Provinces In Eastern China Research Articles

Analysis of changes in mortality of children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 years in China from 2004 to 2018 and policy effects

Objective: To analyze the trend of child and adolescent mortality rate in China from 2004 to 2018 and explore the possible policy effects. Methods: This study used the mortality data of child and adolescent aged 5 to 19 years from 2004 to 2018 based on the National Disease Surveillance System. Age-standardized mortality rate was calculated by using the population from the sixth national census. Joinpoint regression was used to analyze the trend of child and adolescent mortality with different features from 2004 to 2018. Results: From 2004 to 2018, the overall mortality rate of children and adolescents in China dropped from 40.02 per 100 000 to 22.00 per 100 000, and the average annual percentage change (AAPC) was -4.28 (95%CI:-5.35,-3.20,P<0.001). The mortality rate dropped rapidly from 2004 to 2006, and the annual percentage change (APC) was -9.20 (95%CI:-15.63,-2.28,P=0.017). The decline rate slowed down between 2006 and 2013, and the APC was -1.56 (95%CI:-2.78,-0.33,P=0.020). The downward trend accelerated from 2013 to 2018, and the APC was -5.99 (95%CI:-7.52,-4.43,P<0.001). The trend of child mortality rate in rural area, females, eastern provinces of China, children aged 10 to 14 years, children aged 15 to 19 years, and injury mortality rate were basically consistent with the overall trend. The child mortality rate in urban area, central provinces of China and the mortality rate of infectious diseases, maternal and infant, and nutritional deficiencies diseases showed a uniform downward trend from 2004 to 2018, with AAPC values about -3.59 (95%CI:-4.38,-2.78,P<0.001), -2.89 (95%CI:-3.24,-2.54,P<0.001) and -6.66 (95%CI:-7.64,-5.68,P<0.001), respectively. Conclusion: The mortality rate of children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 years in China continues to decline from 2004 to 2018, and the decline rate becomes faster after 2011.

Does urbanization affect the gap between urban and rural areas? Evidence from China

From the perspective of the threefold development of urbanization, namely, in terms of population, land and the economy, this paper studies the evolution characteristics of the multi-dimensional gap between urban and rural areas based on provincial panel data from 2000 to 2018 in China, using the Kernel Density Estimation and Fixed Effect Model. The study also quantitatively calculates the influence degree of population urbanization (PUR), industrial urbanization (IUR) and land urbanization (LUR) on the gap of the social economic system (SEC) and residents’ living system (RLS) between urban and rural areas. The results were as follows. (1) The overall gap between urban and rural areas (URG) in China has decreased, and urban and rural development is gradually becoming unbalanced in eastern, central and western China. (2) PUR was found effectively to narrow the SEC and RLS. IUR expanded the URG; IUR has also widened the RLS between the eastern provinces of China and the provinces in contact with central and western China. Meanwhile, LUR could effectively expand the SEC, especially in the eastern coastal areas. (3) With the development of urbanization, the gap between urban and rural financial investment, labor production remuneration, quality of life, and capacity to pay by means of transport will be narrowed. The key implication of these findings is that future relevant measures and policies should be formulated according to local conditions, in order to promote the implementation of rural economic development.

Multilevel Analysis of the Nutritional and Health Status among Children and Adolescents in Eastern China.

