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Interest in socioeconomic differences in academic motivation has been longstanding. However, previous research has often treated both low- and high-SES students as homogenous groups. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the developmental trajectory profiles of mathematics motivation during early adolescence, with a focus on variations within and across SES groups. Multigroup latent class growth analysis was used on a sample of 3718 early adolescents in China (initial Mage was 9.40 ± 0.52 years; 48.0% girls) across 2 years from grades 4 through 6. The analysis identified three distinct self-determined mathematics motivation trajectory profiles within each SES group: a good-quality profile (i.e., initially high autonomous but low controlled), a high-quantity profile (i.e., initially high both autonomous and controlled), and a low-quantity profile (i.e., initially low both autonomous and controlled). A greater proportion of low-SES students were observed within the low-quantity profile than within the good-quality profile. The study found that the failure-is-enhancing view was a protective factor against two relatively maladaptive motivational trajectory profiles (i.e., high-quantity profile and low-quantity profile), irrespective of socioeconomic background. These findings emphasize the importance of implementing motivational interventions for early adolescents that consider both structural factors (e.g., socioeconomic backgrounds) and psychological factors (e.g., failure beliefs), to foster students' academic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we investigated the relationships among mothers' filial piety, mother-child discrepancy in perceived parental expectations, and children's academic achievement in 823 Chinese families. The results indicated that mothers' authoritarian filial piety hindered children's academic achievement, whereas reciprocal filial piety had no such effect. Compared to children whose reports of parental expectations were identical with their mothers, children whose reports were higher than their mothers had lower achievement. Mothers' reciprocal filial piety increased the odds of child-reported parental expectations that were lower than mother-reported parental expectations, while authoritarian filial piety increased the odds of child-reported parental expectations that were higher than mother-reported parental expectations. Furthermore, the indirect effect of authoritarian filial piety, via mother-child discrepancy, on academic achievement was significant. These findings highlight the importance of mothers' filial piety and mother-child discrepancy in perceived parental expectations in identifying culture-specific factors that influence academic achievement in China.

Background: A complex interaction and mutual influence exists among landscapes, cultures, and landraces, with rice culture being a typical embodiment of this relationship. The conservation of landraces operates alongside preserving traditional practices. The Xishuangbanna region stands out as a hub for the genetic diversity of landraces, boasting rich genetic resources. Despite the diverse rice resources in this region, a comprehensive and systematic study has not been undertaken. Methods: From October to November 2023, we collected rice landraces under the on-farm conservation in 18 townships including Menghai, Mengla and Jinghong in Xishuangbanna. Employing semi-structured interviews and various methods, we investigated factors influencing the preservation and loss of rice landraces in the region. Statistical analysis was applied to the agronomic traits of collected local rice, encompassing indica or japonica, glutinous or non-glutinous, grain shape, and hull color as second category traits. The second category included quantitative traits like thousand grain weight and grain length. Rice diversity among different regions, traits, and ethnic groups was assessed using the Shannon–Wiener index. Additionally, clustering analysis via the UPGMA method depicted the distribution characteristics of the resources. Results: A total of 70 rice landraces were collected in the Xishuangbanna region, each exhibiting distinct characteristics. Differences were observed across regions, trait, naming, and ethnic groups. Diversity analysis revealed that Mengla had the highest diversity, followed by Menghai, while Jinghong exhibited the lowest diversity. The second category of traits displayed broader diversity than the first, with the Dai people's glutinous rice showcasing greater diversity than other ethnic groups. Cluster analysis categorized the 70 samples into seven groups at a genetic distance of 1.15. Ethnobotanical interviews emphasized the rapid loss of rice landraces resources in Xishuangbanna, with indigenous ethnic cultures playing a vital role in the conservation of rice landraces. Dai traditions, in particular, played a crucial role in protecting glutinous rice resources, showcasing a mutual dependence between Dai culture and glutinous rice. Conclusions: The rich natural environment and diverse ethnic cultures in Xishuangbanna have given rise to various rice landraces. The Dai, primary cultivators of glutinous rice with higher diversity, intertwine their traditional ethnic culture with the conservation of glutinous rice resources. At the same time, the preserving glutinous rice resources promotes the inheritance of Dai ethnic culture. However, rice landraces are facing the risk of loss. Hence, collecting and documenting rice landraces is crucial. Encourage local communities to sustain and expand their cultivation, promoting on-farm conservation. These measures