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Rural areas are at the forefront of achieving sustainable development goals, and elite actors tend to be the most influential local decision-makers in rural development. Nevertheless, improving the effectiveness of governance by elites and avoiding or redressing "elite capture" remain key challenges for sustainable rural development globally. This research integrates a large-scale quantitative dataset consisting of 604 villages in seven counties of Jiangsu province in China with qualitative data from eight villages in three out of the seven counties to examine whether and how collective action mediates the correlation between rural elites and rural development. Our quantitative analysis using multiple regression and path analysis indicates that collective action is a mediator, but it is more influential in linking governing elites than in linking economic elites with rural development. Our case studies with interviews further illuminate that collective action fuels rural development by improving resource reallocation and resource-use efficiency with the participation of both elites and non-elites. Innovative collective action designs that leverage a reputation effect to foster reciprocity norms promote the participation of elites while discouraging elite capture. Additionally, this research contributes to longstanding debates in commons governance about the role of authority interventions: we find evidence justifying the benefits of authority in catalyzing and sustaining collective action while also corroborating the critical role of democratization in improving rural governance by elites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the evolution of brown carbon (BrC) in the atmosphere is essential for investigating its climate effects. This study deployed a novel in‐situ BrC continuous observation system to firstly measure water‐soluble BrC absorption (AbsWS‐BrC) in an offshore island over the Bohai Sea in the winter of 2020. The AbsWS‐BrC abundance before the cold wave (BCW) was more than twice higher than that after the cold wave (ACW). This was mainly ascribed to the substantially suppressed formation of secondary WS‐BrC (WS‐BrCsec). Diurnal patterns of AbsWS‐BrC exhibited nighttime peaks, which derived from enhanced primary emissions and strong aqueous‐phase processes. Photochemical processes bleached daytime WS‐BrC during BCW, while daytime peaks of WS‐BrCsec emerged during ACW due to the weakened photobleaching effect. Statistical analysis indicated ambient temperature and relative humidity as well as total oxidized nitrogen (NO2 + NO3−) and reduced nitrogen (NH4+ + NH3) were the dominant factors promoting WS‐BrCsec. Moderate aerosol pH (>2.5) also facilitated the formation of WS‐BrCsec while no obvious dependences of WS‐BrCsec on gas‐particle partitioning of ammonia, O3, and sulfur precursors were found. At the molecular level, BrC chromophores with the identified compositions, carbon oxidation state, O/C, H/C, and absorption spectra were compared between the two periods. Characteristics of water‐soluble CHO‐ and CHON‐BrC were more of secondary origin during BCW, while primary emissions contributed significantly to BrC chromophores during ACW. This study highlights the advantage of high resolution BrC measurement in probing its dynamic evolution and influencing factors. Plain Language Summary: Brown carbon (BrC) has been identified as an important short‐lived climate forcer and plays a substantial role in climate change. In this study, hourly water‐soluble BrC was measured by a novel in‐situ continuous observation system at an offshore island over the Bohai Sea. Quantitative separation of secondary versus primary water‐soluble BrC was achieved. Primary water‐soluble BrC showed nighttime peaks due to the enhanced anthropogenic emissions. The high values of secondary water‐soluble BrC in daytime depended on the relative strength of photochemical production versus photobleaching. Higher ambient temperature, relative humidity, and higher concentrations of nitrogen‐containing precursors were identified as the facilitating factors for the secondary formation of water‐soluble BrC. The high‐resolution mass spectrometry analysis provided more detailed information on the molecular compositions of BrC, which showed different characteristics before and after the cold wave. Key Points: Higher temperature, relative humidity, and oxidized/reduced nitrogen precursors promoted secondary formation of water‐soluble brown carbon (BrC)Daytime peaks of secondary water‐soluble BrC depended on the relative strength of photochemical production versus photobleachingSecondary water‐soluble BrC was strongly suppressed after the cold wave, evidenced by its molecular composition characterization [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wide spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has significantly impacted the global human activities. Compared to numerous studies on conventional air pollutants, atmospheric mercury that has matched sources from both anthropogenic and natural emissions is rarely investigated. At a regional site in eastern China, an intensive measurement was performed, showing obvious decreases in gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) during the COVID-19 lockdown, while it was not as significant as most of the other measured air pollutants. Before the lockdown, when anthropogenic emissions dominated, GEM showed no correlation with temperature and negative correlations with wind speed and the height of the boundary layer. In contrast, GEM showed significant correlation with temperature, while the relationship between GEM and the wind speed/boundary layer disappeared during the lockdown, suggesting the enhanced natural emissions of mercury. By applying a machine learning