food systems. • Impulse response functions used to capture cross effects within and between systems. • The effect on consumers was twice than on producers, displaying an over shifting effect. • The price of other markets also increased, displaying spillover effects into the system. • A disruption in one part of the system can have important ripple effects in other parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Situated in the contemporary contexts of Tibetan language movement and development in the education field, this article draws attention to the interactional nature of state-society relations and dynamic language ideologies in Tibet. It focuses on the ideological process underlying the discursive sensemaking patterns in official remarks and Tibetan reactions in the aftermath of a high-profile state intervention to reform Tibetan education in one part of the Tibetan region of Amdo in China. Although Tibetan people's concerns over language education and appeals to 'Tibetanness' empower them in resisting the repressive policy interventions from local authorities, this resistance also deploys the same metanarrative of legitimation that is fostered in state propaganda. As a result, Tibetan people's appeal to 'pure' language ideology accommodates speakers as much as it sets boundaries in the Tibetan society in the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The superelevation phenomenon is common in the movement of debris flows around curves. This paper presents a new method to calculate the superelevation of debris flow when it encounters obstacles in the flow process. The calculation method is based on the Bingham Model for debris flow determination. In this paper, physically significant internal and external roughness coefficients are determined by analysing the internal characteristics and external channel boundary conditions of viscous debris flows in Xiedi gully, China. According to the situation of debris flow passing through the bend, when the debris flow moves to the sidewall of the gully with velocity, the movement state is divided into two parts: radial and normal. One part of the mud rock fluid continues to move in the tangential direction and generates superelevation, and the other part moves in the radial direction and generates upward climbing along the sidewall. Thus, the formula for calculating the superelevation of debris flow bend is derived. Based on the debris flow physical and dynamic parameters, such as density and weight of the debris flow, cohesion, internal friction angle, yield stress and dynamic viscosity of liquid-phase slurry, the reliability of the formula is verified, which provides a theoretical basis for future studies of debris flow disaster prevention and control in similar areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The Xuefengling lithium polymetallic deposit is a superlarge pegmatite deposit. • Micas and columbite-group minerals from the Xuefengling pegmatites magmatic-hydrothermal process similar with the Bailongshan pegmatites, they may have originated from the same parental magma chamber. • The Xuefengling pegmatites show lower degree of fractionation than the Bailongshan pegmatites. The Xuefengling rare metal pegmatite deposit is located in the West Kunlun orogenic belt, Northwest China. It is one part of the Bailongshan orefield, which is located 5 km southeast of the Bailongshan deposit, and it is composed of the Xuefengling, Xuepen, Longmenshan and Shuangya ore segments. The Xuefengling pegmatite and the Bailongshan pegmatite have similar zoning characteristics, and the pegmatite-hosted rare metal mineralization is approximately 206–213 Ma. On the basis of detailed observations and characterization of the textures and mineral assemblages of pegmatites in the Xuefengling deposit, four zones are identified: a quartz–spodumene (QS) zone, quartz–albite–muscovite (QAM) zone, quartz–albite–tourmaline (QAT) zone, and block albite–quartz pegmatite (BAQ) zone. We use the textures and major and trace element compositions of muscovite and columbite-group minerals from the Xuefengling pegmatite to illustrate both the existing state of rare elements and the origin of the Xuefengling pegmatite. Our results show that from Li-poor (QAM and QAT zones) to Li-rich pegmatites (QS zone), the K/Rb and K/Cs ratios of muscovite gradually decrease from 41.6 to 10.9 and 2276 to 208, respectively, and the Mn# values of columbite-group minerals increase from 0.35 to 0.49, which are similar to the progressive evolution trend identified in Bailongshan pegmatites. However, the lower K/Rb and K/Cs ratios of muscovite from the Xuefengling pegmatites than those from the Bailongshan pegmatites indicate that the Xuefengling pegmatites may have formed from the lower degrees of fractional crystallization of the same parental magma chamber, leading to the Bailongshan ore-field pegmatites gradually strengthening their evolution from east to west. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns about reducing waste gas emissions and the trade-off with economic development dominate government policy worldwide. However, existing data envelopment analysis does little to permit understanding of how environmental efficiency can be improved by learning solutions. Digesting and following effective strategies from elsewhere is intuitive, but to date no evidence has been able to quantify how exactly the inputs and outputs of production are affected. Developing an improved slacks-based measure model, which incorporates learning effects as one part of undesirable outputs for the first time, we reappraise the performance of Chinese regional industrial production systems. Learning effects have significant impacts for three waste gases, especially for sulfur dioxide, advocating policy which gives managers and operatives access to best practice and empowers them to replicate this within their own firms. As well as reducing output there is strong potential to improve environmental efficiency, particularly in the developed eastern area of China. However, in the central and western regions of China it remains optimal to focus efforts on productivity and there caution on placing too much hope on learning activities is cautioned against. We also find that the proposed approach accompanied with traditional data envelopment analysis model can effectively identify the regional inefficiency whether sourced from learning activities, other production activities, or the both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the housing marketization reform, China's real estate industry has rapidly developed and commercial housing prices have risen sharply. The main reason for this is the speculative demand for housing, which breaks the equilibrium of supply and demand, leading to housing prices deviating from their basic value. The housing market in China is not isolated by province, since speculative behavior in one part of the country can affect other regions. This paper analyzes the spatial relevance in housing prices among different provinces in China by calculating Moran's I index and by measuring the speculation degree through spatial autoregressive model (SAR), a spatial economic model combined with a spatial weight matrix. For commercial housing speculation degree measurement and comparison, 31 provinces in China were chosen along with the following variables: housing prices, personal disposable income, one-year personal housing mortgage rates, housing prices growing rates, the rent, amount of residential investment, and the construction areas of houses. The results show that China's housing prices have a clear interaction among the selected cities, and that housing speculation behavior also influences each other in space. Although there are speculation activities in China, from a global perspective the degree of speculation, which varies from region to region, is still just within internationally acceptable limits. Although there are some regions with high degrees of housing speculation, the speculation is not yet China-wide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continental shale is abundant with unconventional oil and gas and has considerable potential for exploitation. However, due to differences in the deposition environment, continental shale presents unique characteristics in terms of mineralogy and mechanical properties compared to marine shale. Furthermore, the mechanical influence of fracturing fluid immersion must be considered because of the dual effects on the productive shale system caused by fracturing fluids remaining in the formation. In this study, tri-axial compression tests were performed on Jurassic continental shale specimens collected from an exploratory well (2778–2816 m deep) in the Sichuan Basin of China before and after exposure to fracturing fluids. Meanwhile, two quantitative indicators, the roughness R , which characterizes the widely distributed yield deformation, and the complexity F , which evaluates the complex multi-fractures, were used to distinguish the different brittle-plastic characteristics of specimens before and after fracturing fluid immersion. The results showed that the immersion of fracturing fluids weakened the mechanical properties of continental shale. Two types of fracturing fluid immersion effects were distinguished by the statistics of the failure characteristics of the different layers: lubrication-dominated and softening-dominated. Unlike conventional smooth tri-axial stress-strain curves, many of the post-peak curves were in a 'step-like' shape, corresponding to two sources: one part came from the formation of multi-fractures (brittle characteristics), and the other part came from the softening deformation of main failure surface (plastic characteristics). A new brittleness index, BI new , was proposed considering failure characteristics with different brittleness effects, which could effectively distinguish the brittleness difference before and after exposure to fracturing fluids. • Mechanical variations of continental shale along longitudinal profile were studied. • Different effects of fracturing fluids were distinguished by failure characteristic. • Different sources of additional energy dissipation were recognized. • New brittleness index was proposed incorporating different failure characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the mechanism of the landslide event at Hsiaolin Village during Typhoon Morakot in 2009. This landslide event resulted in 400 deaths. The extremely high intensity and accumulative rainfall events may cause large-scale and complex landslide disasters. To study and understand a landslide event, a combination of field investigations and numerical models is used. The landslide area is determined by comparing topographic information from before and after the event. Physiographic parameters are determined from field investigations. These parameters are applied to a numerical model to simulate the landslide process. Due to the high intensity of the rainfall event, 1,675 mm during the 80 h before the landslide event, the water content of soil was rapidly increased causing a landslide to occur. According to the survivors, the