We aimed to identify multiple nutritional health problems and the relevant factors among children and adolescents aged 7–17 years. This study was part of the China Nutrition and Health Surveillance of Children and Lactating Mothers in 2016–2017, conducted in Jiangsu Province in eastern China. After sampling, 3025 school-age children and adolescents were enrolled into this study. Demographic information collections and anthropometric measurements were conducted by trained local Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff. Venous blood in the amount of 6 mL was drawn from each participant in the morning and used for testing biochemical and nutritional indicators. Multivariate logistic regression analysis and Poisson regression analysis were used for overnutrition- and undernutrition-related disorders to test relevant personal, parental, and household factors. The prevalence of wasting, overweight, and obesity was 5.5%, 14.8%, and 12.7%, respectively. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) was prevalent among 5.1% of participants. Among the study participants, 29.5% had hyperuricemia. The overall prevalence of high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high total cholesterol (TC) of all participants was 4.8% and 7.4%, respectively. 0.9% of the participants had vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and 14.6% had marginal vitamin A deficiency; 25.1% had vitamin D deficiency (VDD) and 54.5% had inadequate vitamin D levels. Anemia was present in 4.0% of all participants. The prevalence of zinc deficiency was 4.8%. Demographic characteristics, behavioral characteristics, parents’ characteristics, and family characteristics were associated with these multiple malnutrition disorders. The double burdens of malnutrition, which includes overnutrition- and undernutrition-related diseases, were prevalent among the school-age children and adolescents in Jiangsu Province in eastern China. There were various factors related to different nutritional problems. Thus, health education focusing on behavior intervention and nutrition education are necessary in containing nutritional problems among children.

Mental Health, Bullying, and Victimization among Chinese Adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to examine if adolescents who experience anxiety or depression have higher levels of reported bullying victimization or perpetration than those who do not. Based on the existing research, we hypothesized that those who experienced moderate or severe depression and anxiety would have higher rates of bullying victimization and perpetration when compared to those who experienced mild or no depression. This study used an observational design, and data were collected from a convenience sample of adolescents in a large regional high school in an Eastern province of China. The final sample included 1481 adolescents aged 14–19 years who provided complete data for each of the study variables. Demographic data were collected through a four-item demographic survey, bullying perpetration and victimization data were collected using subscales from the Illinois Bully Scale, and anxiety and depression were measured using the Chinese version of the General Anxiety Disorder-7 scale and the Patient Health Questionnaire, respectively. Descriptive analyses, correlational analyses, and multivariate analysis of covariance were used to analyze the data. About 7.1% and 15.2% of participants reported moderate-to-severe depression or moderate-to-severe anxiety, respectively. Pairwise comparisons indicated that adolescents with no or mild depression had significantly lower bullying perpetration than those with moderate-to-severe depression, but those with no or mild anxiety had significantly higher perpetration than those with moderate-to-severe anxiety. There was no statistically significant difference in victimization among different anxiety or depression levels alone (all p-values ≥ 0.05). This is among the first studies to examine reported levels of bullying perpetration and victimization among adolescents experiencing anxiety and depression. The findings help to identify adolescents who experience moderate-to-severe levels of depression as an at-risk group for bullying perpetration, who should therefore be a focus of bullying intervention work.

First Report of Pythium aphanidermatum Causing Crown and Root Rot on Industrial Hemp in China.

In July 2020, symptoms of crown and root rot were observed on about 10% of 4-month-old plants of industrial hemp Cannabis sativa cultivar Yunma-1 in Weifang City, Shandong Province in eastern China (Fig 1). During this month, the local temperature ranged from 19-32°C, and the total precipitation was 148mm. The disease symptoms included leaf chlorosis, crown and root rot, stunted growth, and wilting (Figs. 1 and 2). The diseased stem and root tissues were collected and cut into fragments of 0.5cm each. The fragments were surface-sterilized by dipping into 1% NaClO for 1 min, rinsed in sterile water and plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and on oomycetes-selective medium PARP (Jeffers and Martin 1986). The plates were incubated at 25°C in the dark for 3 days and 18 total single-hyphal purified isolates were obtained for further analyses with 8 from PDA and 10 from PARP. The colonies of all 18 isolates were white, had abundant aerial hyphae, and were cottony in appearance, resembling Pythium spp (Watanabe 2002). The grass-leaf method (Van Der Plaats-Niterink 1981) induced their sexual reproduction. The size and shape of hyphae, oogonia, antheridia, and oospores were all consistent with those of Pythium aphanidermatum (Fig 3). DNA was extracted from three isolates and their internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of rDNA were amplified and sequenced using the primers ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990). The ITS sequences of all three isolates were identical to each other (GenBank accession OK091124.1) and showed a 100% query coverage and 99.88% nucleotide sequence identity with that of type strain of P. aphanidermatum (GenBank accession AY598622.2). Pathogenicity tests were performed with three isolates on hemp cultivar B1. Sterile substrates were prepared in 2L-pots containing peat soil and vermiculite in a 2:1 ratio, with test hemp plants grown from rooted stem cuttings. Plants were kept in a greenhouse at 22 to 27°C under 16 h photoperiod, watered every two days (about 200ml each time) and supplied commercial nutrient solution once a week. A month after transplanting to pots, a wound of 1 mm deep and 10 mm long (made by a sterilized needle) on the surface of the root crown area of the main stem was inoculated with an 8-mm-diameter agar disk of mycelia grown on PDA for 4 days. Six plants were tested for each isolate and three plants were inoculated with sterile agar medium without mycelia as negative controls. The experiment was repeated twice. After one month, plants inoculated with P. aphanidermatum isolates showed the same disease symptoms as observed on field plants while all negative control plants remained disease-free. P. aphanidermatum was reisolated from the diseased tissue and confirmed to be identical to those inoculated based on ITS sequencing and colony morphology. To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. aphanidermatum causing crown and root rot on hemp in China. With an estimated 66,700 hectares hemp cultivation in China producing over US$1 billion worth of hemp fiber (McGrath 2020), this pathogen represents a serious threat to the hemp industry. This pathogen has been reported on hemp in the US and Canada (Beckerman et al. 2017; Punja et al. 2018). The origin of P. aphanidermatum on hemp in China and its relationship to those in North America remain to be examined.