model and the SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) approach, it was found that the mercury pollution episodes before the lockdown were driven by anthropogenic sources, while they were mainly driven by natural sources during and after the lockdown. Source apportionment results showed that the absolute contribution of natural surface emissions to GEM unexpectedly increased (44 %) during the lockdown. Throughout the whole study period, a significant negative correlation was observed between the absolute contribution of natural and anthropogenic sources to GEM. We conclude that the natural release of mercury could be stimulated to compensate for the significantly reduced anthropogenic GEM via the surface–air exchange in the balance of mercury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid socio‐economic transformation is triggering tremendous land use transitions in China. It raises the need to explore the continuous process of land use change, which sheds light on rural revitalization. To depict the process of rural residential land use change in the transition period in China, we propose a four‐stage model of rural residential land use change and then apply the function fitting method to explore the spatial‐temporal change and type characteristics of rural residential land using a dataset of 339 cities from 2009 to 2016. We find that: (1) The change of rural residential land involves four stages—the Primary Stage (PS), the Rapid Development Stage (RDS), the Decelerated Development Stage (DDS), and the Transition Stage (TS). (2) From 2009 to 2016, 47.2% and 28.9% of the researched cities remained in RDS and DDS, respectively, and only 23.9% of the cities entered TS. (3) The high proportion of RDS cities and a significant increment of DDS cities reveal a high potential in the intensive use of rural land. These findings provide scientific guidance for land use policies, such as establishing and improving the unified land market between urban and rural areas, reinforcing the essential land management and policy implementation, and exploring the multi‐mode of comprehensive consolidation of rural residential land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speciated atmospheric mercury including gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM), and particulate-bound mercury (PBM) were measured continuously for a 1-year period at a suburban site, representing a regional transport intersection zone, in east China. Annual mean concentrations of GEM, PBM, and GOM reached 2.77 ng m -3 , 60.8 pg m -3 , and 82.1 pg m -3 , respectively. GEM concentrations were elevated in all the seasons except autumn. High mercury concentrations were related to winds from the south, southwest, and north of the measurement site. Combining analysis results from using various source apportionment methods, it was found that GEM concentration was higher when quasi-local sources dominated over long-range transport. Six source factors belonging to the anthropogenic sources of GEM were identified, including the common sectors previously identified (industrial and biomass burning, coal combustion, iron and steel production, cement production, and incineration), as well as an additional factor of shipping emissions (accounting for 19.5 % of the total), which was found to be important in east China where marine vessel shipping activities are intense. Emissions of GEM from natural surfaces were also found to be as important as those from anthropogenic sources for GEM observed at this site. Concurrences of high GOM concentrations with elevated O3 and temperature, along with the lagged variations in GEM and GOM during daytime demonstrated that the very high GOM concentrations were partially ascribed to intense in situ oxidation of GEM. Strong gas–particle partitioning was also identified when PM 2.5 was above a threshold value, in which case GOM decreased with increasing PM 2.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the effect of temporary emission control measures on air quality during the 2016 G20 summit held in Hangzhou, China, an intensive field campaign was conducted with a focus on aerosol chemistry and gaseous precursors from 15 August to 12 September 2016. The concentrations of fine particles were reduced during the intense emission control stages, with the reduction of carbonaceous matter being mostly responsible for this observed decrease. This, in turn, was mainly ascribed to the decrease of secondary organic aerosols via the suppression of daytime peak secondary organic carbon (SOC)formation. Although the regional joint control was enacted extending to the Yangtze River Delta region, the effect of long-range transport on the air quality of Hangzhou was ubiquitous. Unexpectedly high NOx concentrations were observed during the control stage, when the strictest restriction on vehicles was implemented, owing to contributions from upstream populous regions such as Jiangsu and Shandong provinces. In addition, the continental outflow traveling over the ocean triggered a short pollution episode on the first day of the G20 summit, resulting in a significant enhancement of the nitrogen/sulfur oxidation rates. In the wake of the summit, all air pollutants evidently rebounded after the various control measures were lifted. Overall, the fraction of secondary inorganic aerosols (SIA; in this case sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium aerosols -- SNA) in PM2:5 increased as relative humidity increased; however, the overall concentration of PM2:5 did not increase. To evaluate the effect of temporary emission control measures on air quality during the 2016 G20 summit held in Hangzhou, China, an intensive field campaign was conducted with a focus on aerosol chemistry and gaseous precursors from 15 August to 12 September 2016. The