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Background. Colorectal cancer has become the second most common type of cancer in females and the third most common type of cancer in males. The incidence rate of colorectal cancer is increasing along with the change of lifestyle and dietary habits in East Asia. The cause of colorectal cancer is complex; environmental factors and genetic factors affect each other. Dietary fiber is considered as the prevention of colorectal cancer. Epidemiological data in Europe and America have suggested that dietary fiber intake is negatively correlated with colorectal cancer incidence rate. However, the evidence among different populations is inconsistent, and little is known about these associations in Eastern Asian areas. Objectives. To critically review all available human epidemiological data on the relationship between dietary fiber intake and colorectal cancer in Eastern Asian countries and make recommendations for these populations. Methodology. PubMed and Embase were used to search online research papers regarding the relationship between dietary fiber intake and the risk of colorectal cancer in Eastern Asian. We located 9 publications, of which the sample size ranged from 266 to 78, 326. Results. Five case-control studies, as well as one prospective study, have examined significant preventive effects of dietary fiber intake on the risk of colorectal cancer while evidence from three prospective cohorts suggested no preventive effects of dietary fiber intake on colorectal cancer among these populations. There is no consistent conclusion on the protective effect of dietary fiber from different sources and types. Conclusion. The association between dietary fiber intake and colorectal cancer risk in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean is considered to be plausible by the available literature. This current review cannot substantiate the preventive effect of dietary fiber intake on colorectal cancer due to the limited available evidence analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cold front is an important weather system that produces precipitation in East Asia. Under the background of global warming, extreme precipitation caused by cold fronts presents a significant increasing trend. Hence, it is very important to quantify the cold-front precipitation that may cause great damages. In this study, an objective identification method is proposed for cold-front precipitation, which can objectively identify the precipitation area affected by cold fronts. Then, the climatological characteristics and trends of cold-front precipitation over East Asia in the winter half years from 1989 to 2018 are investigated by using the ERA-5 reanalysis dataset. Based on the dataset of cold fronts and frontal zones, this method automatically distinguishes the precipitation area affected by cold fronts to quantitatively estimate cold-front precipitation. The results show that this identification method can well describe cold-front activities and associated precipitation during an extreme cold wave event that occurred in southern China in January 2016. In the past 30 years, cold fronts have significantly contributed to the precipitation in East Asia in winter half years. The areas with the maximum cold-front precipitation and maximum contribution rate of cold-front precipitation to total precipitation are located in the North Pacific storm track, cold-front precipitation exceeds 700 mm, and the contribution of cold-front precipitation to total precipitation exceeds 60%. In addition, the contribution rates of cold-front precipitation are also relatively large in the midlatitudes of East Asia, especially in North China and Northeast China, where cold-front precipitation accounts for 50%–60% of total precipitation. In East Asia, the total precipitation in autumn is greater than that in winter; however, cold-front precipitation and its contribution rate in winter are significantly more and larger than those in autumn. As the cold-frontal activity is more frequent and intense in winter, the rainfall in winter depends more on cold fronts. In the past 30 years, the trends of cold-front precipitation and total precipitation are consistent in most parts of East Asia, indicating that cold-front precipitation makes a great contribution to the trend of total precipitation in winter half years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Travel has become a way of life for more and more people. The rapid development of technologies such as the Internet and 5G brings convenience to life, so recording one's travel through social media has become the main way of sharing. Based on the classification of UGC pictures by computer program, this paper studies the perception of tourist destination image by inbound tourists from different regions so as to find the factors that potentially affect tourists' decision-making. This study collects a large number of UGC pictures and classifies them according to computer programs. It conducts UGC data picture research through two different aspects of cognitive image and emotional image and finally analyzes the specific image perception of Shanghai tourism. The research results show that, in the analysis of specific inbound tourists' perception of tourist destination image, in the eyes of Western inbound tourists, Shanghai is a very modern cultural city with very distinctive architectural features; inbound tourists from East Asia are more and more interested in the cultural landscape and natural scenery of Shanghai. In the eyes of inbound tourists from East Asia, Shanghai is a city full of vitality. Among them, the Huangpu River is the place that receives the most tourists. 21.5% of inbound tourists will visit, and 13.7% of inbound tourists choose to visit Lujiazui. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low temperature can improve the quality and prolong the shelf life of perishable food effectively. East Asia has some special foods for its individual geography, climate, and culture, which need different low temperature preservation technologies to maintain their unique flavor. In this paper, the differences in food composition or cooking habits are briefly introduced in each section and then the low temperature preservation technologies developed for these special foods are mainly discussed. Also, the recommendations for future research are provided. Very fast chilling and controlled freezing/supercooling point are promising technologies for pre‐rigor fresh meat. Low temperature oxidation resistance and its combination with nonthermal sterilization can ensure the color, freshness, and safety of raw aquatic products. Low temperature rapid fermentation can effectively maintain the organoleptic property of pickles. The synergies of physical and biochemistry methods can reduce wrapper cracking and filling oxidation of frozen prepared foods. Novelty impact statement: Low temperature is an effective method for the preservation of food. Due to climate and cultural differences, people in different regions have different eating habits. To better meet people's requirements for the special flavor of food, the corresponding low temperature preservation technologies need to be studied and summarized. This review summarizes the low temperature preservation techniques of four representative special foods in East Asia and provides recommendations for future research. These positive results will be helpful to the research and application of food preservation technologies in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese yam (Dioscorea polystachya Turczaninow) is widely cultivated in East Asia, whose edible stem is a common vegetable and herb in traditional Chinese medicine. In fruit and vegetable processing, browning is estimated to be a major reason of waste. Browning lowers the nutrition value and brings undesired characteristics in food processing. To develop a secure and low-cost browning inhibiting protocol in yam processing, different thermal treatment conditions and color protectants were tested for their color-protecting ability. Color difference ΔE was calculated to evaluate the browning with a colorimeter. To ensure that the color-protecting treatment does not influence the quality of yam, texture properties and nutrition compositions were quantified. The optimal treatment is as follows: deactivate yam in water bath of 60°C for 10 min and then incubate in 2 g/L citric acid and 1 g/L ascorbic acid for 1 hour. The treatment led to significant decrease of the color difference, with no obvious changes in the texture properties and nutrition value. To summarize, this research provides an ideal color-protecting solution in yam processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructing an all-directional, multilevel, and composite interconnection network, accelerating the free flow of producer services elements across regions, and further improving the efficiency of resource integration demand to conduct a comprehensive and systematic analysis of producer services trade. Thus, using bilateral trade data, this paper builds producer services trade network composed of 61 major countries and innovatively combines the methods of social network and economic geography to explore its spatiotemporal evolution and system properties. The results show that, firstly, the producer services trade network has spatial heterogeneity, which is characterized by high-value agglomerations in Western Europe and East Asia, and low-value agglomerations in Southern Europe and Southeast Asia. Secondly, most countries tend to choose trading partners with close geographical locations or common cultures to establish a cohesive subgroup. Thirdly, the producer services trade network has a significant core-periphery structure, the "spaghetti bowl" effect, which leads to a downward trend in the number of core and semi-peripheral countries. Finally, the trade agreement relations, language relations, and differences in economy, geography, institution, and technology all have a significant impact on the evolution of producer services trade network, but this change has little relationship with the population size divergences of different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the progress of the multiple population mortality model and the defects in parameter estimation and proposes an effective method to improve the performance of the mortality model. We set up a multiple population group, using the data of mainland China, Hong Kong (China), and Japan, to test fitting performance and forecasting performance. Using the TSWLS and TSSVD methods in a multiple population stochastic mortality model has advantages in fitting performance and robustness. In addition, the forecasting value of mortality ratio between any two populations can converge to a fixed constant in a certain time period which obeys the regular of human biological characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the introduction of the concept of social anxiety (or phobia) to the American nosological system in DSM–III (1980), it has become increasingly apparent that the condition is also prevalent in other cultures. In Japan, for example, the condition, called taijinkyofusho (usually abbreviated as TKS in English), is widespread and has been extensively discussed since the turn of the century, a fact not well known in the English-speaking psychiatric community. In comparing social phobia in Japanese society (and in other East Asian societies) with North American societies, two questions stand out. First, if TKS is social phobia, why is it so different from the American form of social phobia? In particular, why do typical TKS patients fear the possibility of distressing, and even