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Universities in China and the United States have been engaged in cross-border education through partnerships establishing international branch campuses (IBCs). This qualitative study used Moustakas's (1994) strategy of inquiry as a framework and explored Western faculty members' cross-border lived experiences at IBCs in China. IBCs in this study were coestablished by American universities and their Chinese partners. The central research question that guided this study asked about the lived experiences of Western faculty members at IBCs in China. This study purposefully selected 14 participants and data were collected through semistructured, one-on-one, face-to-face interviews. Moustakas's (1994) seven-level method of analysis involving a process of meaning reduction was followed. The essence of the participants' lived experiences described two components: value and adjustment. Findings from this study are valuable for leaders to rethink how to better support Western faculty in this joint higher education venture.

The purpose of this study is to explore the success factors of a rural grassroots sports event, the Village Super League (Rongjiang, southwest China). Data were collected from news reports of the sports event on the Internet. Thematic analysis was conducted to interpret the qualitative data. Eight key success factors were identified in this study. The primary factors include unique publicity, shared entertainment opportunities, empowerment of villagers, and rural volunteerism. The secondary factors include clear objectives, grassroots sports, community pride, and public and sports infrastructure. The implications are twofold: first, rural sports events combined with the exhibition of ethnic or local culture can be applied to other places; second, empowering and engaging residents in the event planning process and ensuring their extensive participation in delivering the event programs are critical for the success of a rural sports event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: N-acetyltransferase 10 (NAT10) serves as a critical enzyme in mediating the N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C) that ensures RNA stability and effective translation processes. The role of NAT10 in driving the advancement of breast cancer remains uninvestigated. Methods: We observed an increase in NAT10 expression, both at mRNA level through the analysis of the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and at the protein level of tumor tissues from breast cancer patients. We determined that a heightened expression of NAT10 served as a predictor of an unfavorable clinical outcome. By screening the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) cell bank, this expression pattern of NAT10 was consistency found across almost all the classic breast cancer cell lines. Results: Functionally, interference of NAT10 expression exerts an inhibitory effect on proliferation and invasion of breast cancer cells. By using ac4C RNA immunoprecipitation (ac4c-RIP) and acRIP-qPCR assays, we identified a reduction of ac4C enrichment within the ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters, multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1) and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP), consequent to NAT10 suppression. Expressions of MDR1 and BCRP exhibited a positive correlation with NAT10 expression in tumor tissues, and the inhibition of NAT10 in breast cancer cells resulted in a decrease of MDR1 and BCRP expression. Therefore, the overexpressing of MDR1 and BCRP could partially rescue the adverse consequences of NAT10 depletion. In addition, we found that, remodelin, a NAT10 inhibitor, reinstated the susceptibility of capecitabine-resistant breast cancer cells to the chemotherapy, both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: The results of our study demonstrated the essential role of NAT10-mediated ac4c-modification in breast cancer progression and provide a novel strategy for overcoming chemoresistance challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine confirmed that revived great-power competition has heightened the prospect of global conflict, while restoring the concept of deterrence to centre stage. The stakes in a conflict in East Asia, however, would be even higher than those in Ukraine. A war over Taiwan could bring the United States and China, the world's two greatest powers, into a direct military conflict which would represent a contest for regional or global leadership and would be likely to draw other powers into the fight. Such a war – in which the nuclear question would be ever-present – can currently be described as 'possible, avoidable, but potentially catastrophic'. In this Adelphi book, Bill Emmott evaluates the diplomatic and deterrence strategies that countries in and outside the Indo-Pacific region are using to try to reduce the risk of that conflict occurring. This book examines these strategies in the light of the lessons of the Ukraine war and identifies yardsticks with which to gauge their potential effectiveness and sustainability. Our goal, Emmott argues, must be for all sides to regard such a US–China conflict as 'inevitably catastrophic and therefore inconceivable'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrative conceptual model developed tested the relative influence of servant leadership and narcissism in relation to strategic variables including adaptation and cooperation on competitive advantage and firm performance. Data were collected using structured on-site interviews conducted with 140 and 95 key respondents of randomly selected manufactuarer-export houses located in U.S. and China, respectively. Empirical results revealed that both strategic variables and leadership variables were positively related to competitive advantage, which, in turn, influenced firm performance. The influence of societal culture was evident in our results in that relationships among antecedents of firm performance were denser for U.S. than they were for Chinese firms. Based on these findings, insights for administrative guidance and implications for influencing and managing a firms ISA between manufacturers and their principal international distribution channel alliance partners were discussed. Research drawbacks are identified and directions for future studies are proffered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study explores how a Chinese-American novice teacher acted as mediator in a telecollaboration with student teacher (ST) peers in the USA who designed tasks for his English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in China. The novice teacher was instrumental in mediating the student teachers' task design process by providing feedback regarding technological and institutional constraints, and the nuances of his target student population. He appropriated and adapted the tasks to make them relevant for his EFL learners. Against the backdrop of the three dimensions of professional capital--human, social, and decisional--the research questions explored how the novice teacher used the different types of knowledge of context (pedagogical, institutional, technical) in relation to task design, and his perception of his role as mediator. Within a sociocultural framework for telecollaboration studies, this exploratory case study shares characteristics of ethnography, action research, and narrative inquiry. Data triangulation included text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) data (Google Groups, emails), a narrative written by the novice teacher, and a semi-structured, reflective Skype interview with him. The findings indicate that he demonstrated high commitment, thorough preparation, continuous reflection, and development while navigating between his different roles of mediator, assessor, implementer, and field observer.

Background: For the past 30 years, white blood cell depletion (WBCD) or leukocytapheresis has been conducted to rapidly reduce excessive circulating white blood cell (WBC) concentrations in patients at risk for or with symptoms of leukostasis due to hyperleukocytosis. The goal of leukocytapheresis is to prevent or treat acute complications from leukostasis, thereby enabling patients to receive potentially curative chemotherapy. Methods: This report details the results from a retrospective and a prospective clinical study conducted in the European Union and the People's Republic of China, which assessed the use of the Spectra Optia Apheresis System for leukocytapheresis in patients with hyperleukocytosis. The primary objective of both studies was to the assess the safety and performance of the WBCD procedure in patients with elevated WBC counts. Results: Data were collected from 72 participants completing 87 WBCD procedures. The mean percent change in participant WBC counts post‐procedure was 50.3 ± 21.2% and the collection efficiency (CE1) of the WBCD procedures was 53.7 ± 19.8%. Sixty‐one participants (95.3%) experienced a total of 279 adverse events (AEs) with the majority of the AEs related to post‐procedure changes in laboratory values, which is an anticipated AE in this patient population. Conclusion: The data collected within these studies indicate that the WBCD procedure is safe and well tolerated in patients with hyperleukocytosis as evaluated by percent decrease in WBC count, CE1, and AE incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Restaurants' outdoor signage plays an irreplaceable role in attracting potential diners, as it conveys important functional and symbolic meanings of the businesses. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of typographic design elements of outdoor signage on consumers' perceptions of authenticity. This study also tests the linkage between authenticity and willingness to dine, as well as the moderating effect of frequency of dining in ethnic restaurants on the relationship. Design/methodology/approach: Using a 2 (simplified vs traditional Chinese characters) × 2 (calligraphy vs computer font) × 2 (vertical vs horizontal text flow) between-subject design, the authors did two experiments with 786 Chinese diners. Restaurant authenticity and willingness to dine are dependent variables, and openness to ethnic cuisine is the control variable. Findings: Display characters and text flow significantly affect restaurant authenticity. Furthermore, the results of this study demonstrate that display characters interact with typeface to influence restaurant authenticity. Consumers' perceived authenticity significantly increases their willingness to dine. The frequency of