contribute valuable germplasm and genes for rice breeding and serve as a means of cultural preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Transseptal puncture (TSP) is a crucial technique for catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). Although intracardiac echo (ICE) facilitates a safe and accurate TSP, it is not widely used in developing countries because of the expense. This study evaluated the efficiency and safety of a novel cardiac multidetector computed tomography (MDCT)‐guided TSP during AF catheter ablation. Methods: The study consisted of two cohorts. In the index cohort, TSP procedure was performed under the guidance of ICE, and we recorded the angulation of right anterior oblique of X‐ray projection. In the validation cohort, we compared the efficiency and safety of TSP guided by MDCT‐calculated angulation with propensity‐score‐matched patients who underwent TSP guided by ICE. Results: We included 50 patients in the index cohort, and the mean angles of interatrial septum (IAS) measured from MDCT and ICE were 34.8 ± 6.3 and 35.1 ± 6.5, respectively. In the validation cohort, 376 patients were enrolled in the MDCT‐guided group and ICE‐guided group. Both groups had 1 case of cardiac tamponade. The mean axial plane angle was 35.46 ± 6.17 degrees, which was not influenced by age, gender, BMI, and LA size, while a moderate positive linear correlation between EF and the axial plane angle (R2 = 0.14, p =.006). Conclusion: Cardiac MDCT can provide a clear vision of IAS orientation, and provide the appropriate RAO angle and height for TSP. The efficiency and safety of our MDCT‐guided TSP were comparable to ICE‐guided TSP, which may serve as an alternative method for TSP with ICE unavailable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential mobility serves as a pivotal determinant in reshaping urban social spaces and driving spatial differentiation and segregation within cities. This study harnesses a rich dataset from surveys and the housing market in Nanjing, China to dissect the spatial distribution patterns of its mobile population. Employing the Mantel Test—a novel approach in this context—we assess the interplay between spatial shifts in residential locations and the socio-demographic attributes of individuals, thereby shedding light on the socio-spatial dynamics across various migration categories. Our findings underscore a pronounced trend in the post-2000 era of China's housing marketization: residential migrations occur predominantly within a five-year cycle. The decay in migration distances aligns with the migration field formula, suggesting a systematic attenuation of mobility over spatial extents. The study identifies a strong congruence between the mobility rings—zones of frequent residential movement—and the micro-level characteristics of residents, reflecting the nuanced fabric of urban stratification. Furthermore, we unveil how macro-level institutional frameworks and the housing market milieu substantially shape and limit the migration frequency, hinting at the overarching impact of policy and economic landscapes on residential mobility patterns. The paper culminates by articulating the underlying dynamics of urban residential migration, providing a comprehensive account that contributes to the discourse on sustainable urban development and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Food safety risks (FSRs) are increasingly characterized by geographical complexity along with rapid urbanization, changing dietary pattern, and the modernization of the food industry. These factors pose challenges for food risk control in developing economies, more so during the global COVID‐19 pandemic. The accurate assessment of risk source and transfer path is a crucial step toward enhancing cross‐regional food safety management. This study aims to examine the spatial distribution, transfer path and driving factors of FSRs in China, provided with a national food safety database collected from 8.63 million batches of food sampling inspections for 33 different types of foods across 30 provinces. RESULTS: The findings reveal significant regional disparities in FSRs, which is the highest in the west with small‐scale sampling inspection and the lowest in the east with intensive sampling inspection. Catering and processed foods with higher daily consumption suffer more profound FSR than agricultural products. As evidenced by the shrinking low‐low agglomeration areas, the local FSRs have been effectively controlled. The high‐high agglomeration areas playing positive impacts on risk control are expanding while distributed discretely. CONCLUSION: The spatial transfer of FSRs is significantly driven by multiple drivers: regulatory capacity and intensity, information disclosure, food industry, regional economy, and food consumption. Assessing FSRs based on a geospatial analysis contributes to identifying risk sources, optimizing risk management, and constructing a sustainable food safety system. