Search

The debate surrounding China’s public diplomacy in Africa highlights how the state coordinates and leverages Chinese actors, including firms, to advance diplomatic objectives. However, this article questions the notion of unidirectional state dominance by exploring the intricate interactions between the Chinese state and firms around promoting and publicizing corporate social responsibility (CSR), which is conceptualized as a public diplomacy tool of corporations to engage with the foreign public. Using the lens of public diplomacy, the author examines the unconventional state-firm interplay in the symbolic domain, shedding light on practices of China’s expansion in Africa. Through two empirical cases, the author demonstrates the interdependence and collaboration between the Chinese state and firms, revealing their divided interests and contested cooperative efforts to enact public diplomacy in Kenya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the digital age, bullying manifests in two distinct forms: traditional bullying and cyberbullying. Children's peer relationships are important predictors of bullying, and bullying in turn predicts peer relationships. However, few researchers have noted the bidirectional relationship between peer relationships and bullying. Methods: The present study used a two‐wave cross‐lagged longitudinal design to fill this gap. The potential sex differences were also examined in this relationship. The sample consisted of 527 Chinese children aged 8 to 12 years (M = 9.69, SD =.96; 53.5% female). Participants completed peer nominations for peer acceptance, peer rejection and social dominance, as well as self‐reports of traditional bullying and cyberbullying. Results: Results showed that peer rejection at the first time point (T1) significantly and positively predicted traditional bullying perpetration, cyberbullying perpetration and cyberbullying victimization at the second time point (T2). Traditional bullying victimization at T1 significantly and negatively predicted peer acceptance and social dominance at T2. The results also revealed significant male and female differences. For instance, among boys, peer acceptance at T1 significantly and negatively predicted cyberbullying victimization at T2. In contrast, this relationship was not observed among girls. The present findings have important implications for understanding the cyclical relationship between peer relationships and bullying and providing practical guidance for improving peer relationships and reducing bullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple lines of evidence confirm a widespread increase in vegetation growth across China over the past few decades. The relationship between vegetation growth and water availability is thought to be becoming stronger under climate change, that is, water constraints on vegetation growth have been increasing. However, our understanding of how water constraints have influenced these vegetation greening trends, especially those climate change‐driven ones, remains limited. Here, we conduct a comprehensive evaluation of recent water constraints and their implications for vegetation growth in China between 1982 and 2015. By analyzing the spatiotemporal patterns of the relationship between vegetation growth and water availability, we reveal recent water constraints and their changes hidden within an overall greening trend in China. Further analysis demonstrates that two climate change‐related categories, defined broadly as "climate" (e.g., air temperature, precipitation, and so on) and "CO2" (i.e., atmospheric carbon dioxide), have exerted varying levels of importance in regulating vegetation growth across different water constraints. With increasing water constraints, the proportion of the climate‐dominated area has significantly risen, while that of the CO2‐dominated area has sharply declined. Our findings highlight that water constraints can mediate the dominance of climate and atmospheric CO2 on vegetation growth. This has the great potential to exacerbate the uncertainty surrounding current and future sustainable vegetation greening trends. Plain Language Summary: China's vegetation growth has shown a broad increase under climate change and human activities over the past few decades. At the same time, changes in vegetation water demand, terrestrial water availability, and climatic factors are expected to lead to increasing water constraints on vegetation growth. However, whether water constraints have influenced climate change‐driven vegetation greening trends remains unclear. In this study, we provide a comprehensive assessment of recent water constraints and their implications for vegetation growth in China between 1982 and 2015. To do this, we analyze the spatiotemporal patterns of the relationship between vegetation growth and water availability to reveal recent water constraints hidden within China's vegetation greening. Further analysis shows that climate and atmospheric CO2 have exerted varying levels of importance in regulating vegetation growth across different water constraints. With increasing water constraints, more regions become climate‐dominated and fewer become CO2‐dominated. Overall, our findings highlight that water constraints can mediate the dominance of climate and atmospheric CO2 on vegetation growth. This will help decision‐makers recognize the uncertainty of sustainable vegetation greening trends. Key Points: We reveal recent water constraints and their changes hidden within China's widespread vegetation greeningClimate and atmospheric CO2 have exerted varying levels of importance in regulating vegetation growth across different water constraintsWith increasing water constraints, more of China's vegetated regions become climate‐dominated and fewer become CO2‐dominated [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deciding whose words to trust profoundly impacts children's knowledge acquisition. In evaluating informants' trustworthiness, children are attentive to their social dominance. Previous studies have shown that children's trust preferences may differ across cultures based on the dominance of the informant: children in Western cultures prefer to trust in testimony from dominant informants, whereas children in Eastern cultures prefer to trust subordinate informants (Bernard et al., 2016; Charafeddine et al., 2019). We aim to investigate the potential cultural difference in the trust preferences of European American children (in the United States) and Chinese children (in China) from informants of varying levels of dominance, using a more refined method to assess children's trust preferences. We propose that different levels of authoritarianism – advocacies to obey authorities – in Western and Eastern cultures may explain the potential difference in children's selective trust. Specifically, as impacted by societal cultures, Chinese parents may possess a higher level of authoritarianism than European American parents and may place a higher emphasis on obedience in their parenting. Consequently, Chinese children may show stronger trust preferences from subordinate informants over dominant informants than European American children. Our research will offer insights into the potential mechanism underlying children's different learning preferences across cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has identified the combined effects of Right‐Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) on individuals' militant