dining in ethnic restaurants moderates the relationship between restaurant authenticity and willingness to dine. Practical implications: Ethnic restaurateurs should pay attention to the outdoor signage design, as it affects potential consumers' authenticity perceptions. Specifically, in Mainland China, traditional Chinese characters and vertical text direction increase potential consumers' authenticity perceptions. Originality/value: This study extends the semiotic theory and applies the cue–judgment–behavior model in the hospitality literature. This study also provides new understanding of authenticity by identifying the influence of typographic design on authenticity, which confirms the semiotic theory that certain semiotic cues affect consumers' judgments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses supervised machine learning (sentiment analysis) to analyze the sentiments of social media information in the P2P lending market. After segmentation, filtering, feature word extraction, and model training of the text information captured by Python, the sentiments of media and social media information were calculated to examine the effect of media and social media sentiments on default probability and cost of capital of peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms in China (2015–2019). We find that only positive changes in media and social media sentiment have significantly negative effects on the platform's default probability and cost of capital, while negative changes in sentiment do not have any effects. We conclude the existence of an asymmetric effect of media and social media sentiments in the Chinese peer-to-peer lending market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Master in Bondage: Factory Workers in China, 1949–2019" by Huaiyin Li is a comprehensive monograph that examines the agency of workers in Communist China over a 70-year period. The book argues that workers had limited agency during the Mao period, which was further diminished under capitalism after Deng came to power. The author takes a historical approach and provides detailed examples to highlight contradictions and nuance during the Mao period. While the book lacks engagement with existing literature and a clear structure, it serves as a valuable resource for scholars of labor and industrial relations history in understanding China's working class. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: The author develops three U.S. scenarios to enable practitioners to gain a new mental model of the future from 2022 to 2050 by analyzing the uncertainties around major issues. Design/methodology/approach: The process has two elements: the predictable developments and the scenarios of possible extreme outcomes of major uncertainties. Five steps to create a mental model for how the United States could evolve out to 2050 are mapped out. Findings: "The development that defines the 'Socially Divided' scenario is China's brutal nationalism and displacement of the United States as the world's number one superpower.' 10; 10;'The signature event of the ?Security United' scenario is the global depression from 2026 to 2035 brought on by China's collapsing economy.' 10; 10;?China and the U.S. remain neck and neck in the global competition for economic power throughout the 'Economy Focused' scenario." 10 Research/Limitations/Implications: Supplementary data is included with the online version of the article. Practical/Implications: Immersing ourselves in realistic narratives of the future helps us sidestep our inclination to go with what we've done in the past. Originality/Value: A unique look at three plausible futures of the U.S. from 2022 to 2050. Every company should immerse itself in the scenarios to anticipate distinctly different future business environments. The article also serves as a learning model for scenario development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically investigates the role of social trust in the long-term performance of the initial public offerings (IPOs) in China, controlling for the formal institutional environment. We find that privately owned or smaller IPO firms experience significantly better post-IPO performance when they are incorporated in regions with more social trust. The state-owned and bigger IPO firms, on the other hand, experience better long-term post-IPO performance when they are incorporated in regions with stronger formal institutions (e.g. court enforcement and contract holding). Political pluralism turns out to benefit all IPOs in the long term. In addition, our evidence shows that stronger social trust substitutes for the quality of court enforcement but complements the role of contract holding. These results are robust after controlling for alternative definitions of ownership, outliers, non-linear effects of institutions, and the potential endogeneity of institutions in the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

