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The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a major source of seasonal climate predictability and a key predictor for East Asian precipitation. However, the impacts of ENSO on East Asian precipitation are extremely complex and still controversial. Thus, it is necessary and significant to use various (observational and model) data sources to further examine the robustness of the impacts. This study revisits the evolution of the ENSO‐related seasonal precipitation anomalies in East Asia, including symmetric and asymmetric impacts of El Niños and La Niñas, the differences in the influences of eastern Pacific (EP) and central Pacific (CP) El Niños, and the interdecadal change of ENSO influences. The ENSO impact on East Asian precipitation has weakened (strengthened) in the ENSO's developing (decay) phase in the recent two decades. The ENSO impacts are robust in (i) southern China‐lower reaches of the Yangtze River‐southern Japan around the ENSO's mature phase, (ii) western North China in the developing phase and (iii) southwestern China in the decay phase. The distribution of East Asian precipitation anomalies is asymmetric in El Niño and La Niña years. The model simulations forced with observed sea surface temperature generally reproduce the observed evolution of seasonal precipitation anomalies associated with ENSO and confirm the robust impact of ENSO in East Asia. These results indicate the necessity to consider the asymmetric impact of El Niños and La Niñas, to distinguish the El Niño flavours for their impact on the East Asian climate, and to include the interdecadal variation of ENSO influence in addressing East Asian climate anomalies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In late 2019 the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus emerged in China and quickly spread into a worldwide pandemic. It has caused millions of hospitalizations and deaths, despite the use of COVID-19 vaccines. Convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies emerged as major therapeutic options for treatment of COVID-19. We have developed an anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin intravenous (Human) (COVID-HIGIV), a potential improvement from using convalescent plasma. In this report the efficacy of COVID-HIGIV was evaluated in hamster and mouse models of SARS-CoV-2 infection. COVID-HIGIV treatment in both mice and hamsters significantly reduced the viral load in the lungs. Among COVID-HIGIV treated animals, infection-related body weight loss was reduced and the animals regained their baseline body weight faster than the PBS controls. In hamsters, COVID-HIGIV treatment reduced infection-associated lung pathology including lung inflammation, and pneumocyte hypertrophy in the lungs. These results support ongoing trials for outpatient treatment with COVID-HIGIV for safety and efficacy evaluation (NCT04910269, NCT04546581). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Essential for smartphones, computers, batteries of hybrid and electric cars, medical scanners and weaponry, rare earth elements (REEs) play a pivotal role in every sphere of life globally. The race is on to develop alternative ways to utilize secondary sources, open new mines, reduce waste and recycle more. From being entirely dependent on China's REE resources, the researchers and entrepreneurs globally are working towards development of alternative strategies to explore their indigenous resources to be self-sufficient. However, the existing strategies to extract these valuables rely on usage of mineral acids/alkalis. Continued effort on development of sustainable leaching methodologies led to the exploration of organic acids as a potential alternative. Low-molecular-weight carboxylic acids and organosulphonic acids have emerged as highly potent class of lixiviants for REE extraction. The knowledge of their variation in chemical structure and their complex potency towards lanthanides is essential towards development of an industrially viable process. In this review, the efficiency of the different organic acids in leaching REEs from various primary and secondary sources, along with their respective structural relevance has been summarized. This is expected to ameliorate the existing momentum of advancing nature-friendly industrial processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A better understanding of the linkage between the objectives and outcomes of innovation will enable firms to plan better for effective utilization of their resources for generation of innovation. The current study enhances the understanding of relationships between the intent to innovate and eventual outcome as the intent to innovate drives complex processes and resource allocation that leads to a successful innovation. We analyze the World Bank innovation survey data of IT firms in China and find that drivers of innovation significantly impact the configuration elements of the innovation phenomenon within firms and influence how firms execute collaboration with external partners. This is turn impacts the product and process innovation generated by the firm. The findings imply that firms should decide about their choice of partners for innovation and the mode of engagement with the partners based on the drivers for innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines subseasonal prediction skills and biases of the