total duration of the landslide run out was less than 3 min. Simulation results indicated that the total duration was about 150 s. After the landslide occurrence, the landslide mass separated into two parts by a spur at EL 590 in about 30 to 50 s. One part passed the spur in about 30 to 60 s. One part inundated the Hsiaolin Village and the other deposited at a local river channel and formed a landslide dam. The landslide dam had height between 50 and 60 m and length between 800 and 900 m. The simulation result shows that the proposed model can be used to evaluate the potential areas of landslides induced by extremely high intensity rainfall events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Eastern Guangxi area locates in the southwestern part of the transition zone between Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks, which is an important region because the boundary between two blocks probablycrosses there. We determined LA-ICPMS U-Pb ages for detrital zircons extracted from three sandstone samples in the Sinian-Cambrian strata in this region. The resulting ages are in the range of the Archeozoic and Neoproterozoic, with three notable concentrates at 991 Ma, 974 Ma, and 964 Ma, all of which are coeval to the Grenvillian magmatic activity. The new age distribution is similar to the data reported in the Precambrian strata of the adjacent southwestern Cathaysia Block, suggesting that most of our detrital zircons are likely derived from the Cathaysia Block. Combined with others' research, we are more inclined to accept the opinion that there was not an ocean basin between the two blocks during the Sinian-Cambrian period in Eastern Guangxi area if the timing of collision is the Early Neopro-terzoic. But if the timing of collision is the Early Paleozoic, we conclude that Luzhai uplift (i.e., the uplift between Guilin-Yongfu faultand Lipu fault) beyond the west of Dayaoshan regoin might be one part of southwestern sedimentation boundary of Cathaysia Block and Yangtze Block. We also get a few of detrital zircons with ages of ~590 Ma which probably sourced from northeastern Gondwana and 13 detrital zircons with over 3 000 Ma U-Pb ages which record the early formation of the earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A-type granites are a spectrum of especial felsic rocks that are produced commonly within an extensional environment. They are rare before middle Paleoproterozoic but present abundantly since the late Paleoproterozoic, probably indicating a causal change of tectonics and geodynamic mechanism in the continental evolution of the Earth. An early Mesoproterozoic A-type granite belt was recognized in the southern margin of the North China Craton (NCC) in recent decades. The occurrence of this type of rocks indicates a possible spatial–temporal link between the tectonic evolution of the NCC and the breakup of the Columbia supercontinent during the Mesoproterozoic. The Zhangjiaping granitic pluton is located in the southern margin of the NCC and one part of the A-type granite belt. It can be divided into three zones according to their textural and compositional differences of the rocks with a gradually increasing degree of evolution inwards: wall zone, intermediate zone and core zone. LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb dating shows that it was emplaced at ca. 1.53 Ga. Petrologically, the Zhangjiaping granites contain perthite and calcic amphibole but are lack of alkali mafic minerals. Geochemically, all the Zhangjiaping granitic rocks show an affinity to fractionated aluminous A-type granites, with enrichment in silicon and total alkali, and depletion in MgO, CaO and P 2 O 5 with negative Eu, Sr and Ti anomalies, as well as high FeOt/MgO, TiO 2 /MgO and Ga/Al ratios and high HFSEs (i.e., Zr, Nb, Ce, Y) concentrations. Such signatures, along with their low ε Hf ( t ) values (−12.5 to −4.0) of all the granites from the Zhangjiaping pluton, obviously indicate that the Zhangjiaping aluminous A-type granites were derived from partial melting of the crustal calc-alkaline granitoids (i.e., the granodiorites of the Taihua Complex in the study area) and experienced fractional crystallization during magmatic evolution. Their generation would be related to the underplating of mafic magmas in an extensional regime. Integrated with regional data, the Zhangjiaping aluminous A-type granites were the products of anorogenic magmatism likely corresponding to the breakup of the Columbia supercontinent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism gentrification is a consequence of both ‘gentrification generalized’ and the rapid development of the global tourism industry. The geographical spread of tourism gentrification from Western countries to emerging countries like China inevitably challenges existing explanations. Using the case of the Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) community in China, this study examines the causes and socio-spatial consequences of tourism gentrification with the aim of widening the discussion on tourism gentrification. Historically, the Shenzhen OCT community was a traditional farm with single group of peasants. Over the past two decades, it has become a mixed gentrified community with upper-class and low-income residents. Theme parks and other tourist facilities now dominate much of the community. This empirical analysis of this community highlights some of the features of tourism gentrification in China. It can be a type of new-build gentrification evolving from a brownfield area. The emergence of a rent gap is the result of rapid