China Quick-Fix introduces and explores a photographic archive of improvised repairs made in China. It reframes the quick-fix by putting aside the negative connotations that come with the term and understands quick-fixes in a more sympathetic light. It looks at how they represent a creative practice that generates environmentally sustainable personal geographies in increasingly alienated urban environments and it looks at how quick-fixes offer a valuable method with which to view contemporary Chinese society as a whole. Rather than looking at the city from a top down point of view, China Quick-Fix offers a street level view of the everyday problems people face and the solutions they arrive at. These solutions cover a range from the ingenious to the inadequate and they are rarely celebrated or even noticed; they represent an unselfconscious aesthetic that is antithetical to the state aesthetic which promotes power, modernity and unity. China quick-fix makes a case for understanding the seeming opposites of the grand project and the quick-fix as having a symbiotic relationship to one another. By looking at how sites of political and economic power are themselves often designed to serve shifting political exigencies and how, once opened, are maintained through an army of quick-fixers, it is clear that the quick-fix is not only the work of the left behind but is also an unofficial state aesthetic. While the quick-fix is commonly understood as resulting from economic necessity, within this body of know-how there exist a great many useful skills and principles that could and should be more fully recognised. Quite specifically, they offer a precise understanding of the real local economy, they promote recycling and on a psychological level stimulate creativity, active citizenship and greater connectivity to place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective  The aim of this study is to identify causes of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) death in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants less than 1,000 g admitted in Chinese tertiary NICUs. Study design  We retrospectively collected data on 607 ELBW infants from 39 level III NICUs from July 2016 to June 2019. The primary causes of death were compared among different gestation age, postnatal age groups, and areas with variable economic status. Results  Among all 607 ELBW NICU deaths, 47.1% were multiple gestation with high rate of in vitro fertilization (IVF) (43.3%); 53.4 and 34.1% received any or full course of antenatal corticosteroid (ACS). The most common causes of ELBW NICU death were respiratory distress syndrome-related neonatal respiratory failure (RDS-NRF, 43.5%), severe infection (19.1%), necrotizing enterocolitis or bowel perforation (9.4%), severe central nervous system injury (8.4%), and bronchopulmonary dysplasia-related respiratory failure (BPD-NRF, 7.7%). Causes of ELBW NICU death varied across postnatal age groups. RDS-NRF was the leading cause of early neonatal death, while severe infection in late neonatal death and BPD in postneonatal EBLW NICU death. RDS-NRF, severe brain injury, and asphyxia were most likely to die at early neonatal age (median age [interquartile range], 2 [0–5], 6 [3–9], and 3 [1–6] days, respectively) while severe infection and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) at late neonatal age, BPD-NRF at postneonatal age. Conclusion  In Chinese tertiary NICUs, the major causes of death in extremely low birth weight infants were RDS, infection, NEC, brain injury and BPD, and they varied with postnatal age. Developing specific prevention strategies for identified causes of death in ELBW NICU may potentially improve ELBW survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Ascertaining soil and associated soil organic carbon (SOC) redistribution induced by erosion and deposition processes is of critical importance to explore SOC dynamics on the landscape. The relationship between landscape scale erosion and deposition and SOC dynamics still has to be clearly described in fragile karst region. Methods: The soil profiles of 40-cm depth in relation to different land use types (e.g., grassland, forests, shrubland, and farmland) at the eroding and depositional landform positions were chosen. The profile patterns of SOC and its isotopic signatures were analyzed. The source and decomposition of SOC in profiles were investigated subsequently. Results: The mean SOC concentration in soil profiles decreased in the following order: shrubland > grassland > artificial forest > farmland at the eroding sites and grassland > artificial forest > shrubland > farmland at the depositional sites. The main sources of SOC in profiles at both landform positions were from C3 plants, while the proportional contribution of C4 plants increased along the depth. Although a higher concentration of SOC at the depositional sites was found relative to upland soils, there was higher decomposition rate of SOC at the depositional sites than that at the eroding sites, particularly under the farmlands. Conclusions: Our findings imply that the conversion of farmland to natural forests or grassland could be feasible for enhancing SOC sequestration potential; meanwhile, the soil redistribution process has significant effect on dynamics of eroded SOC in fragile systems, especially in the karst region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Chinese demand for melons has transformed the rural economy of northern Myanmar. • Mid-chain brokers play key governance roles in these China-centric value chains. • This suggests distinctive new forms of value chain structure serving China. • Value chain structures create new sources of regional