Diversification and Spatial Differentiation of Villages’ Functional Types in the New Period of China: Results from Hierarchical Urban-Rural Spatial Relations and Townships Size

In recent years, in rural geographic studies, the topic of multifunctions of rural areas has been gaining increasing interest, especially in China, which, as an agricultural power, is undergoing new urbanization and rural revitalization. As far as China is concerned, to classify administrative villages from the perspective of their functions will contribute to scientifically guiding the configuration of urban-rural factors in terms of different regions and villages multifunctional types. This paper takes 3042 administrative villages of Tai’an city of Shandong province in eastern China as its basic study units and establishes a mapping system between land use types and rural territorial sub-functions, identifies their multifunctional types via cluster analysis, quantitatively analyzes their influencing factors with multivariate logistic regression, and summarizes their spatial structure characteristics. The results show that: 3042 administrative villages in Tai’an city can be functionally classified into seven types. The village multifunctional types are jointly decided by cities and natural production conditions. The distribution of all types of villages shows a “non-agricultural production to agricultural production” outward expansion structure. Our study can expand the research contents and methods of rural territorial multifunction.

Untangling the interactions among the Sustainable Development Goals in China

Understanding the interactions (synergies and trade-offs) among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is crucial for enhancing policy coherence between different sectors. However, spatial differences in the SDG interactions and their temporal variations at the sub-national scale are still critical gaps that need to be urgently filled. Here, we assess the spatial and temporal variation of the SDG interactions in China based on the systematic classification framework of SDGs. The framework groups the seventeen SDGs into three categories, namely “Essential Needs”, “Objectives”, and “Governance”. Spatially, we found that the SDGs in “Essential Needs” & “Objectives” and “Essential Needs” & “Governance” generally show trade-offs in the eastern provinces of China. Synergies among all three SDG categories are observed in some central and western China provinces, which implies that these regions conform to sustainable development patterns. In addition, temporally, the synergies of the three SDG categories have shown a weakening trend in the last decade, mainly due to the regional differences in the progress of SDG7 (Affordable and Clean Energy). Overall, our results identify the necessity for provinces to enhance the synergies between SDG12 (Responsible Production and Consumption) and other SDGs to tackle the trade-offs between the “Essential Needs” and “Objectives”. Meanwhile, promoting the progress of SDG7 will also contribute to balanced development across provinces.