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of capitalizing educational resources on housing prices. As housing has gradually transitioned from a basic social right to a means of accumulating individual and familial wealth, it has emerged as a significant indicator of social stratification and has increasingly become a crucial tool for the intergenerational reproduction of social class. This paper takes Nanjing, China, as a case study and uses the geographically weighted regression model (GWR) and the hedonic pricing model (HPM) to investigate the impact of high-quality primary schools on housing prices. The results show that high-quality educational resources have become the most significant influencing factor on residential prices in Nanjing. The analysis in the mechanism section further indicates that the uneven distribution of educational resources in China is a continuation of the "danwei" system. Moreover, during the urbanization process, these high-quality educational resources are often leveraged by the government and developers, who see them as essential tools to attract investment and inflate housing prices. Therefore, the current overlap of the school district system and the marketization of housing in China not only intensifies residential segregation within the city, leading to severe residential inequality but also rebuilds social segregation within "danwei" and facilitates its reproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers debate whether one represents the magnitude of a fraction according to its real numerical value or just the discrete numerosity of its numerator or denominator. The present study examined three effects based on the notion that people possess a mental number line to explore how children represent fractions when they compare fractions with common numerators. Specifically, the effect of the spatial numerical association of response codes (SNARC), the distance effect and the size effect in representing fractions were examined in a sample of 72 sixth graders, who successfully solved the fraction comparison task with a real number (0.2) or a fraction (1/5) as the reference. Results showed that in the fraction-reference group (1/5 as the reference), there was a significant reverse SNARC effect and a distance effect between the denominators of the target fractions and the reference fraction; in the real number-reference group, the three effects were also observed. These results revealed that both groups used the mental number line to represent fractions and did not represent their real numerical values but rather the discrete numerosities of denominators when comparing fractions with common numerators. It seems that the way people represent fractions may depend on their strategy choices. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

Ethnic minorities living in Guizhou Province, China, have produced numerous rice landraces that are rich in genetic variations. Studying the genetic diversity and population structure of rice landraces in Guizhou has therefore become a topic of great research interest. However, the influence of ethnic minorities and their traditional food cultures on rice landraces remains unclear. We analyzed the genetic diversity of 598 rice landraces using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Furthermore, we analyzed the nucleotide variations between two similar populations collected during two different time periods using a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) haplotype analysis of six unlinked nuclear loci. The three major results were as follows: (1) The genetic diversity index of rice landraces in six ecologically distinct rice farming zones of Guizhou Province was high (He = 0.7721), and Southwest Guizhou, which has a large population of ethnic minorities, is the center of genetic diversity of rice landraces in the province; this region had the highest He at 0.7823 and the highest polymorphic information content (PIC) at 0.7562. (2) A neighbor-joining (NJ) phylogenetic tree and a model of the population structure showed that the rice landraces from the southwest, south, and southeast of Guizhou had unique genetic structures and genetic backgrounds, which are closely related to the traditional diet cultures of the local ethnic minorities. (3) A nucleotide variation analysis of similar rice landraces collected in 1980 and 2015 revealed that, after 35 years of domestication by ethnic minorities, the original dominant haplotypes were well-preserved; the frequency of the most favorable haplotypes gradually increased to adapt to the traditional food culture. This study is expected to promote the protection and sustainable utilization of rice landraces from this unique region and to provide valuable germplasm materials and information for future rice breeding and basic research efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Dong people mainly live in Hunan, Guangxi and Guizhou provinces, China, with a long history of glutinous rice cultivation, among which Kam Sweet Rice (KSR) is a group of rice landraces that has been domesticated for thousands of years by the Dong people. The core distribution area of KSR is Liping, Congjiang and Rongjiang County of southeast, Guizhou Province. Paddy fields, forests, livestock and cottages have formed a special artificial wetland ecosystem in local area, and the Dong people have also formed a set of traditional farming systems of KSR for variety breeding, field management, and soil and water conservation. However, this traditional agricultural management has not been reported at multiple levels based on landraces, species and ecosystems. Methods: Fieldwork was conducted in ten villages in southeast Guizhou from 2019 to 2021. A total of 229 informants were interviewed from the villages. Semi-structured and key informant interviews were administered to collect ethnoecological data on the characteristics and traditional utilization of KSR, traditional farming systems and agricultural management of the Dong people. Results: (1): A total of 57 KSR landraces were recorded as used by the Dong people in southeast Guizhou. We analyzed the cultural importance index (CII) of all KSRs. KSR with high CII often has a pleasant taste, special biological characteristics of cold resistance, disease and insect resistance and high utilization in the traditional culture of Dong people. (2) There