attitudes. Much of the existing studies have been conducted in the United States and Europe, where political cleavage is drawn between liberalism and conservatism and where RWA and SDO are aligned with conservatism. In this article, we argue that in a different ideological backdrop where RWA and SDO are not bound by conservative ideology, their influence on war support varies. We use the case study of China, in which socialist ideology upholds authoritarianism but opposes social dominance. We hypothesize that in a war in which the state acquiesces, regime loyalists high on RWA and low on SDO tend to back the war, while regime critics low on RWA and high on SDO are less supportive. Using longitudinal data with a nationwide online sample (Time 1: N = 1000, Time 2: N = 500) collected during the war in Ukraine, we confirmed the opposite effects of RWA (measured by the traditionalism subscale) and SDO (measured by the dominance subscale) on war support. The findings extend our understanding of the impacts of authoritarianism and social dominance in a context beyond the United States and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Big digital companies have become key elements in economy, communication, education, and politics in 21st century societies. The neutral ideology in their digital platforms, applications, and services, as well as the exponential growth in their activities can be used by world superpowers —especially the United States and China— to implement geostrategical operations, massive social manipulation or influence democratic processes with the objective of increasing their power and dominance over other nations. The aim of this paper is to state the different strategies of digital expansionism performed by the United States and China, and, additionally, to showcase the negative consequences of these strategies on the population and democracies of the European Union. The first section of this paper will define the concepts of digital sovereignty and digital expansionism as well as their importance in 21st century geopolitics. Next, the important role that big digital companies have on digital expansionism will be analysed, and the usage of digital authoritarianism and digital instrumentarianism performed by the United States and China will be further examined. Finally, the negative consequences of the implementation of these methods in the democratic systems of the European Union will be analysed, as well as what possible solutions there might be for said consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and their liabilities have been extensively examined in the literature. However, less attention has been paid to how SOEs overcome such liabilities and even flourish in a market transition from a centrally planned economy to a market-based one. This study explores how China's SOEs continue to thrive in a system where state and market logics co-exist. The state appears to arrange an institutional field favoring SOEs, which are likely to transact and interact with co-located market-based firms, from which they acquire market logic elements through knowledge spillover. Three different market-based forms—previous SOEs that have been privatized, new privately owned enterprises, and foreign-owned enterprises—enhance the survival chances of SOEs. Each market-based form is established for different reasons and operate through different processes, incorporating market logic elements and developing the ease of communication that affect how SOEs obtain market logic elements. Furthermore, government affiliation and industry structure generate different levels of support and demands for SOEs, and thus not all SOEs benefit equally from obtaining market logic elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For ordinary people in late-socialist China, the good life seems to be singularly shaped: in the future and the elsewhere, it is oriented toward one's own well-being and the well-being of future generations. This article aims to open up discussion about the different possibilities that ordinary people have for shaping a good life, despite and within the restrictions caused by their limited possession of power or wealth. The exploration draws from my long-term ethnographic fieldwork on caogen gongyi 草根公益 (grassroots philanthropy) in southeast China. It shows that care for the well-being of people beyond one's immediate family in the form of organized charity and volunteerism offers opportunities for many ordinary people with limited resources to engage socially and politically in ways that are central to their experience of the good life in contemporary China. Unlike the better-off philanthropists and volunteers, whose philanthropic activities tend to enhance their status and dominance, the ordinary people presented in this article experience major tensions between providing for their family and caring for others in society, between ensuring the material conditions of the good life and being able to live an ethical life as a contributing member of society and to be socially recognized for doing so. Hence pursuing the good life can require extremely hard work and be emotionally draining for many ordinary people. Philanthropic engagement does not lead to substantial and sustainable material returns, yet the creative imaginations and public actions of ordinary people open up possibilities for valorizing life in social arenas, despite and within the prevailing economic valorization of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abrupt climate events profoundly impact human societies, both environmentally and socially. However, existing research predominantly concentrates on immediate responses, overlooking long-term consequences. This study, centered on the Guojiazaoyuan site in the southern Loess Plateau, explores the enduring effects of a 5.3-ka BP climate event that transformed the local subsistence system. Through detailed analysis of archaeobotanical evidence, specifically floral remains dating to 4800–4300 BP obtained via flotation, significant post-event shifts in agricultural practices and food strategies are revealed. Notably, there is a clear prioritization of foxtail millet cultivation, a shift towards diversified food sources, and the introduction of new livestock. These changes represent strategic adaptations aimed at bolstering resilience and reducing vulnerability to future climatic challenges. The southern Loess Plateau developed an agricultural pattern with foxtail millet as the dominant crop, although different patterns were observed in surrounding regions during the early Longshan period (4800–4300 BP). Emphasizing the importance of a long-term perspective, particularly in agriculture and food security, the findings contribute to a broader understanding of how ancient societies coped with environmental changes. These insights are pertinent to ongoing discussions on climate resilience and sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macro-level discourses on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) firmly establish China as the sole agent in driving infrastructure development. This article contends that often obscured from view by the discourses on China's dominance are the host country authorities' exercising of agency in infrastructure development under their own jurisdiction. The paper focuses on the actions of the local host country authorities in developing an infrastructure megaproject as a part of the BRI in northern Myanmar's