A ten-year assessment of the epidemiological features and fatal risk factors of hospitalised severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome in Eastern China.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) virus has caused a large number of human infections since discovered in 2009. This study elucidated epidemiological features and fatal risk factors of SFTS cases accumulated up to ten years in Taizhou, a coastal prefecture of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. A total of 188 hospitalised SFTS cases (including 40 deaths) reported to Taizhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during 2011-2020 were enrolled in the study. In the past decade, the annual incidence of SFTS increased over the years (P < 0.001) along with an expanding epidemic area, and the case fatality of hospitalised cases has remained high (21.3%). Although most cases occurred in hilly areas, a coastal island had the highest incidence and case fatality. The majority of cases were over the age of 60 years (72.3%), and both incidence and case fatality of SFTS increased with age. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR 7.47, 95% CI 1.32-42.33; P = 0.023), and haemorrhagic manifestations including petechiae (OR 7.76, 95% CI 1.17-51.50; P = 0.034), gingival haemorrhage (OR 5.38, 95% CI 1.25-23.15; P = 0.024) and melena (OR 5.75, 95% CI 1.18-28.07; P = 0.031) were significantly associated with the death of SFTS cases. Five family clusters identified were farmers, among four of which the index patients were female with a history of hypertension. Based on the study, age is a critical risk factor for incidence and case fatality of SFTS. With an increased annual incidence over the last ten years, SFTS remains a public health threat that should not be ignored. Further study is needed to look at the natural foci in the coastal islands.

Diversity Assessment of an Endemic Carpinus oblongifolia (Betulaceae) Using Specific-Locus Amplified Fragment Sequencing and Implications for Conservation

Carpinus oblongifolia is an endemic species and the extant wild populations show a fragmentation distribution in the Baohua Mountain of Jiangsu Province in eastern China. Understanding of genetic diversity plays an important role in C. oblongifolia survival and sustainable development. The wild C. oblongifolia population was artificially divided into four subpopulations according to the microhabitats, and another two subpopulations were constructed by progeny seedlings cultivated with the mature seeds. Then, the leaf buds of 80 individuals from six subpopulations were sampled to develop single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq). Based on these SNPs, we aimed to characterize the genetic diversity and population structure of C. oblongifolia and provide an illumination and reference for effective management of such a small endemic population. The level of genetic diversity was low at the species level, and the progeny subpopulations had a relatively higher genetic diversity than the wild subpopulations. This may be attributed to a high gene flow and an excess heterozygosity to reduce the threat of genetic drift-based hazards. Moreover, the progeny subpopulations had the ability to form new clusters and a great contribution to the genetic structure variation of C. oblongifolia. These results will assist with the development of conservation and management strategies, such as properly evacuating competitive trees to provide more chance for pollen and seed flow in situ conservation, and establishing sufficient seedling plantlets under laboratory conditions for reintroduction to enlarge the effective population size.