urbanization in China but not of suburbanization. The government gives the primary land developers some community administration rights to promote tourism and community development. Tourism gentrification leads to a mixed community with a certain proportion of low-income residents, which generates a diversity of cultural preferences and consumption patterns in the OCT community. In the changing context of China and other emerging countries, tourism gentrification is one part of a broader transformation of social space from lower-class to upper-class spaces. In this case, tourism becomes the main driving force in economic, social, cultural, and lifestyle transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports one part of an ethnographic case study on a Sino-Canadian transnational education programme in southern China. The framework of multiliteracies pedagogy elucidates data collected from classroom observations and teacher interviews. Key findings relate Chinese and Canadian teachers' efforts to nurture emerging global citizens' multilayered linguistic and cultural identities in response to the school's hybrid Sino-Canadian curriculum. Data also intimate literacy teachers' power negotiations pertaining to modality, regional/international languages, the school's imbalanced emphasis on English curricula, and local and global accountability models by building in multiple literacy practices and modes of representations to cater to students' diversified needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal particles regularly flow into coalbed methane (CBM) wells with the formation water. Once they settle down in the bottom of CBM wells, the pump will get stuck and the reservoir will be buried. In conventional oilwells, sand cleanout is usually operated by circulating the cleaning fluid into the wellbore to bring sand particles to the surface. However, when applied in CBM wells, this traditional hydraulic particles hoisting technology would leak the working fluid into the formation, destroy the coalbed formation structure and jam the formed channel of gas because the bottomhole pressure (BHP) is low. In this paper, a continuous vacuum cleanout technology will be introduced, and it combines a novel jet pump with a concentric tubing string (CTS) to remove coal particles without placing hydrostatic loads on the reservoir. The novel jet pump has two nozzles and the CTS is assembled by the outer tubing and inner tubing. More specifically, a high pressure working fluid is pumped through the CTS annulus from the surface and then it is divided into two parts. One part of the fluid acts as the sand carrier fluid. The other part acts as the power fluid of the jet pump to create a localized drawdown which vacuums the carrier fluid together with coal particles into the jet pump, and then circulates coal particles to surface through the inner tubing. The detailed structure and the principle of the technology system are described, while a theoretical model is built to design and optimize the system which is based on the coal particles transport experiment data and the jet pump theory. The field applications have proved that the coal particles cleanout technology makes significant improvements in achieving high efficiency and preventing leakage in CBM wells, and more importantly, reduces the skin damage and improves the CBM production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To constrain the provenance of the Ordos Basin and the evolution history of the Qinling Orogen Belt from the Triassic to the Jurassic, 10 samples from the Dongsheng area and 28 samples from the Yan’an area were analyzed for U–Pb ages and Lu–Hf and Sm–Nd isotopic compositions. The results indicate that Middle Jurassic sediments in the Dongsheng area were derived from the Khondalite Belt, Langshan Mountain and the Yinshan Terrane. Mesozoic sediments in the Yan’an area consist of two parts. One part is derived from the North China Craton (NCC), which has U–Pb age groups of ∼1.8 Ga and ∼2.5 Ga, and Hf model ages of ∼2.8 Ga. The other part is derived from the Qilian–Qinling Orogenic Belt, which has U–Pb age groups of 600–1500 Ma and 100–500 Ma, and Nd and Hf isotopic model ages of less than 2.2 Ga. Combining the U–Pb ages with the Hf and Nd isotopic model ages, Mesozoic detrital zircons with U–Pb age groups of ∼1.8 Ga and ∼2.5 Ga in the Yan’an area are found to also be derived from the Khondalite Belt, Langshan Mountain and the Yinshan Terrane, not from the Trans-China Orogen Belt. From the late–Late Triassic sediments of the Yan’an area, the low average values of the Hf (2.03 Ga) and Nd (2.03 Ga) model ages and the characteristic age population of 600–1500 Ma reveal that the main collision or continental subduction between the NCC and the South China Craton (SCC) occurred in the late–Late Triassic. After the main collision or continental subduction, the proportion of sediments from the Qinling–Qilian Orogenic Belt began to decrease (recorded in the early Jurassic samples), which may be in response to the gradual slowing of the uplift speed of the Qinling Orogenic Belt. In the early-middle Jurassic, the sediments have a main U–Pb age population of 100–500 Ma, low detrital zircon Hf model ages (average value is 1.17 Ga) and low whole rock Nd model ages (average value is 1.13 Ga), which suggests that the Qilian–Qinling Orogenic Belt may have a fast uplift history in the early-middle Jurassic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although food loss and waste (FL&W) is high on China's national policy agenda, there is still little scientific information