is a clear division of labor between men and women in the breeding, seed retention, field management and grain storage management of different landraces of KSR in Dong communities. In order to resist natural disasters and insect pests, the cultivation of KSR is usually managed by multi-variety mixed planting. These agricultural management modes are the result of Dong people's understanding and adaptation to the local natural geographical environment, as well as the experience and wisdom crystallization of Dong people's long-term practice. (3) The traditional farmland of Dong People is a typical artificial wetland ecosystem that is planted with mixed KSR landraces with rich traditional wisdom. In addition, the economic benefit of the rice–fish–duck symbiotic system was 3.07 times that of hybrid rice alone; therefore, the rice–fish–duck system not only has the function of maintaining soil, water and ecological balance but also improves the income of Dong people. Conclusion: KSR is a special kind of rice that has been domesticated and cultivated by Dong people for thousands of years. Dong people have also formed traditional agriculture dominated by KSR cultivation. The traditional agricultural management of Dong people provides suitable habitats for flora and fauna with biodiversity protection, and convenient conditions for rational utilization and distribution of water resources were also provided. This traditional management mode is of great significance for environmental protection, climate change response, community resource management, sustainable utilization and agricultural transformation in modern society. Therefore, we call for interdisciplinary research in natural and social sciences, in-depth study of the ecological culture of ethnic areas, and sort out treasures conducive to the development of all mankind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal spontaneous combustion involves the process of functional group distribution and heat accumulation in coal. Therefore, analyzing the thermal reaction process of coal spontaneous combustion and the law of thermal effect generation to determine the key reaction links and functional groups and reveal the mechanism of coal spontaneous combustion is of great significance for the development of relevant control technology and materials. Three weakly caking coal samples were collected from the Chao Yuan, Huang Ling, and Hei Lapan coal mines in the Shaanxi Province of China. The characteristic heat release parameters of the weakly caking coal during low-temperature oxidation were analyzed using a micro-calorimeter (C80) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). A correlation analysis between the heat release rate and functional groups was carried out by the Pearson correlation coefficient method. The results showed that the low-temperature oxidation process of coal has obvious in stages and characteristics. Furthermore, while the heat release rate is influenced by the reaction of the functional groups in the coal molecular structure, the different functional groups exhibit different effects on the oxidation. The formation and consumption of hydroxyl, carbonyl, carboxyl, and various substituted aromatic hydrocarbons were observed to play a crucial role in low-temperature oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial interaction model is an effective way to explore the geographical disparities inherent in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by simulating spatial flows. The traditional gravity model implies the hypothesis of equilibrium points without any reference to when or how to achieve it. In this paper, a dynamic gravity model was established based on the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) theory to estimate and monitor the interconnection intensity and dynamic characters of bilateral relations. In order to detect the determinants of interconnection intensity, a Geodetector method was applied to identify and evaluate the determinants of spatial networks in five dimensions. The empirical study clearly demonstrates a heterogeneous and non-circular spatial structure. The main driving forces of spatial-temporal evolution are foreign direct investment, tourism and railway infrastructure construction, while determinants in different sub-regions show obvious spatial differentiation. Southeast Asian countries are typically multi-island area where aviation infrastructure plays a more important role. North and Central Asian countries regard oil as a pillar industry where power and port facilities have a greater impact on the interconnection. While Western Asian countries are mostly influenced by the railway infrastructure, Eastern European countries already have relatively robust infrastructure where tariff policies provide a greater impetus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As more countries consider the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) that are based on practices prevalent in the English-speaking countries with free markets, it’s increasingly important to understand the impact of IFRS on countries of different institutional, economic, and political environments. This article reports a study that examines the impact of IFRS on accounting quality in a regulated market, China, where new substantially IFRS-convergent accounting standards became mandatory for listed firms in 2007. Accounting quality is examined for the period 2005 to 2008 with only firms mandated to follow the new standards. The empirical results generally indicate that accounting quality improved with decreased earnings management and increased value relevance of accounting measures in China since 2007. Firms