concentrations of fine particles were reduced during the intense emission control stages, with the reduction of carbonaceous matter being mostly responsible for this observed decrease. This, in turn, was mainly ascribed to the decrease of secondary organic aerosols via the suppression of daytime peak secondary organic carbon (SOC)formation. Although the regional joint control was enacted extending to the Yangtze River Delta region, the effect of long-range transport on the air quality of Hangzhou was ubiquitous. Unexpectedly high NOx concentrations were observed during the control stage, when the strictest restriction on vehicles was implemented, owing to contributions from upstream populous regions such as Jiangsu and Shandong provinces. In addition, the continental outflow traveling over the ocean triggered a short pollution episode on the first day of the G20 summit, resulting in a significant enhancement of the nitrogen/sulfur oxidation rates. In the wake of the summit, all air pollutants evidently rebounded after the various control measures were lifted. Overall, the fraction of secondary inorganic aerosols (SIA; in this case sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium aerosols -- SNA) in PM2:5 increased as relative humidity increased; however, the overall concentration of PM2:5 did not increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brown carbon (BrC), as a short-lived climate forcer, is still poorly understood due to its insufficient quantification of chemical compositions, ambiguous optical properties, and complex formation mechanisms. This study firstly investigated the characteristics of BrC over a remote island of the East China Sea during the winter of 2019. Driven by the continental outflows, BrC increased 3–8 times than the clean episodes. Different from most urban studies, high water-soluble organic carbon to organic carbon (WSOC/OC) ratios (66% ± 18%) and low MS-BrC/WS-BrC ratios (methanol extracts vs. water extracts, 1.1) were observed, which resulted from the aging processes via the long-range transport over the ocean. When air masses originated from northern China with long travelling history over the ocean, aqueous phase processing promoted the formation of BrC under rich ammonium and nitrate. In contrast, air masses from eastern China travelled over less oceanic areas and were characterized of higher oxidation capacity, suggesting a dominant role of gas-phase processing in the formation of BrC. Biomass burning, fossil fuels combustion, and marine sources were apportioned as the major contributors to carbonaceous aerosols, of which marine sources accounted for more than 30%. The fractional solar absorption by BrC relative to elemental carbon in the ultraviolet range (300–400 nm) was simulated as 17.3 ± 7.51% for WS-BrC and 21.18 ± 7.97% for MS-BrC, indicating a non-negligible role of BrC in perturbating the radiative forcing in the marine atmosphere. • BrC was firstly investigated over the East China Sea during winter. • BrC increased 3–8 times than clean episodes when driven by the continental outflows. • High WSOC/OC ratios (66% ± 18%) and low MS-BrC/WS-BrC ratios (1.1) were observed. • Marine sources contributed for more than 30% of carbonaceous aerosols. • Aqueous phase process and gas-phase process promoted BrC formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The blackmouth croaker, Atrobucca nibe (Jordan & Thompson, 1911), is one of the most important economic fish in China. The mitogenome of A. nibe was determined in this study. The full circle length of the complete mitochondrial DNA was 16,505 bp. It contained 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and a control region (D-loop). All 21 tRNA genes can fold into a typical cloverleaf structure except for tRNASer (AGY). The phylogenetic analysis revealed that A. nibe clustered into the three species of Sciaenidae (Pennahia microcephalus, Chrysochi aureus and Protonibea diacanthus). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Villages are homes for most rural residents and powerhouses of the rural economy, with a vital role in reducing rural-urban disparity. It raises the need to explore the driving forces of village development, which in turn sheds light on strategies to secure rural revitalization. This research aims to dissect the factors contributing to village economic development through quantitative analysis of 338 villages in the traditional agricultural area of northern Jiangsu Province, China. This research leverages an integration of the econometric modeling and machine learning methodologies (multiple regression model and Boosted Regression Trees method) to ensure our findings' accuracy and comparativeness. This research finds: (1) village economic development depends more on the intensity of land-use than the absolute amount of farmland resources; (2) transportation infrastructure, labor outmigration, and land transfer are determinants of village economic development with increasing marginal effects; non-farm employment, entrepreneurship, and bottom-up partnership are also positively related to village economic development despite their non-linear effects. (3) Large-scale labor outmigration would brings a short-term positive effect but poses a long-term challenge to village development. The authors suggest that priority should be given to the construction of transportation infrastructure, regulation of farmland transfer, industrial integration, promotion of rural entrepreneurship, and land consolidation to achieve sustainable development of the village economy. •We demonstrate the relative impact and marginal effect of factors contributing to village development. •The intensity of land-use weighs more than the absolute amount of farmland resources. •Labor outmigration will be detrimental to the village development in the