published about how much FL&W exists in China, what its impacts are, and what needs to be done to reduce it. Furthermore, what is known about FL&W across the various hotspots of China's food supply chain is not accessible in one place due to the tendency of scholars to focus on one part of the food chain depending on their disciplinary backgrounds, thereby making it difficult to obtain a 'comprehensive whole supply chain perspective'. Thus, this review provides an interdisciplinary collation of what is already known about FL&W in China. A systematic review of both English and Chinese databases followed PRISMA guidelines further complemented with a qualitative content analysis process uncovered 57 articles. The view revealed confounding factors such as an inconsistency of the definitions and calculation methods used to measure FL&W, and research gaps such as a lack of focus on the behavioral factors pertaining to waste, and the limited range of social innovations studied to reduce it. Thus, this review will help in the development of research agendas designed to advance efforts in this field. • 57 papers are reviewed to determine what is known about food loss and waste (FL&W). • There is scarce data on FL&W in the processing, distribution, and retail sectors. • Social norms impact waste generation but could be used to enact positive change. • The role of government interventions in various settings needs further analysis. • Multiple food supply chain actors must take action to measure and reduce FL&W now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, CO storage capacity in unmineable coalbeds in China at depths of 1,000-2,000 m has been evaluated using the methodology recommended by CSLF. This evaluation is one part of the countrywide CO storage capacity evaluations in China, initiated by the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources. This level of CO storage capacity evaluation gives a rough scale of assessment with the least site-specific detail. The results show that there is a storage capacity of 98.81 × 10 t CO in coalbed s buried at a depth range of 1,000-2,000 m and 4.26 × 10 m additional coalbed methane can be recovered by CO injection. These results appear to show great potential and an attractive economic perspective of CO storage in unmineable coalbeds in China. Another part of this study is to classify the potential coalbed basins based on CO storage capacity and storage capacity per unit area. The study results reveal the distribution of the most potential basins for large-scale CO storage and the best economic basins for early CO storage in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The tuff from the Macaoyuan Group was formed at 1157±19Ma. [•] The maximum depositional age of the Macaoyuan Group is not older than 1180Ma. [•] “Macaoyuan conglomerates” are made up of the slope carbonate gravity flow deposits. [•] The Macaoyuan Group is one part of the basement strata beneath the rift succession. [•] ∼2.60Ga peak age represents an important period for the Yangtze block's formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we focused on the retrieval of the LAI in an alpine wetland located in western part of China in late August and early July 2011. A two-layer canopy reflectance model (ACRM) was used to establish the relationships between the LAI and the reflectance of near-infrared (NIR) and red (RED) wavebands. The reflectance data were derived from Landsat TM L1T product and the Terra and Aqua MODIS 16-day and 8-day composite reflectance products (MOD/MYD09) at 250m resolution. Due to the lack of the information about some major input parameters for ACRM, which are sensitive to model outputs in the reflectance of NIR and RED wavebands, the inverse problem was ill-posed. To overcome this problem, a method of increasing the sensitivity of the LAI while reducing the influence of other model free parameters based on the study of free parameters’ sensitivity to the ACRM outputs and the region''s features was studied. The area of interest was divided into two parts using the approximately statistic normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) value around 0.5. One part was sparse vegetation (0.1

Migratory experiences are part of the representative phenomena of contemporary social arrangements since not only goods and capital but also persons move from one part of the earth to another, joining the synergic flows of capitalism organized on a global scale. Empirically, we refer to the migratory experiences of footwear industry workers from Novo Hamburgo, Brazil, who have immigrated to China in recent years. We analyze the strategies adopted by these groups to support their projects to migrate to and settle in China. Above all, we focus on the role played by communications media in the construction of links between the community of origin and the new ethnic environment recreated in foreign lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. To determine the cumulative incidence (CI) of and risk factors for musculoskeletal problems among nursing students in Hong Kong. Background. Although low back problems have been identified internationally as one of the major work-related hazards among nursing personnel, only a few studies have examined the problem among nursing students. Design. Two-year prospective cohort study; data collected at baseline and 2 (T1), 12 (T2) and 26 (T3) months after baseline. Methods. Three cohorts [i.e. two full-time (FT) and one part-time (PT) cohorts] of nursing students were recruited from one of the universities in Hong Kong. They were