Kachin State. Currently under suspension, the Myitkyina Economic Development Zone (MEDZ, also known as Namjin Industrial Zone) would make an ambitious spatial intervention with wider implications and risks. The paper scrutinizes the 'strategies' by the local authorities in 2019-2020 in their attempts to move the project forward covertly. These include exploiting the project's designation as an economic developing zone to conceal its scale and the inclusion of a major urban development, lack of transparency, and alleged abuse of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research question/issue: Although the dark side of corporate political connections has been highlighted in recent studies, their adverse consequences on board decision making have received limited research attention. In this study, we posit that the political position of a chairman leads to greater power and a higher ranking on the board, which adversely influences the dissenting behavior of independent directors. Research findings/insights: In line with our predictions, we show that the presence of a chairman with political position will reduce the likelihood that independent directors will dissent on board proposals. Such influence is particularly weaker in firms that have higher status independent directors on boards and are state owned but stronger among firms in regulated industries and those strongly influenced by Confucian beliefs. These predictions are supported using a sample of Chinese firms from 2004 to 2016. Theoretical/academic implications: Our findings contribute to the board dynamics and decision‐making literature by highlighting how the political position of a board chairman can adversely affect the decision‐making quality of the whole board by reducing the propensity for independent directors to dissent. Practitioner/policy implications: The findings of this work also provide important insights to policymakers who are keen to improve corporate governance mechanisms by designing political strategies for firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

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

As China has risen as an advanced technological society, a new type of Orientalism—Digital Orientalism—has likewise emerged. Using historical materialism, this paper details these developments, including China's change from a civilization-state to modern nation-state and its transition from a technical state to an advanced technological society, closing the technology gap that had left it vulnerable to foreign aggression and continued forms of international dominance and hegemony. It reviews and develops theories associated with technological societies, and how these relate to technophobia generally and the rise of Sino(techno)phobia specifically. It then theorizes three distinct but overlapping trends or themes in Orientalist depictions of China over the past two centuries: 1) 'classical' Orientalism, first theorized by Edward Said; 2) 'Sinological Orientalism,' described by Daniel Vukovich; and now 3), 'Digital Orientalism,' which was first introduced by Maximilian Mayer. This paper develops analyses associated primarily with the third theme, investigating contemporary developments in the context of China as a rising power and how scholars and other nations have responded in turn. It argues that China appears to have surpassed others now as a technological society, including the US, with China's response to COVID-19 as a clear example, and with clear implications for China's national advancement and global position vis-à-vis the United States particularly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Wa of Myanmar and China's Quest for Global Dominance" by Bertil Lintner is a book that explores the history and current situation of the Wa people in Myanmar and their relationship with China. The book delves into the split of the Wa lands between Burma and China in the 1960s, the involvement of the Chinese-supported Communist Party of Burma, and the subsequent rise of the United Wa State Army. Lintner also discusses China's strategic interests in the Wa State, including its role as a buffer between China and the Indian Ocean. The book highlights the challenges faced by the Wa people in navigating their relationships with both the Burmese military regime and the powerful Chinese regime. Overall, the book provides a nuanced understanding of the Wa people and their importance in Chinese policy. [Extracted from the article]

Permafrost in northeast China, which is at the southern edge of the high-latitude permafrost belt in Eurasia, is extremely sensitive to climate warming. However, the distribution of permafrost in the region in recent years has been poorly studied, and there is a lack of understanding of the relative importance of environmental factors affecting the region. Based on observed ground surface temperature (GST) data, this study quantifies changes in the permafrost area in northeast China from 1982 to 2020 using a surface frost number model, and the influencing factors are identified based on dominance analysis and spatial correlation analysis. The results suggest that the permafrost in northeast China during the observation period underwent degradation with a degradation rate of 0.33 × 104 km2/a. In addition, the permafrost degradation also exhibited altitudinal and latitudinal zonality. Permafrost degradation under typical grassland, deciduous forest, and savannah cover was more significant than that under evergreen forest, mixed forest, and shrubbery cover. As revealed by the dominance analysis results, the annual average snow cover, annual average snow depth and annual average normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) had the largest contributions to the variance of the permafrost area in northeast China, accounting for 88.3% of the total variance contribution of the six influencing factors. The spatial correlation results reveal that areas with a significantly increased NDVI and significantly reduced snow depth and snow cover were coincident with areas with significantly degraded permafrost. Hence, the snow cover, snow depth, and NDVI were found to have the greatest influence on the permafrost distribution in northeast China. The results of this study evidently increase the understanding of the changing permafrost in northeast China, providing important knowledge about permafrost for researchers and the related community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employing data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), the paper empirically examines the relation between husband's dominance in family affairs and wife's marital satisfaction. While applying the ordinal probit model and ordinary least squares (OLS) method, the paper finds that wife's reported marital satisfaction is positively associated with her husband's dominant role in family affairs. This conclusion remains valid after using an instrumental variable to deal with endogeneity and performing some robustness tests. Some heterogeneities exist: the association is particularly prominent among those women who have traditional gender norms and are living in rural areas. These women tend to embrace the traditional gender ideology which stipulates that men are the masters of the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how a person's view of life and death might influence various aspects of well-being. Similar studies have been conducted with adolescents in different cultures, but