long-term, albeit beneficial in the short term. •Rural elites with entrepreneurship are crucial to sustainable village development. •Priority should be given to transportation infrastructure construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics of biogenic aerosols in an urban area were explored by determining the composition and temporal distribution of saccharides in PM2.5 in Shanghai. The total saccharides showed a wide range of 9.4 ng/m3 to 1652.9 ng/m3, with the averaged concentrations of 133.1 ng/m3, 267.5 ng/m3, 265.1 ng/m3, and 674.4 ng/m3 in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, respectively. The saccharides include anhydrosaccharides (levoglucosan and mannosan), which were higher in cold seasons due to the increased biomass burning; saccharide alcohols (mannitol, arabitol, sorbitol); and monosaccharides (fructose, glucose), which were more abundant in warm seasons and attributed to the biological emissions. Through positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis, four emission sources of saccharides were resolved, including biomass burning, fungal spores, plant decomposition, and pollen. Moreover, the process analysis of high concentrations of leveglucosan was conducted by backward trajectory and fire points. We found that concentrations of anhydrosaccharides were relatively stable under different pollution levels, while saccharide alcohols exhibited an obvious decrease with the concentration of PM2.5, indicating that biomass burning was not the core reason for heavy haze pollution. However, high level PM2.5 pollution might inhibit the effects of biological activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a potent climate forcer, black carbon (BC) optical properties can have significant impacts on the regional meteorology and climate. To unveil the seasonal differences of BC and its contribution by various emission sources, a one-year continuous monitoring of atmospheric aerosols was conducted at a background coastal site in Eastern China. By comparing the seasonal and diurnal patterns between BC and elemental carbon, we observed that BC were evidently aged with varying extents among all four seasons. The light absorption enhancement of BC (E abs ) was calculated as 1.89 ± 0.46, 2.40 ± 0.69, 1.91 ± 0.60, and 1.34 ± 0.28, from spring to winter, respectively, indicating that BC was more aged in summer. Contrary to the negligible impact of pollution levels on E abs , the patterns of air masses arriving to the sampling site had a significant impact on the seasonal optical characteristics of BC. Sea breezes evidently exhibited higher E abs than land-sourced breezes, and BC was more aged and light-absorbing with an increased contribution of marine airflows. By applying a receptor model, we resolved six emission sources as ship emission, traffic emission, secondary pollution, coal combustion, sea salt, and mineral dust. The mass absorption efficiency of BC for each source was estimated, showing the highest from the ship emission sector. This explained the highest E abs observed in summer and sea breezes. Our study highlights that curbing emission from shipping activities is beneficial for reducing the warming effect of BC in coastal areas, particularly in the context of future rapid development of international shipping., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is disrupting the world from many aspects. In this study, the impact of emission variations on PM 2.5 -bound elemental species and health risks associated to inhalation exposure has been analyzed based on real-time measurements at a remote coastal site in Shanghai during the pandemic. Most trace elemental species decreased significantly and displayed almost no diel peaks during the lockdown. After the lockdown, they rebounded rapidly, of which V and Ni even exceeded the levels before the lockdown, suggesting the recovery of both inland and shipping activities. Five sources were identified based on receptor modeling. Coal combustion accounted for more than 70% of the measured elemental concentrations before and during the lockdown. Shipping emissions, fugitive/mineral dust, and waste incineration all showed elevated contributions after the lockdown. The total non-carcinogenic risk (HQ) for the target elements exceeded the risk threshold for both children and adults with chloride as the predominant species contributing to HQ. Whereas, the total carcinogenic risk (TR) for adults was above the acceptable level and much higher than that for children. Waste incineration was the largest contributor to HQ, while manufacture processing and coal combustion were the main sources of TR. Lockdown control measures were beneficial for lowering the carcinogenic risk while unexpectedly increased the non-carcinogenic risk. From the perspective of health effects, priorities of control measures should be given to waste incineration, manufacture processing, and coal combustion. A balanced way should be reached between both lowering the levels of air pollutants and their health risks., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: The impact of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and its influence on personal hygiene behaviors and peritonitis rate in peritoneal-dialysis patients is unknown., Methods: A multi-center retrospective study was conducted. We reviewed all the cases of peritoneal-dialysis (PD) patients from four major PD centers in Wuhan before and after COVID-19. There were 567 patients enrolled in total. Information was collected on personal hygiene behaviors, basic clinical characteristics, lab results, peritonitis details. We used Chi-square analysis to compare the personal hygiene behaviors, and used Chi-square goodness-of-fit analysis to compare the peritonitis rates before and after COVID-19. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors for peritonitis rate., Results: There were no significant differences on peritonitis rates in six-month period before and after COVID-19 (p = 0.0756, Fig. 2 and Table 3). But Gram-positive infections decreased dramatically (p = 0.0041, Table 4). Personal hygiene behaviors such as length of time for washing hands when performing PD treatment, the frequency of washing hands before PD treatment and six general behaviors had significant differences (P < 0.05 Table 2). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed never washing hands before PD treatment and serum albumin level were the risk factors of peritonitis during COVID-19 (OR 14.408, 95%CI 3.930 -52.821, P = 0.0002; OR 4.681, 95% CI 1.755 -12.485, P = 0.002, Table 5)., Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant positive influence on personal hygiene behaviors. Peritonitis rate did not significantly decrease but Gram-positive infections dramatically decreased. Never hand washing before PD treatment and serum albumin were the risk factors for peritonitis. We should emphasize hand washing before PD treatment in training and re-training program., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Object: Allergy and immunoglobulin E levels are inversely associated with glioma risk. Previous studies have focused on respiratory and food allergies, and little information is available regarding drug allergies. This study evaluated the rate of positive penicillin skin tests (PenSTs) and blood eosinophil counts in a large population of patients with glioma compared with nontumor controls to provide evidence for the relationship between drug allergies and glioma risk., Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted in patients diagnosed with glioma (n = 913) between January 2004 and June 2013. The study patients were matched with nontumor controls (n = 1091) for age, sex, and date of admission to the hospital. Preoperative results of the PenST and eosinophil counts were obtained, and odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using conditional logistic regression models, while a Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to assess overall survival., Results: The percentage of positive PenSTs was higher among patients with glioma than in control subjects. The age-, sex-, and admission date-adjusted OR for positive versus negative PenSTs was 2.392 (95% CI 1.891-3.026). Eosinophil counts were also higher in glioma cases than in controls: the OR for eosinophil > 0.06 × 10(9)/L versus ≤ 0.06 × 10(9)/L was 1.923 (95% CI 1.608-2.301). There was no association between positive PenST/eosinophil counts and glioma grade or patient survival (n = 105)., Conclusions: In contrast to previously reported relationships between allergy and glioma, in the present study a significantly higher rate of positive PenSTs and higher eosinophil counts were found in patients with glioma than in nontumor controls. These results suggest a complex relationship between allergies and glioma development.

The levels and distributions of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in chicken tissues from an electronic waste (e-waste) recycling area in southeast China were investigated. Human dietary intake by local residents via chicken muscle and eggs was estimated. The mean PBDEs concentrations in tissues ranged from 15.2 to 3138.1 ng/g lipid weight (lw) and in egg the concentration was 563.5 ng/g lw. The results showed that the level of total PBDEs (sigmaPBDEs) in the chicken tissue was 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than those reported in the literature. The large difference of sigmaPBDEs concentrations between tissues confirmed that the distribution of PBDEs in tissues depend on tissue-specificity rather than the "lipid-compartment". BDE-209 was the predominant congener (82.5%-94.7% of sigmaPBDEs) in all chicken tissues except in brain (34.7% of sigmaPBDEs), which indicated that deca-BDE (the major commercial PBDE formulation comprising 65%-70% of total production) was major pollution source in this area and could be bioaccumulated in terrestrial animals. The dietary PBDEs intake of the local residents from chicken muscle and egg, assuming only local bred chickens and eggs were consumed, ranged from 2.2 to 22.5 ng/(day x kg body weight (bw)) with a mean value of 13.5 ng/(day x kg bw), which was one order of magnitude higher than the value reported in previous studies for consumption of all foodstuffs.

To understand potential ecotoxicological effects of electrical and electronic equipment waste (e-waste) recycling and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) bioaccumulation in loaches, a semi-field experiment using Chinese loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) as experimental fish was performed. Larval loaches were kept in net-cage for three months in an e-wastes recycling site and a reference site in Southeastern China. There was significant difference of the survival rate between the loaches from the e-wastes recycling site (27%, 19/70) and from reference site (70%, 49/70). Histopathological responses were also found in all the livers examined in loaches from the e-wastes recycling site. These results showed that mixed pollutants resulted from e-wastes recycling led to ecotoxicological effects on loaches. The bioaccumulation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), the main pollutants in e-waste, in loaches was also studied, the mean concentration of total PBDEs in sediment was 6726.17 ng/g wet weight and in water samples was 4.08 ng/L (dissolved phase). BDE 209 was the dominant congener in sediment and with relatively high concentration in water. Relatively low concentration of BDE 209 (less than 0.01% of total PBDEs) and high concentration of BDE47 (up to 39.34% of total PBDEs) were detected in loaches.