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Purpose: Private supplementary tutoring has been increasingly used by parents as part of wider strategies to assist their children's education careers in China. With a theoretical lens of parentocracy, this article aimed to investigate the influential parental factors underlying the demand for private tutoring, focusing on parents' socioeconomic resources and attitudes toward education. Design/Approach/Methods: This article drew upon data from the 2014 iteration of the China Family Panel Studies. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was employed to explore the influences of parental factors. Findings: The SEM analysis confirmed that parental income, education, and aspirations on children's education had both direct and indirect positive effects through the mediating factor of role construction on demand for tutoring. A multiple-group analysis was further conducted, and the difference in the patterns for urban and rural parents was explored. Parental occupation had no impact on demand for tutoring for rural parents but had both direct and indirect effects for urban parents. Both direct and indirect effects of household income on demand for tutoring were greater for urban parents than for rural parents. Originality/Value: This article examined the direct and indirect influences of parental factors on demand for private tutoring and explored the differences in patterns for urban and rural parents in a quantitative way. Findings have implications for education inequality.

Growing literatures highlight global shifts in education brought by spreading neoliberal values and marketisation. Parallel literatures address parenting styles. Parents, these literatures observe, are increasingly made responsible and/or voluntarily take responsibility for educational inputs alongside mainstream schooling. Much parental investment is in the so-called shadow education sector of private supplementary tutoring. Examining Chinese patterns, this paper notes longstanding high enrolment rates in both academic and non-academic supplementary education prior to government restrictions that brought a sharp marketplace jolt. The paper then employs parental interview data to show the rationales for such investment despite efforts by the Chinese authorities to retain schooling as a fully-sufficient form of education. The strengthened government policy altered the picture, but it seems likely that in the competitive society many parents will still secure supplementary support to manage what they feel to be a precarious environment.

The present paper focuses on the regulations on private supplementary tutoring, which in China is widely called "Xiaowai Peixun." Although much previous international literature has mostly focused on tutoring in academic subjects, tutoring in non-academic ones such as piano and painting has become popular in China and is also seen as educational investment by families. To fit this context, the present paper adopts a definition of private tutoring covering tutoring in both academic and non-academic subjects. The present paper first elaborates on the development of private tutoring in China and why it should be regulated. And then it depicts a general picture about how governments have regulated private tutoring institutions and identifies the elements in regulatory framework. At last, it discusses the possible negative results and proposes two suggestions to complement regulations.

PurposeThis study aimed to investigate whether 1-trifluoromethoxyphenyl-3-(1-propionylpiperidin-4-yl) urea (TPPU), a soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitor with anti-inflammatory effects, could alleviate spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRS) and epilepsy-associated depressive behaviours in the lithium chloride (LiCl)-pilocarpine-induced post-status epilepticus (SE) rat model.MethodsThe rats were intraperitoneally (IP) injected with LiCl (127 mg/kg) and pilocarpine (40 mg/kg) to induce SE. A video surveillance system was used to monitor SRS in the post-SE model for 6 weeks (from the onset of the 2nd week to the end of the 7th week after SE induction). TPPU (0.1 mg/kg/d) was intragastrically given for 4 weeks from the 21st day after SE induction in the SRS + 0.1 TPPU group. The SRS + PEG 400 group was given the vehicle (40% polyethylene glycol 400) instead, and the control group was given LiCl and PEG 400 but not pilocarpine. The sucrose preference test (SPT) and forced swim test (FST) were conducted to evaluate the depression-like behaviours of rats. Immunofluorescent staining, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and western blot analysis were performed to measure astrocytic and microglial gliosis, neuronal loss, and levels of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), cytokines [tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6], and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-response element binding protein (CREB).ResultsThe frequency of SRS was significantly decreased at 6 weeks and 7 weeks after SE induction in the 0.1TPP U group compared with the SRS + PEG 400 group. The immobility time (IMT) evaluated by FST was significantly decreased, whereas the climbing time (CMT) was increased, and the sucrose preference rate (SPR) evaluated by SPT was in an increasing trend. The levels of sEH, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 in the hippocampus (Hip) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) were all significantly increased in the SRS + PEG 400 group compared with the control group; neuronal loss, astrogliosis, and microglial activation were also observed. The astrocytic and microglial activation and levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines in the Hip and PFC were significantly attenuated in the TPPU group compared with the SRS + PEG 400 group; moreover, neuronal loss and the decreased CREB expression were significantly alleviated as well.ConclusionTPPU treatment after SE attenuates SRS and epilepsy-associated depressive behaviours in the LiCl-pilocarpine induced post-SE rat model, and it also exerts anti-inflammatory effects in the brain. Our findings suggest a new therapeutic approach for epilepsy and its comorbidities, especially depression.

Industrial Internet can drive the high-quality development of industries, and accelerating the development of industrial Internet is conducive to the transformation and upgrading of China’s manufacturing industry and to the improvement of its international competitiveness. To build an industrial Internet model that is universally adapted to large, medium, small, and micro enterprises, this study analyzes the existing industrial Internet models in China and abroad, and proposes an industrial Internet ecosystem model (IIEM) composed of three dimensions and six layers. Additionally, the operation mechanism of IIEM is presented in terms of entity, resource, digital intelligence, and dynamic value flows. Digital intelligence flow exhibits the flow value of data—a new production factor—at different levels and dimensions of IIEM, which explains the basic logic for improving the intelligent level of enterprise production systems and delivered products and expounds on the basic paths of digital transformation. IIEM emphasizes industrial attributes. Furthermore, the effectiveness of IIEM in assisting enterprises to understand the evolution and realization paths of industrial Internet and to integrate into the industrial Internet platform is verified through case study.