not with Chinese Tujia ethnic adolescents. Tujia adolescents (N = 309) completed the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), the Death Attitude Profile (DAP), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and the Happiness Inventory (HI). Results indicated that Chinese Tujia ethnic adolescents maintain a relatively positive life-and-death view and overall well-being. Meaning in life and death attitude both corresponded with overall well-being. A dominance analysis indicated that meaning in life can predict the well-being of a person better than a death attitude. Limitations and future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: At the beginning of genomic selection, some Chinese companies genotyped pigs with different single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays. The obtained genomic data are then combined and to do this, several imputation strategies have been developed. Usually, only additive genetic effects are considered in genetic evaluations. However, dominance effects that may be important for some traits can be fitted in a mixed linear model as either 'classical' or 'genotypic' dominance effects. Their influence on genomic evaluation has rarely been studied. Thus, the objectives of this study were to use a dataset from Canadian Yorkshire pigs to (1) compare different strategies to combine data from two SNP arrays (Affymetrix 55K and Illumina 42K) and identify the most appropriate strategy for genomic evaluation and (2) evaluate the impact of dominance effects (classical' and 'genotypic') and inbreeding depression effects on genomic predictive abilities for average daily gain (ADG), backfat thickness (BF), loin muscle depth (LMD), days to 100 kg (AGE100), and the total number of piglets born (TNB) at first parity. Results: The reliabilities obtained with the additive genomic models showed that the strategy used to combine data from two SNP arrays had little impact on genomic evaluations. Models with classical or genotypic dominance effect showed similar predictive abilities for all traits. For ADG, BF, LMD, and AGE100, dominance effects accounted for a small proportion (2 to 11%) of the total genetic variance, whereas for TNB, dominance effects accounted for 11 to 20%. For all traits, the predictive abilities of the models increased significantly when genomic inbreeding depression effects were included in the model. However, the inclusion of dominance effects did not change the predictive ability for any trait except for TNB. Conclusions: Our study shows that it is feasible to combine data from different SNP arrays for genomic evaluation, and that all combination methods result in similar accuracies. Regardless of how dominance effects are fitted in the genomic model, there is no impact on genetic evaluation. Models including inbreeding depression effects outperform a model with only additive effects, even if the trait is not strongly affected by dominant genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The associations between authoritarian personality and subjective well-being remains understudied, especially in China. In addition, as Chinese individuals and Chinese organizations generally attach importance to authority, exploring the matching effect of individual authoritarian personality and organizational culture (OC) can provide information for career selection, talent recruitment and university enrollment. The present study aimed to test associations between authoritarian personality traits (right-wing authoritarian, RWA; social dominance orientation, SDO) and subjective well-being (SWB; including positive affect, PA; negative affect, NA; and life satisfaction, LS) at the general and component-specific levels and the possible moderating role of OC (military or nonmilitary universities) on the associations in Chinese culture for the first time., Methods: A total of 6,580 Chinese students from military and nonmilitary universities were surveyed using the Right Wing Authoritarianism Scale, Social Dominance Orientation Scale, Campbell Index of Well-being, Patient Health Questionnaire, and Satisfaction with Life Scale., Results: A higher score on RWA, but lower on SDO, correlated with greater SWB at both the general level and the component-specific levels. The links of RWA/SDO and positive factors (PA/LS) of SWB as well as latent SWB were moderated by the OC (being in military or nonmilitary universities). Specifically, these correlations were stronger for military than for civilian students. Further, although the moderating roles of OC existed in all three subgroups (sex, age, and socioeconomic status [SES] level), the negative link between OC and latent SWB existed in the male, younger, and high-SES individuals, while this link was not significant in female, older, and low-SES ones., Conclusions: The present study extends the findings of the moderating roles of organizational culture on the positive RWA-SWB relationship and the negative SDO-SWB relationship in oriental cultural contexts., Competing Interests: Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate The study was approved by ethics committee of Southern Medical University. All procedures performed in present study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration. Informed consents were obtained from all participants and their parents or other guardians (for those below 18 years old). Consent for publication Not applicable. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Aggressive behaviors in the online gaming world are frequent and have far-reaching negative effects., Method: To explore the factors and mechanisms of aggressive in games, we surveyed 945 university students using a framework of social dominance orientation, online disinhibition, moral disengagement, and aggression in gaming, and examined the moderating role of gender traits., Results: We found no direct relationship between online disinhibition and aggression in gaming; however, through the mediating role of moral disengagement, online disinhibition indirectly affected aggression in gaming behavior and enhanced social dominance orientation. Social dominance orientation predicted both moral disengagement and aggression in gaming behaviors, and the mediating effect of moral disengagement was confirmed through the indirect influence of moral disengagement on aggression in gaming behavior. Moreover, the moral disengagement mechanism significantly predicted aggression in gaming behavior. Furthermore, femininity and androgyny moderated both social dominance orientation toward moral disengagement and aggression in gaming, while masculinity and androgyny moderated the path from online disinhibition to social dominance orientation. Regarding the path from moral disengagement to aggression, all gender trait moderations were significant., Discussion: This study reveals the role of the moral disengagement mechanism in the process of game-related aggression, providing theoretical support for the explanation of aggressive behavior, which applies to players of any gender. Moreover, this study confirms the moderating role of gender. Unlike biological sex, gender traits are malleable; androgynous traits offer greater adaptability in various environments. Thus, prevention and intervention efforts against online aggression should include strengthening moral education and properly guiding and fostering androgynous gender traits., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Gan, Chen, Wu, Huang and Wang.)