audited by the Big Four are expected to have higher quality before the standard change evidenced quality improvement to a smaller extent. Further analysis shows that such changes are less likely to result from changes in economic conditions but from the changes of the standards. Through the analysis of China’s adoption of the new substantially IFRS-convergent standards, the study provides direct evidence on the question of whether IFRS can be relevant to markets that are still disciplined mainly by regulators rather than by market mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Increasing education differentiation and its social consequences, that is, the way in which urban education stratification has shaped the socio-economic outcomes, are an understudied area of research on China’s higher education and its relation with social stratification and social mobility. This article examines this relationship by focusing on a specific social group whom we term as “new white collar workers” (NWCWs) in China. Our research reveals a strong correlation between the individuals’ position in a stratified educational system on the one hand, and their professional development trajectory, income and social status differentiation on the other. The article argues that educational differentiation has considerably contributed to the varied pathways and profiles of the NWCWs with regard to career development, income levels and living conditions, and that in the market-reform era, young people’s education attainment and social advancement have become increasingly determined by their family background, especially parental wealth. The policy implications of the research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil extracellular enzyme stoichiometry (EES) reflects the biogeochemical balance between microbial metabolic requirements and environmental nutrient availability. Recent research suggests that EES well effect on soil microbial metabolic limitations (SMMLs), however, few field studies have explicitly tested this based on a herbaceous successional chronosequence. We used the EES models to identify the response of SMMLs, and investigated the potential implications of microbial nutritional limitations across the time series (herbaceous succession) and space (transformation interface soil [TIS] and underlying topsoil [UTS] layer) in the grassland restoration series. We show that soil microorganisms were generally limited by C, both in the TIS and UTS. Microbial C-limitation exhibited a unimodal direction, peaking in intermediate successional stages, however, P-limitation presented the opposite trend. During herbaceous succession, microbial P-limitation was more substantial than that in N-limitation. SMMLs gradually transferred from P- to N- and back to P-limitation at later successional stages in the TIS layer. Furthermore, we demonstrate that biotic factors, soil basic index, and soil nutrients explained 92.2 % of the variations in microbial C-limitation and 84.4 % of the variations in microbial P-limitation. Multi–interaction factors exhibited the most significant relative influences of 65.11 % (TIS) and 43 % (UTS) on the SMMLs. Microbial C-limitation was induced by the imbalance between C supply and microbial C demand, whereas the changes in microbial P-limitation were due to the changes in the competition for P between plants and microorganisms. Overall, our findings provide support for microbial C- and P-limitation in the process of herbaceous succession during the restoration. We also highlight the possibility of additive effects on soil SMMLs via interactions of vegetation composition, soil properties, and microbial nutritional demands, which might constrain soil microbial metabolism requirements despite greater living root and litter resource inputs. [Display omitted] • Soil microorganisms were generally limited by C and P during the herbaceous succession. • In the TIS layer, SMMLs gradually transferred from P- to N- and back to P-limitation. • Multi–interaction factors exhibited the most significant relative influences of 65.11 % (TIS) and 43 % (UTS) on the SMMLs. • Microbial C-limitation was induced by the imbalance between plant residure C supply and microbial C demand. • The changes in microbial P-limitation were due to the changes in the competition for P between plants and microorganisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on raw data from dams damaged in the Wenchuan earthquake, including many that were severely damaged, characteristics and factors that influenced the damage are discussed in this paper. Findings from this study include: severely damaged dams were densely distributed along the seismologic fault; small dams, especially small earth-rock dams, had the most serious damage that was caused by a variety of factors; the most serious damage was caused by seismic waves; damage was aggregated by aftershocks; and the extent of the damage patterns increased with the seismic intensity. Damage patterns varied in different intensity zones and cracking was the most common type of damage. Most of the dams had a good base with relatively high bearing capacity, and the walls of the earth-rock dams were mostly of clay soil. This type of base and body material mitigated some of the damage to dams. Reservoir maintenance and other factors also have a significant impact on the seismic safety of the dam. Finally, some recommendations to reduce seismic damage to dams are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rice-based cultivation system in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River of China is changing gradually during recent years which arouses more attentions and concerns on