dependence and vulnerability. • These were brought into sharp focus when trade collapsed with COVID-19. Mainland Southeast Asia has become an increasingly important source for Chinese imports of fresh fruit. But how have these activities contributed to patterns of regional development in sites of production? This paper uses insights from China-centric melon production in Myanmar to generate new insights into this question. We argue that the expansion of this trade has created a structural form of strategic coupling in which benefits have flowed to a relatively small number of participants. Whereas these outcomes have some similarities to fresh fruit and vegetable export chains elsewhere in the world, what makes this case special is their creation through a form of value chain governance quite unlike the retailer-led arrangements typically associated with export fresh fruit and vegetable production. In the Myanmar-China melons trade, brokers, not retailers, exercise lead firm functions. These arrangements have generated distinctive and highly uneven distributions of risk and reward that have inhibited value chain upgrading and created substantial environmental despoliation. The vulnerabilities associated with these processes were brought into sharp relief with the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, which led to local farmers bearing huge costs and debts when the border trade was abruptly curtailed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective evaluation of the relationships among different types of droughts remains a challenging task due to the combined impacts of climate change and land surface modification caused by human activities. Based on the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Runoff Index (SRI) at the 3- and 6-month timescales, this study presents a systematic analysis of the relationships between the severity (S) and duration (D) of meteorological (MD) and hydrological droughts (HD) in the three catchments of the upper Huai River Basin in China. The relation between SPI and SRI is explored by the maximal information coefficient and the mutual entropy. The spatial propagation mechanism of MD is identified by the centroid trajectory, and the response of HD to MD is quantified by the model averaging method. The results indicate a drying (wetting) trend in the upstream (downstream) area, while the centroid trajectory of MD is found in the midstream area, but not associated with the large (or small) S and D simultaneously. There is a strong correlation (determination coefficient > 0.55) between SPI and SRI in all three subareas, particularly at the 6-month timescale. The increasing influences of human activities (e.g., regulation of water conservancy facilities) from upstream to downstream lead to a weaker correlation between SPI and SRI as well as a decreasing threshold of D for MD to trigger HD in downstream. By contrast, the drier climatic conditions are the main reason for the increasing threshold of S for MD to trigger HD from upstream to downstream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue B I Contemporary Issues in Crime, Criminal justice and Criminology in Greater China i b , was commissioned specifically as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of the I Association of Chinese Criminology and Criminal Justice in the United States i (ACCCJ). A Brief History of ACCCJ and Its Accomplishments The field of criminology and criminal justice studies has grown exponentially since the 1980s, while at the same time interest in the study of crime, justice and criminology in Chinese societies also increased rapidly. The mission of the ACCCJ is to promote research and studies in criminology and criminal justice on Chinese societies, and to mentor young scholars who are interested in comparative criminology/criminal justice. The School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University - one of the prime sociology programs in China, has organized a month long summer camp on criminology for junior scholars in China in 2017, 2018 and 2019. [Extracted from the article]

Comparison and quantification of different uncertainties of future climate change involved in the modeling of a hydrological system are highly important for both hydrological modelers and policy-makers. However, few studies have accurately estimated the relative importance of different sources of uncertainty at different spatiotemporal scales. Here, a hierarchical sensitivity analysis framework (HSAF) incorporated with a variance-based global sensitivity analysis is developed to quantify the spatiotemporal contributions of different uncertainties in hydrological impacts of climate change in two different climatic (humid and semiarid) basins in China. The uncertainty sources include three emission scenarios (ESs), 20 global climate models (GCs), three hydrological models (HMs), and the associated sensitive hydrological parameters (PAs) screened and sampled by the Morris and Latin hypercube sampling methods, respectively. The results indicate that the overall trend of uncertainty is PA > HM > GC > ES, but their uncertainties have discrepancies in projections of different hydrological variables. The HM uncertainty in annual and monthly discharge projections is generally larger than the PA uncertainty in the humid basin