Allopreening occurs in many species of birds and is known for providing hygienic and social benefits. While this behavior has been extensively studied among conspecifics, its occurrence among different species remains little known. Outside of captive environments, only a few records of interspecific allopreening exist. In this study, we describe our observations of the interspecific allopreening behavior between Spot‐necked (Stachyris strialata) and Nonggang Babblers (S. nonggangensis) in a non‐captive environment in southern China. To our knowledge, these observations represent the first record of interspecific allopreening in the family Timaliidae. We suggest that this understudied behavior is most likely related to the dominant–subordinate relationship between these two species: either the dominant species preening the subordinate species to assert dominance or the subordinate species preening the dominant species to reduce tensions by appeasement. We also suggest interspecific allopreening may not be as rare as we thought if we study this behavior under circumstances where different species are close to each other. This study contributes to our understanding of not only the potential mechanism(s) behind interspecific allopreening but also the behavioral ecology of the vulnerable Nonggang Babbler. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degree of land use reflects the progress of social and economic development; however, it also has a direct impact on land resources. Maximizing the ecosystem services of land resources in a limited space is a key issue in China's rapid urbanization. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the spatial relationship between land use patterns and ecosystem services to enhance the benefits of urban ecology. First, we used the landscape pattern index to represent land use patterns and the equivalence factor method to quantify the ecosystem services value (ESV); second, spatial autocorrelation and spatial autoregression were used to explore the spatial relationship between the landscape pattern index and ESV. Our main conclusions were that (1) the landscape pattern index and ESV both showed obvious spatial aggregation, but that of ESV was more significant; (2) the largest patch index and contagion index had a greater degree of influence on ESV than other variables, with the largest patch index having a positive effect and the contagion index having a negative effect; (3) it was necessary to cultivate the landscape dominance of land patches in ecological spatial regulation and to form large-scale ecological agglomeration in key ecological source areas and nodes. The research results can ensure that land resources exert a higher level of ecological value by adjusting the spatial form of the landscape patch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses Xi Jinping's role in China's foreign policy from elitepolitics perspective focusing on first, the policy preferences and worldviews of political elites; second, balance of power among political elites; and third, the sectoral interests behind political elites. China's foreign policies have generally developed in line with Xi's policy preferences and worldview. The current balance of power is in Xi's favour. His administration comprises mostly local cadres, whose developmentalist policy preferences are reflected in foreign policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of this study is to show the growing importance of space in the economic context. The article is an attempt to answer the question of whether China has a chance to win the race for economic dominance in space in the coming years. The method used in the article is descriptive and explanatory research and primarily cause-and-effect analysis. The thesis derived from the aim of the research is that space has become a critical area of economic competition between China and the United States. Although it was only in 2013 that China managed to do what the US did 50 years earlier, the Chinese space program clearly has accelerated in the 2020s. By 2030, China plans to establish a research station on the moon, because the helium-3 found on its surface, as a safe, efficient source of energy, could revolutionize the energy industry on Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, banking has become an impressive global affair. This changing orientation of the big banks' activities has led to the expansion of their operations at a global scale but raised difficult issues related to their capacity to manage their liquidity and to face various financial shocks worldwide. The competition among global banks has become much more severe in recent years as customers expect higher confidence from them. This is why more and more banks should design and implement customer-centric business models, ensure a higher cybersecurity, and drive digitization across their whole organizations. The goal of the paper is to briefly analyze the competition among the largest banks of the world within the global banking system in the period 2020-2021 by taking into account their Tier 1 capital, assets and market capitalization. The paper concludes that the Chinese banks were the main actors in the global banking system in the period 2020-2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cryptosporidium is one of the most prevalent parasites infecting both birds and mammals. To examine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium species and evaluate the public health significance of domestic chickens in Guangdong Province, southern China, we analyzed 1001 fecal samples from 43 intensive broiler chicken farms across six distinct geographical regions. Methods: Individual DNA samples were subjected to nested PCR-based amplification and sequencing of the small subunit of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rRNA). Analysis of the 60 kDa glycoprotein gene (gp60) was performed to characterize the subtypes of C. meleagridis. Results: The overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium was 13.2% (95% CI 11.1–15.3) (24 of 43 farms), with C. meleagridis (7.8%), C. baileyi (4.8%) and mixed infections (0.6%). Using the gp60 gene, three subtype families, IIIb, IIIe and IIIg, were identified, including six subtypes: one novel (IIIgA25G3R1a) and five previously reported (IIIbA23G1R1c, IIIbA24G1R1, IIIbA21G1R1a, IIIeA17G2R1 and IIIeA26G2R1). Within these subtypes, five known subtypes were genetically identical to those identified in humans. Conclusions: This is the first report of C. meleagridis in chickens from Guangdong. The frequent occurrence of C. meleagridis in domestic chickens and the common C. meleagridis subtypes identified in both humans and chickens is of public health significance. Our study indicates that broiler chickens represent a potential zoonotic risk for the transmission of Cryptosporidium in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article locates one of the earliest