environmental performance and sustainability. In this study, the integrated analysis of life cycle assessment (LCA), emergy evaluation (EME) and economic analysis (ECA) were applied and Quanjiao county was selected as a case study to estimate the pollution emissions, emergy efficiency and economic benefits of three typical rice-based rotation systems depended on a detailed farming practice filed investigation of 157 valid samples under structured questionnaire. The three typical rice-based rotation systems are rice-wheat rotation (RW), rice-fallow rotation (RF) and rice-crayfish rotation (RC), respectively. The LCA results showed that the area-based potential environmental impact for RW, RF and RC are 34.08, 13.71 and 39.98, the profit-based potential environmental impacts are 2.62, 1.16 and 1.98. The EME results indicated that the RC shows the highest emergy input, around 1.23E+17 sej/ha/yr, more than that of RW and RF, around 3.88E+16 sej/ha/yr and 3.40E+16 sej/ha/yr, respectively. From the emergy indices of the three systems, the RC results in higher environmental pressure and lower sustainability compared with the RW and RF. Fertilizer, diesel oil, water, electricity and forage are the crucial factors of environmental consequences, herein forage, water and electricity inputs are becoming new factors that are increasingly prominent and often neglected. From an economic perspective, the cost and income of the RC are highest because of more input and higher sale value, the area-based profit of the RC (20142 ¥/ha) is higher than that of RF (11848 ¥/ha) and RW (13031 ¥/ha). Generally, during the rice planting system transferring, the development of farming technologies and standards should be promoted to avoid the disorder of agricultural production, and then gearing up to the better economic performance and environmental sustainability for the rice-based rotation systems. Moreover, proper agricultural development policies should be made and promoted to stimulate farmers' willingness to adopt advanced farming practices and techniques to reduce environmental emissions and enhance agricultural system sustainability as well as increasing farmers' income. • The rice-crayfish rotation system has the highest area-based potential environmental impact and lowest sustainability. • Fertilizer, diesel oil, water, electricity and forage impact the environmental consequences mostly. • Forage, water and electricity inputs are becoming new environmental impact factors that are often neglected. • The rice-crayfish and rice-fallow rotation system have incompatibility on the environmental and the economic aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice-crayfish integrated system (RCIS) as a sustainable agricultural system has been widely and rapidly promoted in China. However, the environmental impact potential of RCIS is still unknown compared with conventional rice monoculture system (RM). A life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was applied to characterize the environmental performance and potential improvement opportunities related to RM and RCIS, and a questionnaire survey of 300 farmers was carried out in Qianjiang city, China. Seven environmental impact categories, including non-renewable energy depletion (NED), global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), human toxicity potential (HTP), freshwater toxicity potential (FTP) and soil toxicity potential (STP) were involved. Results showed that the NED and GWP were primary caused in off-farm stage, but the other environmental impact categories, including AP, EP, HTP, FTP, and STP were mainly occurred in the on-farm stage whether in RM or RCIS. Despite decreased chemical fertilizers and pesticides application in rice growing subsystem, the NED, GWP, AP, EP, HTP and STP were increased in RCIS by 84.30%, 89.37%, 61.88%, 95.87%, 98.06% and 70.78%, respectively, compared with RM. The crayfish farming subsystem produced more resources consumption, pollutant emissions and toxicity potential, with feed production and input being the primarily contributor to environmental impact categories in RCIS. The total environmental impact index from RCIS was 90.95% higher than that from RM. It is worth noting that obviously higher EP was produced in crayfish farming subsystem of RCIS, indicating that pollutant emissions resulted from aquaculture farming might be ignored and hidden in paddy fields. Based on these results, it is suggested that improving aquatic feed utilization, providing necessary technical training and guidance to farmers, and formulating environmental pollution risk control policies and punitive measures might be taken into consideration to ensure the effective use and sustainable development of rice-aquatic animal integrated system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the relationships between parent–child discrepancies in educational aspiration and child academic achievement and the mediating role of child's academic self-efficacy. In total, 829 Chinese elementary students (10 years old) and their mothers (36 years old) were invited to participate. The educational aspirations of the students and their mothers and students' academic self-efficacy and academic achievement based on their most recent midterm and final examinations were assessed. The results indicated that the absolute difference between mothers' and children's raw aspiration scores was negatively associated with children's academic achievement. Additionally, after accounting for the degree of discrepancy, the direction of the discrepancies showed differential effects. Compared to children whose aspirations were the same as their mother's, children whose mothers held