harming, others, whereas their American counterparts feel anxious at the possibility of being embarrassed by others? In other words, why is TKS other-oriented (allocentric), whereas social phobia is self-oriented (egocentric)? Second, is TKS specific to Japanese culture? In this paper, I suggest that the allocentric nature of TKS reflects those elements of Japanese culture that are common to East Asian societies as seen in their pattern of child-rearing practices, language, and social ideals. In short, TKS is an East Asian cultural patterning of social anxiety (phobia). Depression and Anxiety 5:115–120, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese soft‐shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) is a freshwater softshell turtle native to East Asia. It is a choice of food and tonic in China, Taiwan and other Asian countries and is commonly cultured in ponds, lakes and canals. This study aimed to study the aetiology of a deadly disease outbreak among these turtles in Jiangxi Province of China in 2020 and 2021. By performing an aseptic dissection of symptomatic and moribund P. sinensis, a dominant strain (No.: ZF2) was isolated from livers, and studies were carried out to ascertain the biological status, pathogenicity and pathological characteristics of the isolate. For isolate identification, a morphological observation, physiological and biochemical analysis, 16S rRNA and gyrB gene sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis were performed. Other experiments were also carried out simultaneously, such as infection experiments, histopathological observation, virulence gene detection and drug sensitivity. Through traditional and molecular biological methods study with the pathogenic strain, ZF2 was identified as Aeromonas veronii. The results of the virulence gene test showed that ZF2 carried three virulence genes, aer, ast and act. Histopathological observation revealed that various internal organs were severely damaged after infection and manifested as liver ischemia and whitening, intestinal chorion shedding, glomerular congestion and splenic lymphocyte proliferation. After the drug sensitivity test results, the ZF2 strain was identified to be sensitive to nine drugs, including cefradine, neomycin, minocycline and enrofloxacin. It was intermediate or resistant to other drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the powerful therapeutic features of Phellinus species and due to the absence of toxic compounds, our investigations were aimed at screening of the antioxidant profile of fortified yogurts with hot water extracts from Phellinus torulosus and Phellinus igniarius leveled to 10%, 5%, and 1% final fortification concentrations after acknowledging their superior bioactive content and radical scavenging capacities (59.77% and 56.73% of DPPH inhibition, respectively) versus cold water extracts (29.87% and 33.18% inhibition rates). Fortified samples signified dose‐dependent increases in their inhibition rates during the storage period, with significant differences between 10% fortifications on the 7 day of storage in favor of the samples fortified with P. torulosus. Explicitly, P. torulosus showed 16% higher DPPH and 62.5% higher LPO neutralizing activity than yogurt enriched with P. igniarius. However, prolonged refrigeration tended to equalize antioxidant profiles in both fortified yogurts. Total titratable acidity and pH levels of the fortified yogurts as most important parameters for consumer acceptance were unaltered during storage. Practical applications: It is a common scientific perception that bioactive compounds present in wild medicinal fungi are the main contributors for their in vitro antioxidant efficiency. On account of these attributes, Phellinus species have been exploited in Far East Asia as safe remedies for many disorders thus making them attractive fortifying ingredients; however, according to our knowledge these mushrooms have never been used as natural additives in beverages. Given the current popularity of yogurt consumption as seen from the global market profits, as well as experimental evidences of enhanced potency of extract in comparison with powder due to maximal bioavailability of antioxidants, it is our belief that this study will increase the interest in the manufacture of functional foods with extracts from wild mushrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The red spotted grouper Epinephelus akaara is important for commercial and recreational fishing in the coastal waters of East Asia. In Japan, approximately 850,000 juveniles are released annually for stock enhancement, and the catch in several release areas has increased. Life‐history traits are important for fisheries management and stocking programmers. The age, growth, and mortality of fish collected from the central Seto Inland Sea from June 2012 to November 2014 were examined using 1022 sectioned sagittal otoliths, and the yield‐per‐recruit (YPR) was calculated. The opaque zones in the otoliths were confirmed to be annuli, formed mainly between June and July. The oldest fish was 16 years old. The percentage of those between two and five years was approximately 80%, whereas that of more than ten years was only 0.6%. The five parameters von Bertalanffy growth equation was calculated as: TLt = 390 {1 − 0.23[(t − 3.78)2 + 1]−1}{1 − exp [−0.34 (t + 0.28)]}, where TLt is the total length (mm) at t (year). The total, natural, and fishing mortality rates were calculated to be 0.80, 0.24–0.31 and 0.49–0.56 year−1, respectively. The YPR analysis indicated that the current fishing mortality rate (Fcurrent) was higher than F0.1 and Fmax, and that increasing the age at first capture is more effective than decreasing F for increasing the YPR. These results provide important information for fisheries management and the stocking of E. akaara. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the "Belt and Road" Initiative, air transport has become the second largest mode of transport after ocean shipping and has contributed more and more to international trade between the countries. To explore the hierarchical characteristics of the aviation network of the "Belt and Road," analyze the relationship between levels, and identify the core layer of the network, k-core analysis based on the "degree" value was designed and performed; the data of airports and air routes were collected to construct the "Belt and Road" aviation network model; then, k-core decomposition was conducted to reduce the size of nodes layer by layer from the outside to the inside, and a network structure model with 19 levels was obtained; the relationship between the coreness and centrality of nodes in the network was investigated, and the changes in the attribute of networks at different levels and the connection between networks were explored; according to the structural characteristics of the network, the "Belt and Road" aviation network was divided into three categories: the core layer, the middle layer, and the detail layer. The results showed that the highest-level network obtained by k-core decomposition was used as the core layer of the "Belt and Road" aviation network, including 53 airports in 37 countries, all of which have high degree centrality and eigenvector centrality; the core layer network exhibits strong "small world" characteristics; there is little difference between the degree values of nodes, and the network has high stability. The status of China's airports in the core layer network is not prominent; the four regional sectors such as East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East are closely connected regarding air transport. Europe is relatively weakly connected with three sectors: East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia; geographical factors are still the dominant factors determining the status of hub airports along the "Belt and Road." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequency distribution of winter extreme cold events (ECEs) in North China and the influences of mid-latitude sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) in the Northern Hemisphere are studied. The results show that (1) the frequency of single station ECEs (SSECEs) in winter increases from southeast to northwest, with a decrease before 2008 and then a significant increase. This trend abrupt change occurs in late winter. (2) When the SST in the North Pacific shows an "El-Niño-like" anomaly in winter, it triggers the negative Arctic Oscillation (−AO), positive Pacific North America (+PNA), and positive Eurasia Pacific (+EUP) atmospheric teleconnection patterns in the mid-lower troposphere. As a result, the ridge to south of Lake Baikal becomes stronger. Meanwhile, SST in the North Atlantic shows a "reversed C" negative anomaly with North Atlantic Oscillation (+NAO), (+PNA)-like and (+EUP)-like patterns, and the ridge to southwest of Lake Baikal becomes stronger. Furthermore, both cause the Siberian High to become weaker in the north and stronger in the south. With the weaker East Asia subtropical jet and stronger East Asia winter monsoon, these factors lead to a significant increase of SSECE frequency in North China. (3) When the SSTA shows an "El Niño-like" developing pattern from summer to autumn in the North Pacific, the winter SSECE frequency will be higher. (4) The purported mechanism between the mid-latitude SSTA and the winter SSECE frequency in North China is the following: the SSTA in the North Pacific in summer and autumn excites atmospheric teleconnection wave trains, and the Atlantic stores these anomaly signals. In winter, the interaction between the SSTAs in the North Pacific and the North Atlantic enhances the Eurasian teleconnection wave train. With the upstream fluctuation energy dispersing downstream, the wave train centers move eastward with the season, resulting in an increase in the frequency of the SSECEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies indicate that the summer (July-August) rainfall over North China has decreased since the mid-1970s due to the weakening of East Asian summer monsoon (EASM). However, this study firstly discovers the new evidences that the summer rainfall over North China had a significant increasing tendency during 1979–1996; since 1997, this increasing tendency has halted while more summer droughts occurred over North China. One important cause for the halted increasing tendency over North China is the interdecadal decrease of the westerly water vapor transport during 1997–2016 in addition to the weakened EASM. The decrease of the westerly water vapor transport during 1997–2016 was due to the interdecadal warming over Lake Baikal. The interdecadal warming in the upper troposphere at 200 hPa forced the weakening of the upper-level zonal winds since 1997, which resulted in the anomalous descending flow over the north side of North China and the halted precipitation trend in North China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey was conducted in the summer monsoon transition region of China. By combining data from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSOs) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the effects of East Asian summer monsoon circulation on the spatial distribution of aerosol, as well as the response mechanisms of different aerosols in an abundant and a deficient summer monsoon year, were analyzed. It was found that, in the summer monsoon transition region, the aerosol optical depth (AOD) in abundant monsoon years was lower than that in deficient years. Only in the Gobi Desert region of the Loess Plateau, the AOD in abundant monsoon years was significantly larger than that in deficient years. When the AOD was less than 0.06, the frequency of dust aerosol was higher than that of polluted