invited to complete a baseline and three follow-up questionnaires. CIs of low back problems among the three cohorts were calculated and tested for their association. The multivariate logistic regression was also used to identify the risk factors for low back problems. Results. Initially, the seven-day, 30-day and 12-month prevalence in baseline as well as the T1 (64%) and T2 (94%) CIs of low back problems for the PT cohort were significantly higher than those of the two FT cohorts (their CIs ranged from 45–67%). However, the CIs for the FT cohorts were increased from 45% at T1–83% at T3, while the CIs for the PT cohort was only increased from 64–80%, respectively. At T3, the CIs for both FT cohorts caught up with the CI for the PT cohort (χ2 = 0·068, p = 0·07). As expected, the risk factors for low back problems were multifactorial, i.e. personal, psychosocial and physical. Conclusion. Nursing students had similar CI of low back problems as registered nurses 26 months after baseline, i.e. during their nursing training and before becoming a registered nurse. Relevance to clinical practice. The results of this study, for the first time, identified that low back problems were developed during the period of nursing school training rather than after nurses enter the workforce. These findings have crucial implications for reducing low back problems among nursing personnel. There is a need to evaluate nursing students’ experience in their nursing study and provide appropriate support to them to reduce their personal, physical and psychosocial stress. The ability of nursing students to deliver high quality patient care depends in part on their ability to conserve their own health and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the promotion of Mongolia as a source of mounts by the Japanese army through a campaign that gathered momentum in the late 1920s. This campaign was one part of a larger campaign to promote the importance of 'Man-Mō' (Manchuria-Mongolia) within Japan, a campaign that made use of evocative language to trumpet Japan's claim to the region. The promotion of Mongolia as a source of mounts continued into the 1930s and 1940s and made use of a range of media, including print, film and sound recordings. The promotion of Mongolia as a source of horses was often couched in romantic terms, with Mongolia as a place of sweeping plains, lone horsemen and mysterious strangers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to accurately predict annual background nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions (BNE) at a national scale due to the considerable contribution of these emissions to the overall N2O emissions from croplands. We predicted the national background N2O emissions (BNE_n) from croplands in China in the year 2000 within a geographical information system (GIS) framework. The spatial resolution was 10 km × 10 km. The BNE_n was predicted as the sum of two parts. One part was from mineral soils, estimated using four monovariate models based on soil total nitrogen content (TN) and soil organic carbon content (SOC), while the other part was from organic soils, estimated by directly extrapolating the default IPCC () emission factor of 8 kg N ha−1 yr−1 to the area of organic soils, which consisted of less than 0.2% of the total area in national croplands. Our estimates showed that the hectare-based annual background N2O emission rates (BNE_h) <0.1, 0.1–2.0, and >2.0 kg N ha−1 yr−1 occurred in 11–24%, 71–84%, and 3–5% of national croplands, respectively. A spatial distribution pattern of grid-based background emissions (BNE_g), different from that of BNE_h, was revealed. High BNE_g (>6,000 kg N grid−1 yr−1) occurred in the major agricultural regions of Northeastern, Northern, Eastern, and Middle China. The simulation based on soil properties yielded estimates of 99.0–116.9 Gg (1 Gg = 109 g) N yr−1 for BNE_n, of which organic soils contributed 1.5–1.8%. Among the different models, the model based on TN yielded the smallest uncertainty (ranging from −22% to 30%). We recommend this model for BNE estimation at a national scale. Our estimates of BNE_n accounted for 26–30% of the total N2O emissions from the croplands in China. Methods for improving BNE predictions were proposed for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When significant changes take place in one part of the world, it is to be expected that effects will be felt elsewhere. Particularly in an era of increasing globalization, as regions and countries become inextricably linked to each other, what takes place in one region will be felt in another. This is clearly the case with the Greater Middle East (GME). As this region expands in scope and composition, those areas on the borders must deal with the consequences. For example, much attention is placed on European reactions to and relations with the GME. Whether it is it terms of energy transfers, European Union programs regarding a "dialogue with Islam," or NATO's "Mediterranean Dialogue," there is a strong sense that Europeans must remain engaged with the region. However, can the same be said for states to the East particularly in the Far East? Is there a connection, and if so, how does this region relate to the GME? In short, why should someone examining the intricacies of state and societal development in the GME care about what takes place in the Russian Far East? There are several reasons that will be assessed in this article. First, the uncertainty of resource management and exploitation in the GME does mean that states in the Far East need to evaluate their own resource