than semiarid basin. The PA has greater uncertainty in extreme hydrological event (annual peak discharge) projections than in annual discharge projections for both basins (particularly for the humid basin), but contributes larger uncertainty to annual and monthly discharge projections in the semiarid basin than humid basin. The GC contributes larger uncertainty in all the hydrological variables projections in the humid basin than semiarid basin, while the ES uncertainty is rather limited in both basins. Overall, our results suggest there is greater spatiotemporal variability of hydrological uncertainty in more arid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accuracy of landslide displacement prediction can effectively prevent casualties and economic losses. To achieve accurate prediction of the Majiagou landslide displacement in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR), China, a hybrid machine learning prediction model considering the deformation hysteresis effect is proposed. The real-time deep displacement measurements were captured by using in-place inclinometers with Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. The time series method was adopted to divide the total displacement into a trend term and periodic term. Trend displacement was determined by the geological condition and predicted by the fitting method. Periodic displacement was controlled by external factors such as rainfall and fluctuation of reservoir water level. Before making the prediction, the grey correlation analysis was adopted to confirm that the fluctuation of the reservoir water level was the main influence factor. In view of the deficiency that current prediction methods could not quantitatively determine the lag time of landslide deformation and thus select the influencing factors empirically, the dynamic analysis of the correlation between periodic influence factors and periodic displacement was carried out in this paper, and the deformation lag time was identified to be 18 days by using set pair analysis (SPA) method. Finally, the optimal influence factors were selected and the prediction model of Majiagou landslide based on support vector machine optimized by particle swarm optimization (SPA-PSO-SVM) was established. Results showed that the root mean square error (RMSE) and the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of the proposed SPA-PSO-SVM prediction model are 0.28 and 12.8, respectively. Compared with the PSO-SVM model, the prediction accuracy of the proposed model had been improved significantly. The reliability and effectiveness of the SPA-PSO-SVM prediction model is verified and it has apparent advantages while predicting landslide displacement with deformation hysteresis effect involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The dual purpose of this article is to update information on the death penalty in the world and to examine capital punishment in China, paying special attention to public opinion. We argue that public opinion should not be used as an excuse to retain capital punishment, especially when there is an asymmetry of information flow in China. We also list the major arguments against capital punishment and empirical evidence on the deterrence effect of it in the USA. We raise a hypothesis on the public support for the death penalty in Buddhist nations. We concur to Professor Qiu Xinglong that China should abolish the death penalty immediately. We are delighted to learn that more and more scholars in China have agreed that there is a need to limit the scope of capital sentence and to abolish it eventually. We believe that abolishment of capital punishment would help strengthen the legitimacy of Chinese government and it would be beneficial for the public's transition from the traditional role as subjects to that of modern citizens. Although we are not optimistic about the abolishment of capital punishment in the near future, we'd like to see that the Chinese government will fulfill its promise of the eventual abolishment someday. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ongoing climate warming is largely affecting the frequency and magnitude of short‐term climatic extremes in many regions of the world, causing significant damage to the environment and society. Here, based on the long‐term (1980–2010) meteorological observations and reanalysis products, we investigated the spatio‐temporal evolutions of short‐term concurrent hot and dry extreme (SCHDE) events over the Pearl River basin, a typical humid and subtropical basin in southern China. We also explored the physical mechanisms of SCHDE and its relationship with a series of hydrometeorological variables and large‐scale climate indices. The results indicate an intensification of SCHDE over the study basin during the study period, especially for the period 1997–2010. SCHDE occurs mostly in the northeastern and western regions and shows a statistically significant increasing trend mainly in the midwestern and southeast regions, which is mainly associated with an increased temperature (Tair), drying trend in soil moisture (SM), and a sharp increasing trend in evapotranspiration (ET). The contribution of Tair variability to the SCHDE variability is largest (57.27%), followed by SM (28.43%) and ET (14.30%). In addition to Tair, SM deficit before the