charitable performances organized by prostitutes in 1907 in two cities, Shanghai and Beijing. It examines the ways in which each social group prostitutes in the name of jijie (prostitute circles)/huajie (circles of flowers), the male elites who helped them manage the performances, and the newspaper commentators who responded to these events in mass media reconceptualized the formation of their identities, the transformation of their businesses, and the negotiation of their relationship with the emerging society and the nation in the last decade of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). It argues that the charitable performances not only cultivated the civic virtue of every group involved within a newly restructured society that prioritized public morals and nationalistic devotion, they also promoted person gain in terms of social status and reputation. To a large extent, these performances help us understand such bigger issues as female sexuality, the prostitution business, elite dominance, and the reform of China within the larger urban, social, and ideological contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of hybridization is significant in biological invasion, and thermotolerance is a trait critical to range expansions. The South American Sphagneticola trilobata is now widespread in South China, threatening the native S. calendulacea by competition and hybridization. Furthermore, upon formation, their F1 hybrid can quickly replace both parents. In this study, the three taxa were used as a model to investigate the consequences of hybridization on cold tolerance, particularly the effect of subgenome dominance in the hybrid. Upon chilling treatments, physiological responses and transcriptome profiles were compared across different temperature points to understand their differential responses to cold. While both parents showed divergent responses, the hybrid's responses showed an overall resemblance to S. calendulacea, but the contribution of homeolog expression bias to cold stress was not readily evident in the F1 hybrid possibly due to inherent bias that comes with the sampling location. Our findings provided insights into the role of gene expression in differential cold tolerance, and further contribute to predicting the invasive potential of other hybrids between S. trilobata and its congeners around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews China's rapid rise in the world economy over the last two decades and its implications for global economic governance and, in particular, for China's growing tensions with the United States. Relevant milestones such as China's entry into the World Trade Organization (wto), the subprime crisis, and the covid-19 pandemic are examined. The transition from the trade war between the two powers to a conflict for dominance of the main technologies of the 21st century is documented. The article ends with a reflection on the possible impacts of this conflict on the global economic scene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Based on the social dominance theory, this study aims to theorize the moderating effect of power disparity in the impact of team knowledge variety on team creativity and further to verify team open communication as the mediating mechanism of the aforementioned interactive effect. Design/methodology/approach: The multisource (team members and their team leaders) and longitudinal (separated by four months) survey data were collected from 67 research and development teams in China to test the research model. The authors used multiple regression analyses to validate all the proposed hypotheses. Findings: Results reveal that team knowledge variety has a more positive impact on team creativity when teams have lower power disparity. Besides, team open communication is significantly and positively related to team creativity and mediates the interactive effect of team knowledge variety and team power disparity on team creativity. Originality/value: This study reconciles the mixed findings in the previous study and provides new insights regarding the functionality of team knowledge variety. By identifying team power disparity as a moderator in shaping the effects of team knowledge variety, the authors extend the research that explores the moderators of the team knowledge variety–team creativity relationship, and make comprehensive consideration of the coexistence of multiple diversities within teams (i.e. knowledge variety and power disparity) and their joint effects on team creativity. Besides, this research identifies team open communication as an important underlying mechanism in transmitting the interactive effects of two different types of diversities on team creativity, thus offering new insights on how teams can perform creatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raphidiopsis raciborskii (previously Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii) can produce cylindrospermopsin (CYN) which is of great concern due to its considerable toxicity to human and animals. Its CYN-producing (toxic) and non-CYN-producing (non-toxic) strains co-exist commonly in natural water bodies, while how their relative dominance is regulated has not been addressed. In this study, we combined field investigation with laboratory experiments to assessed the relationship between toxic and non-toxic R. raciborskii abundances under different nutrient levels. The rpoC1 - and cyrJ -based qPCR was applied for quantifying total and toxic R. raciborskii abundances, respectively. The field survey showed that toxic R. raciborskii was detected in 97 of 115 reservoirs where its proportion ranged from 0.3% to 39.7% within the R. raciborskii population. Both total and toxic R. raciborskii abundances increased significantly with trophic level of these reservoirs, consistent with our monoculture and co-culture experiments showing in an increase in R. raciborskii growth with increasing nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P) concentrations. In the monoculture experiments, growth rates of non-toxic and toxic strains from Australia or China were not significantly different under the same culture conditions. On the other hand, in the co-culture experiments, the toxic strains displayed a significantly faster growth than non-toxic strains under nutrient-replete conditions, resulting in an obvious shift toward the dominance by toxic strains from day 3 to the end of the experiments, regardless of the strain originating from Australia or China. The reverse was found under N- or P-limited conditions. Our results indicated that the toxic strains of R. raciborskii have a competitive advantage relative to the non-toxic strains in a more eutrophic world. In parallel to an increase in dominance, both toxic strains grown in the mixed population significantly increased CYN production under nutrient-replete conditions as compared to nutrient-limited conditions, suggesting that CYN may be of