summer rainfall over eastern China in the Beijing Climate Center (BCC) Atmospheric General Circulation Model (BCC_AGCM2.2) and assesses the predictability of eastern China summer rainfall based on the multi-member forecasts. The BCC_AGCM2.2 model shows some skill in predicting summer rainfall over eastern China within the lead-times of 0–9 days. However, the subseasonal prediction skill is low on average, which is linked to the ability of the model in predicting the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH). The low prediction skills may partially be attributed to biases in the model, including a wider meridional span and a weaker intensity of rainbelt in Yangtze River valley, earlier meridional movement, and a further northward shift of WPSH compared to that in the observations. These biases result in an obvious dry bias along the monsoon rainbelt, and a wet bias to both the north and south sides. Moreover, as a major contributor to the predictability, the Pacific-Japan pattern is not well predicted for both its spatial pattern and subseasonal evolution. The low forecast skill of summer rainfall in eastern China seems due to a dominant role of the atmospheric internal variability and a minor influence of the sea surface temperature in extratropical climate variability. Nevertheless, enhanced prediction skills under the assumption of a perfect model imply the potential to improve the prediction skill of the summer rainfall over eastern China through reducing model biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When labeling an infectious disease, officially sanctioned scientific names, e.g., "H1N1 virus," are recommended over place-specific names, e.g., "Spanish flu." This is due to concerns from policymakers and the WHO that the latter might lead to unintended stigmatization. However, with little empirical support for such negative consequences, authorities might be focusing on limited resources on an overstated issue. This paper empirically investigates the impact of naming against the current backdrop of the 2019–2020 pandemic. The first hypothesis posited that using place-specific names associated with China (e.g., Wuhan Virus or China Virus) leads to greater levels of sinophobia, the negative stigmatization of Chinese individuals. The second hypothesis posited that using a scientific name (e.g., Coronavirus or COVID-19) leads to increased anxiety, risk aversion, beliefs about contagiousness of the virus, and beliefs about mortality rate. Results from two preregistered studies [ N(Study 1) = 504; N(Study 2) = 412], conducted across three countries with the first study during the early outbreak (April 2020) and the second study at a later stage of the pandemic (August 2020), found no evidence of any adverse effects of naming on sinophobia and strong support for the null hypothesis using Bayesian analyses. Moreover, analyses found no impact of naming on anxiety, risk aversion, beliefs about contagiousness of the virus, or beliefs about mortality rate, with mild to strong support for the null hypothesis across outcomes. Exploratory analyses also found no evidence for the effect of naming being moderated by political affiliation. In conclusion, results provide no evidence that virus naming impacted individual's attitudes toward Chinese individuals or perceptions of the virus, with the majority of analyses finding strong support for the null hypothesis. Therefore, based on the current evidence, it appears that the importance given to naming infectious diseases might be inflated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crayfish, commonly known as freshwater lobster, have been scientifically distributed in three genuses, which are as follows: - Cumberfish, Oronectes and Phalisaberus. Crayfish breeding and rearing techniques in China and some Adapted and practiced in South-East Asian countries. The proper ratio of broodstock female and male is 3: 1. Adult males are comparatively larger than females. The mating season of crayfish is usually from May to September. Larvae are stored in cultured ponds. Crayfish are cultivated in paddy fields with carp fish or eel fish in lotus and polyculture. The size of crayfish transported to the market is 20-60h in a period of 3 to 7 months, and is sold alive in most markets. Productivity varies from 750h to 3,000h per ha depending on the type of farming. It is possible that the farmer can earn up to 7000 to 14,000 rupees per day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Drip and sprinkler irrigation were proven as the efficient irrigation method to overcome the threatening of water shortage. • Irrigation quota between 144 mm–186 mm keeps both wheat yield and water use efficiency relatively at high levels. • Irrigating winter wheat at 60% of field capacity could balance yield components and irrigation water use efficiency. Abstract The knowledge of suitable irrigation methods coupled with effective irrigation scheduling to improve agricultural water use efficiency has become increasingly necessary for farmers in the North China Plain to ameliorate the severe water shortage that has threatened winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L) production. A two-season field experiment was conducted in a winter wheat field amide to compare the efficiency of three irrigation methods sprinkler irrigation (SI), surface drip irrigation (SDI) and flood irrigation (FI) under three irrigation schedules by