基于DNA宏条形码技术的蓝彩带蜂粉源植物多样性研究

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 基于DNA宏条形码技术的蓝彩带蜂粉源植物多样性研究 DOI: 10.5846/stxb202108102204 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 科技部科技基础资源调查专项（2018FY100405）；国家自然科学基金（31970484）；重庆市科技兴林项目（渝林科研2020-5） Analysis of species and diversities in the pollen plants of Nomia chalybeata (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) using DNA metabarcoding technique Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:蓝彩带蜂（Nomia chalybeate Smith，1875）隶属隧蜂科彩带蜂属，是一种典型的广访花性野生蜜蜂，广泛分布于我国东部地区及日本、韩国、印度、缅甸等国家。本研究基于我国东部9个省份18个不同样地20份蓝彩带蜂蜂粮样本，包括安徽省（AHGZ、AHJZ）、重庆市（CQSMS、CQWS）、福建省（FJSM）、广西省（GXHP、GXLZ）、湖南省（HNHY、HNQY）、海南省（HNLS、HNWC）、江西省（JXGX、JXJG6、JXJG8、JXQY6、JXQY8、JXYZ）、山东省（SDLL）、浙江省（ZJCS）。利用DNA宏条形码研究该蜂粉源植物的多样性，为全面掌握该蜂的粉源植物及保护策略提供理论依据。结果表明该蜂粉源植物共涉及47科，99属，124种，其中黄荆（Vitex negundo）是最优势种、其次是罗伞树（Ardisia quinquegona）和山莓（Rubus corchorifolius）。Alpha多样性指数分析显示：SDLL样本的物种丰富度和多样性最高，FJSM样本的丰富度和多样性最低。不同样地的粉源植物多样性具有差异，但该蜂同一样地不同时期的粉源植物多样性及结构无显著差异，主要粉源植物无变化，表明在同一样地该蜂成虫活动期主要粉源植物的变化不大。 Abstract:Nomia chalybeata is a typical polylectic bee species, belonging to the genus Nomia of the family Halictidae. It is widely distributed in eastern China, Japan, South Korea, India, Myanmar, and other countries. In this study, 20 bee bread samples of N. chalybeata were collected from 18 different places in 9 provinces in eastern China, including Anhui Province (AHGZ, AHJZ), Chongqing City (CQSMS, CQWS), Fujian Province (FJSM), Guangxi Province(GXHP, GXLZ), Hunan Province (HNHY, HNQY), Hainan Province(HNLS, HNWC), Jiangxi Province (JXGX, JXJG6, JXJG8, JXQY6, JXQY8, JXYZ), Shandong Province (SDLL), Zhejiang Province (ZJCS). We studied the diversity in the pollen plants of N. chalybeata based on a DNA metabarcoding, so as to provided theoretical basis for comprehensive understanding the pollen plants and protection strategies. The results showed that there were 47 families, 99 genera and 124 species. Vitex negundo was the most dominant species, followed by Ardisia quinquegona and Rubus corchorifolius. According to the indices of alpha diversity, the species richness and diversity of the sample SDLL were the highest, the sample FJSM were the lowest. The diversity of different sample plot were different. In addition, there was no significant difference in the diversity and structure of pollen plants at different time periods in the same area, and there was no change in the main pollen plants, indicating that the main pollen plants during the adult active period did not change much in the same area. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

По великому шелковому пути. Согд

The monograph “Life of the Sogdians in Medieval China” by the German orientalist Moritz Huber consists of an introduction, 3 chapters, a conclusion and references. The introduction provides brief information about the Sogdians, their activities on the routes of the Silk Road and in China, the history of the study of the issue under study is considered. The first chapter contains information about the Sogdians and Sogd, which are cited in Chinese sources from Shiji to Xing Tangshu. The second chapter contains information about the burials and epitaphs of the Sogdians in the eastern provinces of China, and the settlements of the Sogdians located along the Silk Road in western China. The third chapter provides a critical analysis of the political organization and legislative power, people and customs among the Sogdians in China. In the conclusion, the main findings of the study and the author’s ideas are presented.

Linking food production and environmental outcomes: An application of a modified relative risk model to prioritize land-management practices

CONTEXTSustainable land-use systems require clear decision-making protocols across institutions and departments. However, food production and ecological conservation are often regarded as separate or even incompatible policy goals, resulting in sustainability challenges and unclear land-management practices. More recently, with the introduction of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there has been growing interests in minimizing the possible trade-offs between the two policy goals through appropriate governance. OBJECTIVEThe objective of this study was to develop a systematic framework for assessing current land-management practices and specifying future priorities. METHODSThe systematic framework included three modules and considered agroecosystems covering each administrative unit as the research objects. In the risk assessment module, we modified traditional relative risk model (RRM) to assess the risk that current management practices may affect food production and non-provisioning ecosystem services in existing agroecosystems, respectively. The framework also included a module to identify potentially available cropland (PAC) based on a combination of agricultural suitability and environmental costs for future reclamation. Finally, priorities for future land-management practices were specified based on the trade-offs between cropland expansion, ecological restoration and productive restoration. Jiangsu Province in eastern China was taken as a case study to verify the applicability of our framework. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSUsing Jiangsu Province as a case study, we have verified the applicability of our framework in prioritizing future land-management practices at a county level. The framework can offer a prioritization mechanism for formulating targeted strategies under alternative scenarios to correspond with varying management goals. The RRM can separate adverse effects from multiple stressors on food production and environmental outcomes rather than confounding the two interactive functions, while the risk scores and ranks generated for each sub-region, stressor and endpoint can pave the way for detailed and targeted governances. In addition, the identification of PAC can highlight areas for future cropland expansion. SIGNIFICANCEThe proposed framework can provide important insights and tools for avoiding institutional conflicts regarding land-management governance. Due to the simplicity and comparability, it can not only be applicable to our particular site, but also be used for different locations or downscaled to a landscape level.