significance for ecological advantage of toxic R. raciborskii. These results highlight the importance of nutrient availability in regulating abundances and strain dominance of two genotypes of R. raciborskii. Our findings demonstrated that elevated nutrients would favor the growth of CYN-producing R. raciborskii and CYN production, leading to more blooms with higher toxicity at global scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The dominance effect is a kind of non‐additive effect due to the interaction between alleles at the same locus. Quantitative traits such as growth traits in farm animals have been found to be influenced by dominance effects. However, dominance effects are usually ignored in the genome‐wide association study (GWAS) of complex traits for farm animals. In this study, we performed GWAS and genetic parameters estimation for the two traits age at 100 kg (AGE) and backfat thickness at 100 kg (BF) of 3572 Large White pigs. The pigs were from three breeding farms of China and were genotyped by an in‐house designed 50k SNP chip. Our results showed significant non‐zero variance for the dominance effect of AGE, while the dominance effect of BF was not significant. Using a GWAS model accounting for both additive and dominance effects, we identified three additive and two dominance significant SNPs for the trait AGE. For the trait BF, three genome‐wide significant additive SNPs were detected, but no significant SNP was found for the dominance effect. In total, six important functional genes (NPAS3, USP16, PARN, ARL15, GPC3, ABHD4) near significant SNPs were identified as candidate genes associated with AGE or BF. Notably, ARL15 and PARN were associated with AGE near the dominance association signals. Overall, the newly detected SNPs and newly identified candidate genes in our study added new information about the genetic architectures of growth and fatness traits in pigs, and have the potential to be applied to the pig breeding program in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated dominance depolyed by Chinese doctors during online medical consultation. Based on data retrieved from https://chunyuyisheng.com , the paper aims to explore when, how, and why doctors implement dominance during online medical consultations in China. The results of the paper revealed that Chinese doctors dominated the patients when they came across with resistance or inadequate cooperation from the patients. Moreover, two types of dominance-constructing strategies (upgraded request and mitigated elicitation) were identified and analyzed. Last but not least, the paper discussed the connection between doctor dominance and patient-centeredness while underpinning OMC as a goal-centered activity with a common goal between e-patients and doctors. The findings above provided evidence to challenge the prior studies regarding the dichotomy that doctor-patient interaction is either doctor-centered or patient-centered. • This study investigates doctors' dominance during Chinese OMCs. • Two dominance-triggering conditions are patient resistance and inadequate cooperation. • Two dominance-constructing strategies are upgraded request and mitigated elicitation. • OMC is found to be a goal-centered activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A salient characteristic of China's public–pgrivate partnerships (PPPs) is the deep involvement of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), particularly those administered by the central/national government (CSOEs). In this research social network analysis (SNA) was used to examine the role of different actors in transport and environmental protection PPPs in China in the period 2012–17. The results largely confirm the resource-based view and resource-dependency theory, showing that while CSOEs are dominant in both sectors, their dominance and control is greatest in transport sector projects that are more dependent on their accumulated experience, expertise, human capital assets and managemgent skills, that their dominance has increased over time, and that it is aligned with the provincial distribution of Chinese CSOEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As profit-seeking corporations, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have incentives to maximize profits from economic activities. However, subject to state ownership, SOEs are expected also to be more accountable for public welfare than their private counterparts. This study examines whether SOEs' relative provincial dominance reinforces government's demand to reduce air pollution in China, in the context of anticorruption and performance management. The results suggest that greater relative SOE dominance reduces sulfur dioxide emissions, but this effect is significant only in provinces with a low level of corruption case investigations. Performance management has no discernible moderating impact on the effect of SOE relative dominance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a few decades, China has made a huge rise in science, exemplified with an impressive expansion of academic publications. The management field has traditionally been dominated by the US universities and Anglo-Saxon researchers. The objective of the present study is to analyze through the application of a new bibliometric methodology whether the progress of Chinese universities in academic management research is in line with China's overall progress in science. The classic analysis of volume productivity and citation count is complemented with the recent f2-methodology. It is based on a more fine-grained classification of publications into categories of citations, focusing on the 10%-percentile and the h-core. The methodology is applied here at a country level and at the level of the university, for all publications and for those of the last 5 years. The results confirm the rise of academic publications by Chinese management scholars, but the analysis of publication outlets and the international collaborations nuance this progress. The US dominance in academic management research is maintained; despite a decline in relative terms, the US publication volume and the higher citations remain in absolute terms. This application of the f2-methodology with weighted factors in function of impact brings nuances to first level bibliometric analyses based on volume productivity or on total citations. This nuanced analysis results in fairer assessments and more equitable rankings. The application of the compound F2-index illustrates the dynamics in bibliometrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Mariopteris was widespread throughout Europe and North America throughout most of the Late Palaeozoic. New fossil records of Mariopteris can provide a historical perspective on their evolution and palaeogeographic distributions. Three Mariopteris species, Mariopteris yongchangensis sp. nov., M. hexiensis sp. nov., and M. sp., from the Cisuralian of Shanxi Formation in