higher aspirations than their own had lower academic self-efficacy. Furthermore, academic self-efficacy played a significant mediating role in the relationship between children's academic achievement and the direction of discrepancy “mothers' aspirations > children's”. In contrast, the direction “mothers' aspirations < children's” was positively associated with children's academic achievement. The reasons for this finding are also discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate complications and outcome by endonasal endoscopic approach in our single center., Patients and Methods: The clinical data of 2032 pituitary adenoma surgeries performed in our ward between January 2006 and December 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. The GTR (gross total resection) rate, hormonal control, complications, and tumor recurrence rate were retrospectively analyzed., Results: There were 628 (83.5 %) preoperative headache patients, 513 (68.9 %) visual acuity and visual field impaired patients, 218 (66.4 %) endocrine symptom patients and 26 (53.1 %) SIADH (syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone) patients experienced improvement after surgery. GTR was achieved in 1627 patients (80.1 %) and NGTR (non-gross total resection) in 405 patients (19.9 %). Clinically variable analyses revealed a significant correlation between GTR and Knosp's grades, large tumor volume, bone-invasive and recurrent tumors. Postoperative complications mainly included 34 (1.7 %) CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) leak, 72 (3.5 %) pituitary insufficiency, 30 (1.5 %) meningitis, 20 (0.98 %) cranial nerve deficits, 5 (0.25 %) hematoma, 5 (0.25 %) patients with internal carotid artery injury, and other complications mainly included nasal complications occurred in 168 patients (8.6 %). Overall, there were 3 deaths (0.15 %) occurred in our series. Univariate analysis showed that larger tumors, invasion, bone invasive, recurrent tumors and NGTR were associated with tumor regrowth. Multivariate analysis showed that NGTR and invasion were independent risk factors for tumor regrowth., Conclusions: NGTR and invasion were independent risk factors for tumor regrowth. Endoscopic surgery is an excellent choice for pituitary adenomas. It has the advantages of being minimally invasive, safe, and efficacious., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Purpose: To explore the association between MEG3 polymorphisms and the risk of prostate cancer in the Chinese Han population., Materials and Methods: Two MEG3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs11627993 C >T rs7158663 A>G) were genotyped in a case-control study in which 165 prostate cancer patients and 200 healthy controls were recruited by a Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) with the TaqMan assay. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate the strength of association., Results: No statistically significant differences were found in the allele or genotype distributions of the MEG3 rs11627993 C >T and rs7158663 A > G polymorphisms among cases or healthy control subjects (rs11627993: CC vs CA: 95% CI = 0.54-1.95, ORs = 1.03; CC vs AA: 95% CI = 0.67-2.54, ORs = 1.30 ; CC/CA vs AA: 95% CI = 0.81-1.98, ORs = 1.26 , P = .29 ; C vs A: 95% CI = 0.85-1.57, ORs = 1.16, P = .35; rs7158663: AA vs AG: 95% CI = 0.76-5.08, ORs = 1.97, AA vs GG: 95% CI = 0.57-3.29, ORs = 1.37; AA/AG vs GG : 95% CI = 0.56-1.32, ORs = 0.86, P = .49; A vs G: 95% CI = 0.69-1.39, ORs = 0.98, P = .91) Further stratified analysis detected no significant association., Conclusion: The MEG3 polymorphisms (rs11627993 C>T and rs7158663 A>G) does not influence the susceptibility to prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a frequently diagnosed malignant solid tumor in men. The etiology of PCa has been attributed to both environmental and genetic factors. In recent years, many studies have reported that miRNA gene single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) influence the susceptibility to several diseases such as cancer. To date, the mechanisms of PCa have remained unknown. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the association between PCa susceptibility and miRNA gene SNPs. A total of 156 PCa cases and 188 control subjects were included in this case-control study. The data were collected from hospitalized cases. We collected the demographic characteristic information, which included age, body mass index, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and family history of cancer. Polymorphisms were analyzed by the ligase detection reaction. Unconditional logistic and stratified analyses were used to analyze the association between these SNPs and PCa susceptibility and to calculate the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and the 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Cox regression model and the log-rank test were used to test the association between genetic variants and the overall survival. We found that miR-23a gene polymorphism rs3745453 carrying CC homozygotes had a 4.16-fold increased risk (95% CI = 1.30-13.25) than those carrying the TT/CT genotypes (P = .02), and the C allele displayed a higher prevalence of PCa than the T allele (OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.16-2.45, P = .01). Moreover, miR-23a showed that the homozygous carriers of the C-variant significantly increased the risk of survival rate as compared to the carriers of the TT/CT genotype (OR = 9.67, 95% CI = 2.83-33.09, P = .001). The rs3745453 polymorphism was potentially associated with PCa in the Chinese Han population and had an interactive relationship with the environmental factors.