irrigating while soil moisture decreased to 70%, 60% and 50% of the field capacity respectively. It was found that irrigation methods with suitable irrigation scheduling indeed have the potential to balance the optimal yield and water use efficiency. The results showed that irrigating 180.3 mm and 175.2 mm of water in the two studied seasons respectively was optimal to achieve the highest grain yield. For SDI and SI, this could be achieved by irrigating six times each with 30 mm of water, while for FI irrigating three times each with 60 mm of water gave comparable results. Our studies suggested that irrigating while soil moisture reduced to 60% of the field capacity by SDI was the best in all aspects compared with other irrigation methods and irrigation schedules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, air pollution in China has posed serious threats to human health. In this study, we investigate the relationship between air pollution and residents' health by nesting the household registration data of the China Migrant Dynamic Survey in 2014 with city characteristic data and pollution data. The results indicated that an increase in the concentration of air pollution significantly reduced residents' health levels. After using the instrumental variable (IV)-Oprobit model to solve endogenous problem, we have found that the negative impact of air pollution on residents' health remained significant. Moreover, the lag term of environmental indexes was introduced and found that air pollution significantly increased health risk. The results also demonstrated that the impact of air pollution on human health was heterogeneous. Men and urban residents were more sensitive to air pollution and more adversely affected. In addition to air pollution, the study found that, among the influencing factors at the individual level, males' health was better than females' health, and education positively impacted on residents' health. The health effects were consistent with the theoretical predictions of the Grossman model. The financial expenditure and medical input were negatively correlated with residents' health levels. Based on the results, we suggest the Chinese government should implement rigorous air pollution laws and regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the relationship between India and Nepal and says that all the activities of China in Nepal have a strategic design which will neither serve Nepal's long term interest nor that of India.

The present study examined the major features of the interdecadal variation of the summer rainfall over eastern China (IVRC) and the possible association with sea surface temperature (SST). We noted that the first leading mode of IVRC (accounting for nearly half of the total variance and with maximum loading for the summer rainfall anomalies over South China) may be not forced by SST. On the other hand, the second and third leading modes [accounting for 17.1 and 13.6 % of the total variance and mainly associated with the summer rainfall anomalies over the Yangtze River valley (YRV) and North China, respectively] in some extent are forced by SST anomalies. These observational results are confirmed by atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) simulations forced by observed SST. By eliminating the internal dynamical process driven rainfall though ensemble mean, the simulations further suggest an overall enhancement of the intensity of IVRC in the corresponding ensemble mean, especially in the YRV and North China regions, but not in South China. That implies the different role of SST in driving IVRC over different regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The East Asian mei-yu (EAMY), which includes the mei-yu over eastern China, baiu over Japan, and changma over Korea, is an important component of the Asia summer monsoon system. The EAMY rain belt jumps northward to the Yangtze and Huaihe River valleys (in China), Japan, and Korea from mid-June to mid-July, with remarkable interannual variability. In this study, the variability and predictability of EAMY are investigated using the retrospective ensemble predictions of the NCEP Climate Forecast System (CFS). The CFS reasonably captures the centers, magnitude, northward jump, and other features of EAMY over most regions. It also reasonably simulates the interannual variations of EAMY and its main influencing factors such as the western Pacific subtropical high, the East Asian monsoon circulation, and El Niño--Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The CFS is skillful in predicting EAMY and related circulation patterns with a lead time of one month. An empirical orthogonal function analysis with maximized signal-to-noise ratio is applied to determine the most predictable patterns of EAMY. Furthermore, experiments in which the CFS is forced by observed sea surface temperature (SST) exhibit lower skill in EAMY simulation, suggesting the importance of ocean--atmosphere coupling in predicting EAMY. The CFS, which exaggerates the precipitation over the southern--southeastern hills of the Tibetan Plateau, overestimates the relationship between EAMY and tropical--subtropical atmospheric circulation due to the overly strong ENSO signals in the model, whereas the experiments forced by observed SST produce a weaker relationship. On the contrary, the CFS underestimates the link of EAMY to higher-latitude processes. An increase in the horizontal