capabilities and needs. Developments within the GME necessitate a more thorough evaluation of what exists in the Far East for the countries in the region. Second, this sense of resource needs is in contrast to a political reality in the region: the major states have their own national security concerns located in other areas, thus creating a political and security "void." Russia, for example, gives higher priority to the West (Europe) and the South (Middle East). China remains committed to security concerns to the Southeast (Taiwan) and increasingly to the West (Central Asia and South Asia). Are the states in question devoting enough attention to the area that intersects them all? Third, if the states in the region believe that regional cooperation is important to address the first part above, the realities of the second part will most likely dampen any chance at true cooperation and regional development. How to overcome these problems and prevent the region from becoming a true "void" is the challenge of the states in the Far East today and in the future. A proper analysis of these security issues requires that one examine the perceptions held within the region, the capabilities and limitations of the respective governments, and an understanding of how these geopolitical differences have played out in the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author explores the effort of the Chinese government to build a competitive research base. It is noted that biology research is one part of the second chapter of knowledge-based innovation. The author observes that development is a difficult, messy business littered with far more failures than successes. He asserts that to see any measure of progress in an area as challenging as high-level biology research is astonishing and deserves a close inspection to see what went right.

Abstract: Using both TIMS and SHRIMP methods, U–Pb isotopic dating was carried out on zircons from eclogites and their host gneisses in the Xitieshan area of the north Qaidam mountains, western China. Zircons from both eclogites and retrograded eclogites with metamorphic characteristics gave ages of 485–500Ma, representing the age of eclogite facies metamorphism. Euhedral zircons from the eclogites, which show a magmatic character (Th/U>1), yielded ages of 750–800Ma, which are believed to represent the magmatic crystallization age of the protlith. TIMS dating of zircons from granitic gneiss enclosing retrograded eclogite gave an upper intercept age of 952±13Ma and a lower intercept age of 478±44Ma. The former probably represents the magmatic crystallization age of the granitic protolith, and the latter is in agreement with the age of metamorphic zircons from the eclogite within the margin of error. This implies that the eclogites and their enclosing gneisses in Xitieshan area as a whole underwent HP–UHP metamorphism during an early Paleozoic orogeny to form one part of the north Qaidam HP–UHP metamorphic belt. These results also suggest an ‘in situ’ rather than ‘tectonic''relationship between the eclogites and their host gneisses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines the social geography of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in China, focusing on the spread of HIV/AIDS, and the extent to which migration and urbanisation might be contributing to both the spread and the increasing prevalence of these diseases. The paper begins with a discussion of the early years of the epidemic (beginning in the mid-1980s), when the consensus view was that STDs and HIV were geographically marginal phenomena, occurring either on China's periphery, or in isolated parts of its rural interior. This characterisation seemed to be less appropriate in the latter part of the 1990s, when it became clear that temporary and circular migration had the potential to spread the diseases from one part of the country to another. The second part of the paper examines the connection between migration and the prevalence of STDs and HIV, reporting on some of the empirical evidence to support such a hypothesis, and speculating on the theoretical underpinnings of the migration/STD relationship. The third part of the paper considers what might lie in store for China in terms of its HIV epidemic. One distinct possibility is the spread of HIV to China's booming cities, and to explore this possibility in theoretical terms, a number of interrelated aspects of urbanisation that might be associated with higher rates of HIV-related risky behaviours are considered. It is suggested that these overlapping sets of forces could be related to the emergence of new behaviours and lifestyles that may be putting a growing number of Chinese people at risk in the new millennium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pre-Jurassic geotectonics in Northeast China and its adjacent regions are characterized by collision of microcontinental blocks. The Yanbian region lies between the North China block (NCB) and the Khanka block (KB). Along the Dashanzui–Antu–Kaishantun collision belt, the Yanbian pre-Jurassic fold belt can be divided into two parts. One part represents the western margin of the KB, which consists of Late Proterozoic metamorphic basement and a Permian active continental margin. The other one is located at the eastern margin of the NCB and is composed of Proterozoic passive margin deposits, where the Seluohe and Qinglongcun groups are developed, and rocks of the Permian passive margin. Collision of these two parts took place along the Dashanzui–Antu–Kaishantun collision zone during the Late Permian to Early