Social Network Structure as a Moderator of the Relationship between Psychological Capital and Job Satisfaction: Evidence from China

Although networking is reported to be a job search strategy in the literature, research on the interaction between social networking and other personal resources and its effect on job satisfaction is scarce. In the perspective of social networks, the present study explored whether the social network structure, which consists of network size and tie strength, moderates the relationship between psychological capital and job satisfaction. By using a two-wave longitudinal design, we collected the quantitative data (survey of 344 undergraduate students who were about to graduate soon) from 19 universities in Beijing city, Shandong Province, and Jiangsu Province in Eastern China. Factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were adopted to analyze the data of the survey. We found that psychological capital has a positive impact on job seekers’ job satisfaction. Furthermore, smaller networks and weaker ties in social networks both render the positive effect of psychological capital on job satisfaction even stronger.

Sustainability Assessment of Autonomous Regions in China Using GRA-SPA Method

Sustainability development is a core issue in autonomous regions’ construction and development. The paper evaluated the sustainability development of the five autonomous regions in Western China from 2010 to 2019. In order to further analyze the sustainable development level of the autonomous regions, it is compared with the three provinces with the largest GDP in Central China in the past three years, and similarly, with the three provinces in Eastern China. A new weighting method was proposed by combining the grey relational analysis (GRA) and set pair analysis (SPA) methods that not only analyze the correlation between indicators and ideal points but also analyze the status and development trend. The method can ensure the objectivity of indicator weight. Firstly, the ideal reference point is determined by the grey correlation degree between the indicator and the ideal positive point. Secondly, the indicator and the ideal reference point constitute a set pair system, and the relation number is used further to analyze the status and development trend of the indicator to determine the weight objectively. The sustainability results showed that the progress of the autonomous regions’ sustainable development in China was increased slowly in 2010–2019. For example, Ningxia and Xinjiang saw the slowest growth. The prime reason is that economic sustainability has declined severely. Although Inner Mongolia presented the highest increasing trends, the growth rate value was 0.75%. In contrast, other autonomous regions showed a negative growth trend. Regarding sustainable development in three dimensions, the economic sustainability performance of autonomous regions is not ideal, but the environmental sustainability performance is the most ideal. This conclusion implicates the necessity and urgency of improving the coordinated development of the three dimensions of autonomous regions in China.

A Functional Variant of CXCL16 Is Associated With Predisposition to Sepsis and MODS in Trauma Patients: Genetic Association Studies.

PurposeCXC chemokines are mediators which mediate immune cells migration to sites of inflammation and injury. Chemokine C-X-C motif ligand 16 (CXCL16) plays an important role in the occurrence and development of sepsis through leukocyte chemotaxis, leukocyte adhesion and endotoxin clearance. In this study, we selected a set of tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (tag SNPs) in the CXCL16 gene and investigated their clinical relevance to the development of sepsis and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) in patients with major trauma in three independent Chinese Han populations.MethodsA total of 1,620 major trauma patients were enrolled in this study. Among these patients, 920 came from Chongqing in western China, 350 came from Zhejiang Province in eastern China, and 350 came from Guizhou Province in southwestern China. The improved multiplex ligation detection reaction (iMLDR) method was employed in the genotyping and genetic association analyses to determine the associations between CXCL16 haplotypes and sepsis morbidity rate and higher MOD scores in three cohorts.ResultsOnly CXCL16 T123V181 haplotype was associated with an increased risk for sepsis morbidity and higher MOD scores in the three cohorts (OR = 1.89, P = 0.001 for the Chongqing cohort; OR = 1.76, P = 0.004 for the Zhejiang cohort; OR = 1.55, P = 0.012 for the Guizhou cohort). The effect of T123V181 haplotype on the chemotaxis, migration and endotoxin clearance of immune cells were further observed. Protein modeling analysis showed that T123 and V181 might alter the structure of the CXCL16 active center. Thus it enhanced the chemotaxis and adhesion ability of immunocytes.ConclusionWe demonstrate the mechanism of CXCL16 T123V181 haplotype which regulates the sepsis morbidity rate and thus provide a new biomarker for early diagnosis of sepsis and MODS.Clinical Trial Registrationwww.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT01713205 (https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?cond=&term=+NCT01713205&cntry=&state=&city=&dist=).