Yongchang, Gansu Province, northwestern China are described in detail here on the basis of morphological and anatomical characteristics. We are able to deduce that the type species of Mariopteris in the Mississipian and Permian remained rare and simplified but that this taxon diversified in the Pennsylvanian. The fossil records and palaeoclimatic characteristics presented here suggest that the Guadalupian was the end of the dominance of Mariopteris and that this genus was more diverse in tropical environments in the Carboniferous-Permian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports on the development of the interpersonal discourse semantic system of involvement based on the analysis of evaluative meanings in 3 different data sets of Chinese digitally mediated communication. It builds on prior work developed within tenor and interpersonal meanings. Within the proposed system, 3 kinds of interpersonal meaning dimensions are posited. The first relates to the relative status between interlocutors and participants within a social hierarchy and is, thus, named social hierarchy. The second relates to the positioning of the person posting and others in relation to how close their relationship is and is, thus, named social distance. The third relates to who is being positioned within the other 2 dimensions and is called involvement type. Within the 3 data sets of digitally mediated Chinese communication (i.e., forum posts, SMS, and chat room messages), we found that the Chinese interlocutors frequently positioned themselves and others in relationships both within a social hierarchy as well as in relationships concerning their relative social distance. Results show there are a number of linguistic realisations of these 3 involvement systems which Chinese interlocutors use to negotiate their relative social positions in digitally mediated communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on David Laibman's paper provides profound insights into the understanding of historical materialism as well as China's social formation in the past and the present. Topics include the fascinated by and skeptical about the idea of the Asiatic mode of production, Laibman argues that unlike most western capitalist countries, and China did not go through a long period in which representative and electoral political institutions and consciousness were developed.

Previous research has shown that violence in romantic relationships is a serious social and public health problem throughout the world among young adults. College students, as a vulnerable group, experience high rates of dating violence, irrespective of gender and nation. Yet, we still know relatively little about whether dating violence shows gender similarities or differences in different cultural settings. United States and China are both patriarchal societies but have diverse cultural background. There may be different gendered patterns of dating violence across these two countries. This study examined the gender differences in physical assault victimization and perpetration among college students in the United States and China, while controlling for dominance, jealousy, violence approval, and a number of demographic factors. Logistic regression analyses were conducted for a total of 5,631 individuals from the United States and China who participated in the International Dating Violence Study from 2001 to 2006. Results demonstrated that male and female college students in China were significantly less likely to be victims of minor physical assault compared with students in the United States. In addition, female students, both in the United States and China, were more likely to perpetrate minor and severe physical assault against their partners than male students in this sample. But Chinese females had a higher percentage of assault against their dating partners than females in the United States. This study contributes to the research on dating violence by exploring cross-cultural gender differences in both victimization and perpetration of physical violence among college students. The implications of findings and future research direction were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined whether personality traits were related to social dominance, directly, and indirectly through bullying, in samples of Western (Canadian) and Eastern (Chinese) adolescents. Self-report measures of personality, bullying, and social dominance were completed by 442 Chinese adolescents (293 boys), ages 14 to 19 (M = 14.63, SD = 1.53), and 389 Canadian adolescents (161 boys), ages 12 to 18 (M = 14.64, SD = 1.53). It was predicted that personality traits involving arrogance and exploitativeness (i.e., low Honesty-Humility) and impulsivity (i.e., low Conscientiousness) would be indirectly associated with social dominance, through bullying, in both samples. Consistent with evolutionary psychological perspectives, Honesty-Humility was directly and indirectly related to social dominance in both samples, whereas Conscientiousness was indirectly associated through bullying in Canadian and Chinese participants. Some relations differed across cultural contexts, in line with evolutionary and ecological perspectives suggesting that the expression of predispositions toward bullying and dominance depends on the costs and benefits afforded by the environmental (cultural) context. Specifically, eXtraversion was indirectly related to social dominance through bullying only in the Chinese sample, whereas Agreeableness was directly related to social dominance only for Canadian participants. We discuss the implications of these results for future research and intervention efforts along with the need to further verify the cross-cultural validity of adolescent behavior measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study analyzed the effect of simple-categorization dominance on the evaluation of crossed-categorization target from the perspective of observer (other) and actor (self). With a focus on the young-poor target, in Study 1 and Study 2, participants were assigned to observer or actor perspective and were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups: age simple-categorization dominant, wealth simple-categorization dominant, and a control group. Study 1 demonstrated that in the observer perspective group, the evaluation of the competence of the young-poor target in the wealth simple-categorization dominant group was higher than that in the age simple-categorization dominant group. In the actor perspective group, the self-evaluation of the competence in the wealth simple-categorization dominant group was lower than in the age simple-categorization dominant group. Study 2 showed that simple-categorization dominance was not associated with the evaluation of the young-poor target. These results have implications for understanding the evaluation of the crossed-categorization target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]