aerosol in both the abundant and deficient monsoon years. When the AOD was over 0.06, the frequency of polluted aerosol was higher than that of dust aerosol in both the abundant and deficient monsoon years. In summer, the AOD was larger and the frequency of polluted aerosol in abundant monsoon years was higher than that in deficient years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation efficiency (PE) is a crucial physical quantity in convective processes, describing the efficiency of rainfall generation from cloud detrainment. Although the importance of PE in extreme precipitation events is widely accepted, the evolution of PE in the warming climate and the associated moisture processes in East Asia are still not well understood. To address these issues, the interdecadal variability of PE in East Asia during summer in 1979–2016 is investigated in this study. Two major modes of summertime precipitation efficiency are identified using Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis. The leading EOF mode (EOF1) has a dipole pattern that reveals the variations of mean precipitation efficiency. The second EOF mode (EOF2) presents a quadrupole pattern that shows changes in the variability of precipitation efficiency. Both EOF modes exhibit significant interdecadal variability (IDV). The IDV of EOF1 is closely associated with the phase change of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO). The Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies associated with the PDO can excite wind anomalies that significantly modulate moisture transport and further alter the mean precipitation efficiency in East Asia. The IDV of EOF2 can be attributed to the interdecadal change of occurrence frequency of Eastern Pacific El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, which affect water vapor transport by inducing an East Asia-Pacific teleconnection-like wave train anomaly pattern. The IDV patterns of precipitation efficiency for both the mean value and variability will improve the ability to predict precipitation in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The East Asian summer monsoon (EASM), which is an important influencing summer climate of East Asia, is associated with large-scale change of the land-sea thermal contrast. The Asian-Pacific Oscillation (APO) can modulate the EASM because it not only represents the upper-tropospheric zonal land-sea thermal contrast over Asia and the Pacific region, but it also affects the sea surface temperature (SST) over the North Pacific, which can tune the land-sea thermal contrast for the EASM. This study revealed weakening of the APO-EASM relationship since the 1990s. It was found that the relationship between the APO and the EASM during 1948–1990 (1991–2016) was statistically significant (insignificant). Further study indicated that the APO was concurrent with significant positive SST in the central North Pacific and subtropical central-western Pacific during 1948–1990, which contributed to the shift of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) from its cold to warm phase and led to a weakened EASM. The APO-related SST and atmospheric circulation anomalies were found statistically to be insignificant during 1991–2016, which indicates a weakening of influence of the APO on shift of the PDO, and even a weaker link to the EASM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hoveniae semen seu fructus (HSF, fruit and seed of Hovenia dulcis Thunb) is an important traditional herbal medicine and food supplement in East Asia for the treatment of liver diseases, alcohol poisoning, obesity, allergy, and cancer. HSF has also been reported to have anti-inflammatory activity, but the cellular mechanism of action is not fully understood. We assessed the anti-inflammatory properties of an HSF ethanol (HSFE) extract and explored its precise mechanism. The ability of HSFE to suppress inflammatory responses was investigated in a murine macrophage cell line, RAW 264.7, and mouse primary macrophages. Secretions of NO, proinflammatory cytokines, inflammatory factors, and related proteins were measured using the Griess assay, ELISA, Western blot analysis, and real-time PCR, respectively. In addition, the main components of HSFE were analyzed by HPLC, and their anti-inflammatory activity was confirmed. Our results showed that pretreatment of HSFE markedly reduced the expression of NO and iNOS without causing cytotoxicity and significantly attenuated secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β. In addition, HSFE strongly suppressed phosphorylation of MAPK and decreased the activation of AP-1, JAK2/STAT, and NF-κB in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, HSFE strongly suppressed the inflammatory cytokine levels in mouse peritoneal macrophages. Also, as a result of HPLC analysis, three main components, ampelopsin, taxifolin, and myricetin, were identified in the HSFE extract, and each compound effectively inhibited the secretion of inflammatory mediators induced by LPS. These findings show that HSFE exerts anti-inflammatory effects by suppressing the activation of MAPK, AP-1, JAK2/STAT, and NF-κB signaling pathways in LPS-stimulated macrophages. In addition, the anti-inflammatory efficacy of HSFE appears to be closely related to the action of the three main components. Therefore, HSFE appears to be a promising candidate for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taxonomy of the East Asian moles of the genus Mogera is still controversial. Based on the sequence data of 12 nuclear genes and one mitochondrial gene, we examine genetic variation in the Mogera wogura species complex and demonstrate that M. robusta, from the continental Far East, and M. wogura, from the Japanese Islands, are not conspecific. Our data do not support the existence of two or more species of Mogera in the Russian Far East. We suggest that the form "coreana" from the Korean Peninsula should be treated as a subspecies of M. robusta. Our morphological analysis shows that M. r. coreana differs from typical M. robusta, from Primorye, primarily in its smaller size. We show that there is strong morphological variability among continental moles, which may be associated with ecological and geographical factors. The time since the split between M. wogura s. str. and M. robusta dates back to the Middle Pleistocene (0.30–1.0 Myr), while M. r. coreana separated from M. r. robusta in the Upper Pleistocene (0.04–0.18 Myr). The results of the mismatch analysis indicate recent demographic expansion in populations of moles from Primorye. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particulate matter (PM) has been revealed to have detrimental effects on public health, social economy, agriculture, and so forth. Thus, it became one of the major concerns in terms of a factor that can reduce "quality of life" over East Asia, where the concentration is significantly high. In this regard, it is imperative to develop affordable and efficient prediction models to monitor real-time changes in PM concentration levels using digital images, which are readily available for many individuals (e.g., via mobile phone). Previous studies (i.e., DeepHaze) were limited in scope to priorly collected data and thereby less practical in providing real-time information (i.e., undermined interprediction). This drawback led us to hardly capture drastic changes caused by weather or regions of interests. To address this challenge, we propose a new method called Deep Q-haze, whose inference scheme is built on an online learning-based method in collaboration with reinforcement learning and deep learning (i.e., Deep Q-learning), making it possible to improve testing accuracy and model flexibility in virtue of real-time basis inference. Taking into account various experiment scenarios, the proposed method learns a binary decision rule on the basis of video sequences to predict, in real time, whether the level of PM10 (particles smaller than 10 in aerodynamic diameter) concentration is harmful (>80μg/m3) or not. The proposed model shows superior accuracy compared to existing algorithms. Deep Q-haze effectively accounts for unexpected environmental changes in essence (e.g., weather) and facilitates monitoring of real-time PM10 concentration levels, showing implications for better understanding of characteristics of airborne particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To implement deterministic short-range numerical weather forecast error correction, this study develops a novel approach using the variational method and historical data. Based on time-dependency characteristic of nonsystematic forecast error, variational approach is adopted to establish the mapping relation between nonsystematic error series and the prior period nonsystematic error series, so as to estimate nonsystematic error in the future and revise the forecast under the premise of the revision for forecast systematic forecast error. According to the hindcast daily data of geopotential height on 500 hPa generated by GRAPES model on January and July from 2002 to 2010, preliminary analysis is carried out on characteristics of forecast error in East Asia. Further estimation and forecast correction test are conducted for nonsystematic error. The result shows that the nonsystematic forecast error in the GRAPES model has obvious characteristic of state dependency. Nonsystematic forecast error changes along season and the state of weather and accounts for great proportion in total forecast error. Nonsystematic forecast error estimated by variational approach is relatively close to the real forecast error. After nonsystematic correction, the corrected 24 h and 48 h forecast of majority samples has a smaller RMSE. Further study on temperature shows a similar result, even comparing to the observational upper air MICAPS data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vole Microtus maximowiczii Schrenck, 1858 is a widely distributed species inhabiting humid biotopes of the forest zone in East Asia. It comprises three subspecies: M. m. maximowiczii Schrenck, 1858, Microtus m. ungurensis Kastchenko, 1913, and Microtus m. gromovi Vorontsov, Boeskorov, Lyapunova and Revin, 1988 . The description of the latter subspecies was based on one subadult individual only. Here, we present a morphological investigation of the three subspecies and relate the results to the karyological variation observed in M. maximowiczii. In a morphometric analysis, 124 skulls of the three subspecies were studied, including seven of M. m. gromovi, which have been collected near Ayan village at Ohotsk sea coast (Russian Far East). The samples of M. m. gromovi clustered separately from the other subspecies of M. maximowiczii. In average, M. m. gromovi proved to be considerably smaller than the others. The analysis of the third upper molar (M3) revealed that the majority of individuals of M. m. gromovi (from Ayan and from the coast of Lake Bol’shoe Toko) possessed a complicated shape of M3. In the karyological analysis, the number and morphology of chromosomes in all three M. m. gromovi individuals investigated were stable and equal: 2 n = 44, NF = 60. While the same chromosome formula is also found in the other subspecies of this karyologically highly variable species, the individuals from Ayan possess peculiar characters: pericentric inversions in the first and fourth chromosome pairs, a large acrocentric chromosome and additional euchromatin in the 10th pair. In total, the results confirm a distinct systematic position of M. m. gromovi and consequently, this taxon should be raised to species status. A redescription of Microtus gromovi Vorontsov, Boeskorov, Lyapunova and Revin, 1988 , stat. nov. is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]