resolution of the CFS is expected to reduce some of these errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improved India-Vietnam relations are guided both by their common historical experiences and their mutual concerns in the post-cold war context. Both have suffered aggression from China in the past and had good relations with the former Soviet Union. In fact, India was the only noncommunist country to recognize the unified Vietnam and, ever since, they have had a friendly relationship, one that has stood the test of time. However, in the post-cold war context the shadow of China looms large for this relationship. As India's 'Look East' policy matures, New Delhi is now seeking to engage countries in the Chinese periphery. The changing geostrategic dynamics have also forced Vietnam to forge greater strategic cooperation with India. This paper argues that India has to identified potential additional areas of cooperation and proactively engage Vietnam to further strengthen this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By all accounts, China's economic growth in the recent years has been an astounding one. However, one of the major issues of concern that has emerged in a context of the very impressive growth performance, for almost three decades now, is the well-being of workers in the country. Even though there is not much theoretical support or hard evidence to connect economic performance to labour market flexibility, policy makers, almost everywhere in the world, including in China, appear to be persuaded by such a connection. This paper focuses on some issues related to the well-being of labour in contemporary China; in particular we take a look at the relevant labour-related policies and their implications for employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is reasonable to simulate the hydrologic cycle in regions with drastic land use change using a distributed hydrologic model in the dynamic land use mode (dynamic mode). A new dynamic mode is introduced into an object-oriented modularized model for basin-scale water cycle simulation (MODCYCLE), a distributed hydrologic model based on sub-watersheds, and the hydrological response unit (HRU). The new mode can linearly interpolate data for the years without land use data and consistently transfer HRU water storage between two adjacent years after a land use data update. The hydrologic cycle simulation of the Sanjiang Plain in China was carried out from 2000 to 2014 in the dynamic mode using land use maps of 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2014. Through calibration and validation, the performance of the model reached a satisfactory level. Replacing the land use data of the calibrated model using that of the year 2000, a comparison model in the static land use mode (static mode) was built (i.e., land use unchanged since 2000). The hydrologic effects of land use change were analyzed using the two models. If the land use pattern remained unchanged from 2000, despite the average annual runoff increasing by 4% and the average annual evapotranspiration decreasing by 4% in this region only, the groundwater storage of the plain areas in 2014 would increase by 4.6 bil. m3 compared to that in 2000, rather than the actual decrease of 4.7 bil. m3. The results show that the fluxes associated with groundwater are obviously more disturbed by land use change in the Sanjiang Plain. This study suggests that the dynamic mode should be used to simulate the hydrologic cycle in regions with drastic land use change, and the consistent transfer of HRU water storage may be considered in the dynamic mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Castor plant (Ricinus communis) is a fast growing, perennial shrub also known as wonder tree from Euphorbiaceae family. India ranks globally first with production of 87% of the castor seed, while second and third largest producer countries, China and Brazil produced 5% and 1%, respectively. Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is one of the most promising thermochemical conversion process used to convert wet/high moisture biomass to biofuels and value-added hydrocarbons. HTL of castor residue (stem and leaves) was performed at 260, 280, 300 °C and 15, 30, 60, 90 min. Investigations on the effect of temperature and residence time on distribution of products (bio-oil, bio-char) indicated the maximum Total Bio-oil (TBO) yield of c.a. 15.8 wt% was obtained at 300 °C at 60 min. The major compounds observed by GC-MS were phenols and their derivatives, aromatic hydrocarbons, N-containing compounds, acids. In addition, the recovery of carbon and corresponding energy recovery with respect to castor residue indicated that the carbon and energy recovery for bio-oil 1 were 24.23% and 31.08% respectively. An increase in the carbon and decrease of oxygen content in bio-oil (BO) demonstrates that the castor residue can be used as a potential feedstock for bioenergy applications. • First study to use castor residue as feedstock to produce biocrude using HTL. • Maximum bio-oil yield (15.8 wt%) was obtained at 300 °C at 60 min. • High percentage (40.53) of phenolic functional hydrocarbons observed in bio-oil 1. • Bio-oil 1 has recovered 24.23% carbon and 31.08% energy. • Bio-oil 2 has recovered 24.91% carbon and 35.79% energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Weaning China Off Organs From Executed Prisoners," in the January 3, 2015 issue.