Triassic, as evidenced by the emplacement of syncollision granites and A-type granites. In northeast China and adjacent regions, a series of microcontinental blocks collided with one other from the end of Early Paleozoic to the Early Triassic. The collision event that took place in the Yanbian region may represent the latest collision event in the Paleo-Asian oceanic domain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Elaborately glazed Chinese pottery figures of camels and servants, dating to the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618–906), have been much prized by collectors and museums over the last three quarters of a century. They have been readily admired as a category of sculpture, but little attention has been paid to their functions within the tomb complex. An examination of the tomb of the First Emperor (d. 210 B.C.) reveals tomb figures as just one part of a large complex of structures and images. The famous terracotta warriors were an element in the elaborate burial of the Emperor, which also included ‘real’ people and animals, miniature bronze chariots, models of palaces and images of the heavenly bodies. If we are to understand the purposes of this complex of many different parts, we need to consider how the ancient Chinese viewed images of all categories. It would appear that in the eyes of the ancient Chinese, images were equivalent to the subject of the image. By creating images in bronze, pottery or in pictures, the ancient Chinese were presenting a universe for the dead Emperor. This article describes the philosophical concepts that informed this understanding of images and illustrates the discussion with archaeological finds and textual information. The archaeological discoveries of recent years have made a reassessment of Chinese tomb models necessary. The powers of these images were deemed to be considerable. The Chinese have never collected tomb figures because, in their view, such figures were the actual servants and soldiers of the dead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of the so-called greater China economies among Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong is one part of the global trend of regionalism. The significance of integration in terms of foreign trade and foreign direct investment demonstrates not only rapid growth but also diversity, ever since Mainland China pursued her open door policy of economic reform in 1979. For instance, the combined volume of Hong Kong and Taiwan accounted for as much as 74.1% of Mainland China's capital utilization in 1993, which in turn contributed to the rapid economic growth of Mainland China over the last two decades. The membership of Mainland China and Taiwan to the WTO, as expected by the end of 2001, will facilitate a more official arrangement of intergovernmental coordination within these Triangle Economies. However, the government of Taiwan will continue to evaluate the cross-strait relations in the context of the nation's overall political and economic security as long as the government of Mainland China does not renounce the use of military force against Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is the largest power producer and consumer and has the largest installed capacity of wind turbines (WTs) worldwide. In the last two decades, China's installed capacity of WTs has exploded, significantly impacting its wind power (WP) industry and promoting the development of the industry globally. This paper examines China as one part of the world and elucidates its role, status, and impact on global WP development from a global perspective. Research indicates that China has become the global leader in WP, its WP development has greatly promoted the growth rate of global WP, and it has become an indispensable force in global WP development. However, the comprehensive capability of China's WP generation is not only lower than that of other major WP countries but also lower than the global average. China's WTs have low global recognition and are difficult to export. In addition, the proportion of WP in China's power structure is lower than that of most other major WP countries. Fortunately, these gaps between China and other major WP countries are gradually narrowing. The goal of this paper is to help researchers and investors better understand China's situation and to provide a reference for the rational investment in and development of China's WP. • China has become a global wind power leader, but only in the installed capacity. • China's wind turbines have low recognition in global, and difficult to export. • Comprehensive capability of China's wind power is lower than that of global average. • Currently, China's wind power mainly wins in terms of quantity rather than quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stock price crash constitutes one part of the complexity in the stock market. We aim to verify the threshold effect of leveraged trading on the stock price crash risk from the perspective of feedback trading. We empirically demonstrate that leveraged trading has a threshold effect on the stock price crash risk on the basis of monthly data on leveraged trading in the Chinese stock market from January 2014 to December 2016. At a low leverage ratio, leveraged trading reduces the stock price crash risk; however, as the leverage ratio increases and exceeds a certain threshold, leveraged trading asymmetrically increases the stock price crash risk. These findings provide new insights in understanding the complexity in the Chinese stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]