onset also plays an important role in the SCHDE occurrence. Furthermore, the SCHDE variability tends to be more sensitive to the SM deficits in the high‐altitude areas than in the low‐altitude areas. Besides, wavelet transform analysis results indicate that the cold phase of ENSO tends to trigger a higher risk of SCHDE events, while El Niño Modoki events have different influences on the variations of SCHDE during different warm/cold phases over the Pearl River basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil water plays a crucial role in biogeochemical processes within karst ecosystems. However, geochemical variations of soil waters under different land covers and the related karst critical zone processes are still unclear. In this study, five land covers, including grassland, dry land, shrub land, reforestation land, and bamboo land in the Qingmuguan karst area of Chongqing Municipality, Southwest (SW) China were investigated in order to better understand the spatio-temporal variations of soil water geochemistry and its controlling mechanisms. The hydrochemistry of soil water and stable carbon isotopic compositions of dissolved inorganic carbon (d13CDIC) in soil water were analyzed by a semi-monthly sampling strategy. The results show that there is remarkable spatiotemporal variation in the hydrochemistry and d13CDIC of soil waters under different land covers in the studied area. Soil waters collected from shrub, dry, and afforestation lands have higher total dissolved solids (TDS), Ca2þ, and HCO3- concentrations and heavier d13CDIC, which is probably associated with the stronger carbonate dissolution caused by higher soil CO2 and carbonate content in soils under these land covers. However, lower TDS, Ca2þ, and HCO3- concentrations as well as d13CDIC values but higher SO4 2- concentrations are found in soil waters collected from bamboo land and grassland. The reason is that higher gypsum dissolution or oxidation of sulfide minerals and less soil CO2 input occurs in soils under these two land covers. Under the shrub, dry, and afforestation lands, higher concentrations of Ca2þ and HCO3- in soil waters occur in rainy seasons than in dry seasons, which are probably linked to higher CO2 input due to stronger microbial activities and root respiration in the wet summer seasons. In addition, seasonal variations of NO3- concentrations in soil waters from the dry land are observed, and much higher NO3- concentration occurs in the rainy seasons than that in the dry seasons, which suggest that the agricultural fertilization may lead to high NO3- in soil water. On the vertical soil profile, except for the bamboo land, soil waters under different land covers commonly show an increasing trend of main ion concentrations with the increase of depth. This vertical variation of hydrochemistry and d13CDIC values in soil waters is primarily controlled by the intensity of carbonate dissolution related to carbonate content in soils and soil CO2 production. The soil waters under different land covers have great variations in d13CDIC values which ranged from 20.68 to 6.90. Also, the [HCO3/([Ca2þ] þ [Mg2þ]), [NO3/[HCO3, and [SO4 2/([Ca2þ] þ [Mg2þ]) molar ratios in soil waters show a large amplitude of variation. This suggested that carbonic acids could not be a unique dissolving agent and sulfuric/nitric acids may play a role in the weathering of carbonate in the Qingmuguan karst area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the outputs of 27 global climate models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), projected changes of extreme temperature events have been analyzed over nine river basins in China by the end of the twenty-first century relative to the reference period 1961-1990. The temporal and spatial changes and their projection uncertainty are studied using the extreme temperature indices defined by the Expert Team of Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). The model simulations predict a general increasing (decreasing) trend in warm (cold) extremes over China in the twenty-first century, with more pronounced warming trend under a higher emission scenario. The projected changes in cold and warm extremes exhibit a large difference in spatial patterns. The high-latitude and high-elevation regions of China (e.g., Continental and Southwest basins) are projected to respond more strongly to changes in cold extremes, while eastern and southern China (e.g., Yangtze River and Pearl River basins) tend to be more sensitive to the increases in warm extremes. In general, projected changes in cold indices based on minimum temperature tend to be more pronounced than in warm indices based on maximum temperature. Uncertainty analysis shows a large difference among the 27 GCMs under 2 RCP scenarios, and the uncertainty ranges tend to be larger under a higher emission scenario. Overall, the uncertainties in the emission scenarios are smaller than those from the climate models in the near future period. However, for the long-term climate projections (e.g., by the end of the twenty-first century), the projected difference under various emission scenarios tends to be larger than those by different climate models and hence can be the dominant contributor to the projection uncertainty of temperature indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]