Water eutrophication caused by agricultural production has become one of the most important factors that impede sustainable rural environmental governance in China. As a result, the Chinese central and local governments want to reduce the use of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer and gain socioeconomical profit simultaneously by promoting crayfish and rice integrated system (CRIS) in the rural areas with abundant water resources. In this article, we investigated whether CRIS in Qianjiang, Hubei, the origin place of the system in China, contributes to fulfilling the governments' expectations. We found that CRIS efficaciously cuts the fertilizer rate in rice production and boosts farmers' incomes because crayfish has a demand for water quality and holds a large internal market requirement. However, higher profit encourages farmers to expand crayfish production and thus discourages the initiatives in rice production. The area of the ditch for crayfish production expands ceaselessly and exceeds the limit of regulation of CRIS. As a result, the CRIS in the areas has emerged as a practice of aquaculture but in farmland. This is a regulatory gap. The input-output analysis of CRIS by material balance method can also reveal that excessive feed for crayfish has become a new source of agricultural pollution. Beyond that, due to the changed irrigation system and increased water exchange frequency of CRIS, the pollution has transformed from passive distribution to active, which will increase the risk of water eutrophication on a large area.

How an insect evolves to become a successful herbivore is of profound biological and practical importance. Herbivores are often adapted to feed on a specific group of evolutionarily and biochemically related host plants, but the genetic and molecular bases for adaptation to plant defense compounds remain poorly understood. We report the first whole-genome sequence of a basal lepidopteran species, Plutella xylostella, which contains 18,071 protein-coding and 1,412 unique genes with an expansion of gene families associated with perception and the detoxification of plant defense compounds. A recent expansion of retrotransposons near detoxification-related genes and a wider system used in the metabolism of plant defense compounds are shown to also be involved in the development of insecticide resistance. This work shows the genetic and molecular bases for the evolutionary success of this worldwide herbivore and offers wider insights into insect adaptation to plant feeding, as well as opening avenues for more sustainable pest management.

Evolution of pest resistance reduces the efficacy of insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) used in sprays or in transgenic crops. Although several pests have evolved resistance to Bt crops in the field, information about the genetic basis of field-evolved resistance to Bt crops has been limited. In particular, laboratory-selected resistance to Bt toxin Cry1Ac based on recessive mutations in a gene encoding a toxin-binding cadherin protein has been identified in three major cotton pests, but previous work has not determined if such mutations are associated with field-selected resistance to Bt cotton. Here we show that the most common resistance alleles in field populations of cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, selected with Bt cotton in northern China, had recessive cadherin mutations, including the deletion mutation identified via laboratory selection. However, unlike all previously studied cadherin resistance alleles, one field-selected cadherin resistance allele conferred nonrecessive resistance. We also detected nonrecessive resistance that was not genetically linked with the cadherin locus. In field-selected populations, recessive cadherin alleles accounted for 75-84% of resistance alleles detected. However, most resistance alleles occurred in heterozygotes and 59-94% of resistant individuals carried at least one nonrecessive resistance allele. The results suggest that resistance management strategies must account for diverse resistance alleles in field-selected populations, including nonrecessive alleles.