An assessment of Planet satellite imagery for county-wide mapping of rice planting areas in Jiangsu Province, China with one-class classification approaches

ABSTRACT There is a growing demand of the spatial distribution of major crops at the field level in recent years for the precision management of farmlands in developing countries. However, most previous studies used low or medium resolution images (e.g. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Landsat) to map the planting areas of rice in various regions of China. As a new source of satellite imagery, the 3 m Planet satellite imagery with daily revisit frequency has rarely been used for mapping crop types. In particular, it is still unclear how well the Planet imagery would perform in mapping the rice planting areas in the Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River Plain of China where image acquisition is strongly limited by rainy and cloudy weather conditions. To overcome the spectral confusion between rice and non-rice vegetation types, this study proposed one-class classification approaches with Planet imagery from the early and late seasons of rice crops over three counties (Guanyun, Rugao and Wujiang) across Jiangsu Province in eastern China. Apart from the traditional use of mono-temporal imagery from the late season (Strategy I), we developed two strategies to make use of the bi-temporal imagery from the early and late seasons, with one being direct classification using stacked images (Strategy II) and the other being stepwise classification (Strategy III). All classifications were performed with the popular machine learning classifier one-class support vector machine (OCSVM) and evaluated from the aspects of classification accuracy and area estimation accuracy. The results showed Strategy I could achieve an overall classification accuracy of 83.02% and kappa coefficient (ƙ) of 0.65. The overall accuracy (OA) can be significantly improved by Strategy II (OA = 84.44% and ƙ = 0.69) and further by Strategy III (OA = 90.42% and ƙ = 0.81). In terms of area estimation, the estimates from Strategy III were consistent with the government reported statistical data with a relative error (RE) within 10% at the county level. At the town level, the correspondence between Planet-derived rice planting areas and the Landsat-8 derived reference data was significantly improved with Strategy III as compared to the other two for Guanyun and Wujiang. The stepwise classification approach (Strategy III) developed with Planet imagery has great values in monitoring rice paddies over the regions with fragmentized distribution of rice fields.

Educational Level of Researchers in R&amp;D Institutes and External Technology Acquisition

Firms have increasingly sourced knowledge beyond their boundaries. External technologies complement firms’ internal knowledge stock with multiple benefits, but these benefits come with considerable economic and cognitive costs. Thus, the incentive of firms to source external technologies relies on the trade-off between its benefits and costs. Our study aims to explore how the educational level of researchers in research and development (R&D) institutes held by firms influences external technology acquisition. We argue that a higher educational level of researchers in R&D institutes helps reduce costs and capture value from external technologies, thus promoting firms to acquire technologies externally. Furthermore, the positive effect of the educational level of researchers in R&D institutes will be amplified when faced with high task intensity or intense market competition. By contrast, the effect will be weakened when the industry R&D intensity is high or when the technology transaction norms are strong. Using the unique data of manufacturing firms in an eastern province of China, we validate our theoretical framework empirically and offer several managerial and policy implications.

Embodied Energy Use in China's Transportation Sector: A Multi-Regional Input-Output Analysis.