Background: With global survival increasing for children younger than 5 years of age, attention is required to reduce the approximately 1 million deaths of children aged 5-14 years occurring every year. Causes of death at these ages remain poorly documented. We aimed to explore trends in mortality by causes of death in India, China, Brazil, and Mexico, which are home to about 40% of the world's children aged 5-14 years and experience more than 200 000 deaths annually at these ages.Methods: We examined data on 244 401 deaths in children aged 5-14 years from four nationally representative data sources that obtained direct distributions of causes of death: the Indian Million Death Study, the Chinese Disease Surveillance Points, mortality data from the Mexican Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, and mortality data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. We present data on 12 main disease groups in all countries, with breakdown by communicable and nutritional diseases, non-communicable diseases, injuries, and ill-defined causes. To calculate age-specific and sex-specific death rates for each cause, we applied the national cause of death distribution to the UN mortality envelopes for 2005-16 for each country.Findings: Unlike Brazil, China, and Mexico, communicable diseases still account for nearly half of deaths in India in children aged 5-14 years (73 920 [46·1%] of 160 330 estimated deaths in 2016). In 2016, India had the highest death rates in nearly every category, including from communicable diseases. Fast declines among girls in communicable disease mortality narrowed the gap by 2016 with boys in India (32·6 deaths per 100 000 girls vs 26·2 per 100 000 boys) and China (1·7 vs 1·5). In China, injuries accounted for the greatest proportions of deaths (20 970 [53·2%] of 39 430 estimated deaths, in which drowning was a leading cause). The homicide death rate at ages 10-14 years was higher for boys than for girls in Brazil, increasing annually by an average of 0·7% (0·3-1·1). In India and China, the suicide death rates were higher for girls than for boys at ages 10-14 years. By contrast, in Mexico it was higher for boys than for girls, increasing annually by an average of 2·8% (2·0-3·6). Deaths from transport injuries, drowning, and cancer are common in all four countries, with transport accidents among the top three causes of death for both sexes in all countries, except for Indian girls, and cancer in the top three causes for both sexes in Mexico, Brazil, and China.Interpretation: Most of the deaths that occurred between 2005 and 2016 in children aged 5-14 years in India, China, Brazil, and Mexico arose from preventable or treatable conditions. This age group is important for extending some of the global disease-specific targets developed for children younger than 5 years of age. Interventions to control non-communicable diseases and injuries and to strengthen cause of death reporting systems are also required.Funding: WHO and the University of Toronto Connaught Global Challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 50 years, the emergence of plastic waste as one of the most urgent environmental problems in the world has given rise to several proposals to address the rising levels of contaminants associated with plastic debris. Worldwide plastic production has increased significantly over the last 70 years, reaching a record high of 359 million tonnes in 2020. China is currently the world's largest plastic producer, with a share of 17.5%. Of the total marine waste, microplastics account for 75%, while land-based pollution accounts for responsible for 80–90%, and ocean-based pollution 10–20% only in overall pollution problems. Even at small dosages (10 μg/mL), microplastics have been found to cause toxic effects on human and animal health. This review examines the sources of microplastic contamination, the prevalent reaches of microplastics, their impacts, and the remediation methods for microplastic contamination. This review explains the relationship between the community composition and the presence of microplastic particulate matter in aquatic ecosystems. The interaction between microplastics and emerging pollutants, including heavy metals, has been linked to enhanced toxicity. The review article provided a comprehensive overview of microplastic, including its fate, environmental toxicity, and possible remediation strategies. The results of our study are of great value as they illustrate a current perspective and provide an in-depth analysis of the current status of microplastics in development, their test requirements, and remediation technologies suitable for various environments. [Display omitted] • Microplastics are emerging global contaminants in the environment. • Aspects related to sources, distribution, categorization, and characterization are discussed. • Higher toxicity may be induced by the interaction of MPs'. • Technologies for remediation and microplastic detection were discussed. • The mechanism, benefits, and key challenges of MPs removal technology are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]