Energy transition in the transport sector (TS) is important for the goals of achieving carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 in China. A number of scholars have conducted studies to identify the potential energy savings of the TS and to improve its energy efficiency. Most of them concentrate on the direct energy use (EU). The indirect EU along the supply chain of the TS is often neglected. In this paper, the direct and indirect energy use, i.e., the embodied EU, of China’s TS is measured by applying a multi-regional input–output (MRIO) model, where they are investigated from both the provincial and sectoral perspectives. Results show that intermediate use is the major driving force for the TS’s embodied EU in China. From the sectoral level, supply from sectors such as petroleum refining and coking and demand from the service sector are the main reasons of the TS’s embodied EU. From the provincial perspective, the TS’s embodied EU is driven by low transportation technologies in most provinces located in central and western China. By contrast, abundant economic and social activities are the primary reason for the TS’s embodied EU in most provinces in eastern China. In the terms of interprovincial transfer, the energy embodied in the TS flows from resource-intensive provinces located in central and western China to resource-deficient provinces in eastern China. In addition, a close geographical connection exists in the transfer. Finally, several strategies from the sectoral and provincial levels are provided for policymakers.

The atmospheric lead emission, deposition, and environmental inequality driven by interprovincial trade in China

Lead (Pb) as a hazardous air pollutant has raised widespread concerns due to its adverse and toxic effects on the ecological environment and human health. Here we integrated the multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model and an atmospheric transport model to examine regional environmental inequality (REI) index induced by Pb emission transfers, and to evaluate the impacts of interprovincial trade on regional atmospheric Pb concentrations and dry deposition fluxes in China in 2012. In 2012, approximately 57.4% ~ 72.6% of Pb emissions in well-developed eastern regions (Beijing-Tianjin, Yangtze River Delta (YRD)) and the southern seaboard of China were embodied in other regions in China subject to the demands from these well-developed regions to industrial products and services. Our results, based on the net virtual flows of Pb emission and value-added, indicate that most provinces in the eastern seaboard of China outsource Pb emission and benefit from the interprovincial trade by reducing their Pb emissions. REI indexes show that the well-developed Guangdong province outsources its Pb emission but has low economic gains. Many less-developed provinces in central China enhance virtual Pb emission inflow but have high economic gains. Whereas, inland provinces in western China not only experience Pb emission increase, but also suffer from indirect economic loss due to trade with well-developed provinces to meet their increasing demands to Pb emission abundant industrial products from these provinces in eastern China which are mostly provided by less-developed but energy and mineral product abundant provinces in western China. For example, the province pair with highest REI index was Jiangsu-Inner Mongolia (REI = 2.47), which revealed that Jiangsu was the largest beneficiary which exported 37.2 t of net Pb emission and gained value-added of 521.4 billion RMB through trade with Inner Mongolia which suffered from both virtual Pb inflow and economic loss in 2012. As a result of interprovincial trade, Pb dry deposition in central and eastern China was decreased but increased in western China. Overall, interprovincial trade reduced 17.6% of atmospheric Pb dry deposition in China.

Regional Forecasting of Fine Particulate Matter Concentrations: A Novel Hybrid Model Based on Principal Component Regression and EOF

AbstractWhen many cities need quantitative forecasts of air quality to adjust industrial production plans and urbanization development, how to build an efficient forecast model remain a challenge. Methodology for quantitative prediction of air quality can no longer rely on single‐site observations, and thus approaches that require fewer input data and are more efficient and more reliable need to be explored. This paper proposes the principles and steps of a new model using the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) and principal component regression (PCR), which is a hybrid EOF‐PCR approach that decomposes the panel data of PM2.5 and predictors into spatial structures (EOFs) and time expansion coefficients (ECs) by EOF analysis, establishes the PCR of the ECs of PM2.5, and simulates the PM2.5 concentrations in each city by projecting the fitted ECs through EOFs. The very heart of the new model is the PCR modeling and projection. The results are presented for PM2.5 concentrations over Jiangsu Province in eastern China. The results show that this EOF‐PCR model, which is based on EC1s with a cumulative variance contribution rate above 90%, has an average prediction accuracy of 65%. The model performs best in spring and autumn, better in summer and worst in winter. Most predictors have a maximum lag of a week, and they are quite different among seasons. Considering the influence of the spatial distributions of predictors, rather than covariates at a single site, this model can reflect regional influences and effectively improve the simulation effect.