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With rapid industrialization, rising fossil fuel consumption, and environmental concerns, developing clean and green energy is an inescapable option. Hydrogen has emerged as a significant potential energy carrier and a viable future replacement fuel for fossil fuels due to its renewable and pollution-free properties. Previous review papers have significantly contributed to the body of literature on the various technologies for producing hydrogen by revealing key insights into their working principles and conditions, as well as the economic and environmental aspects. In addition, they also highlighted the potential pathways to enable the application of these technologies in the context of carbon neutrality. However, these studies have not broken down the evolutionary patterns and developmental progress of either fossil fuel-based or renewable energy-based technologies used to produce hydrogen. In addition, the currently available literature does not contain the most recent research that focuses on the evolution and life cycle of each technology category from a chronological point of view. The key drivers, countries/regions, and their contributions to the field's development have received little attention. As a result, it is critical to monitor technological advances in hydrogen energy production and investigate the key enablers of these advancements. Against this backdrop, the current study employs patent analysis tools to achieve four primary goals: (1) to track the development trends in the field of hydrogen production from 2000 to 2019; (2) to identify and compare the recent development trends in the last five years according to the feedstock, i.e., fossil fuel, water, and biomass-based technologies; (3) to predict the technology life cycle of the two main groups of hydrogen production technologies (fossil and renewable); (4) to identify and compare the key drivers of hydrogen production technologies from a statistical standpoint. The findings of the study may aid in identifying technical prospects in the field of fossil and renewable-based hydrogen production, and decision-makers may use them as a reference in developing a strategic plan for future technological growth. • Patent review on hydrogen production technologies from 2000 to 2019. • Japan, US, China are the leading countries in the field. • Recent developments are focused on renewable energy-based technologies especially water. • Technology maturity rate of renewable-based technologies is about 57%. • R&D expenditure strongly promotes hydrogen production innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of HSR development on airport technical efficiency and the labor productivity at airports. Existing literature mainly focuses on the impacts of HSR on passenger traffic. In addition to passengers, HSR development may influence airports' other outputs such as cargo and flight movements together with various inputs. These inputs and outputs collectively determine airports' technical efficiency. With access to a dataset consisting of 46 Chinese airports and 16 Japanese airports from 2007 to 2015, the paper firstly adopts both the standard two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and double bootstrap methods to evaluate the impacts of HSR development on airports' technical efficiency. We then evaluate the effects of HSR on airport labor productivity which is measured by both work-load units per employee and aircraft movements per employee. Our main findings indicate that HSR development relates to a decline in airport efficiency. Airports located in cities that have better connectivity or accessibility in the HSR network suffer more efficiency loss than the others. It is also observed that the locational advantage of HSR stations relative to airports is negatively associated with airport efficiency. By contrast, good intermodal linkage between the airport and its nearest HSR station is positively correlated with airport efficiency. Furthermore, the study reports different results between China and Japan with respect to the effects of HSR on labor productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of robots is being widely considered to ensure the inheritance of calligraphy, which is a cultural art peculiar to China and Japan. Many researchers have attempted to generate motion command values to allow robots to inherit calligrapher skills. In this paper, we constructed a model that generates motion command values considering time-series positions and forces from human motion data and character images. However, since it is difficult to acquire a large amount of motion data due to physical restrictions, we compared the accuracy based on the number of training data. The performance of the model was evaluated with motion data generated using the image data for evaluation. We also showed that calligraphy is a delicate task and that using force data can improve results. • This research proposes a deep-learning-based skill transfer of a calligrapher. • The proposed model generates motion command from human motion data and images. • The accuracy based on the number of training data is compared and analyzed. • The performance was evaluated with motion data using the image data for evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatment of patients with penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae (PRSP) is complicated because of the relatively poor blood-brain barrier penetration of effective antimicrobials. Our case: A previously healthy 70-year-old woman, a traveler from China to Japan, was admitted to our hospital with fever and loss of consciousness. She has no history of pneumococcal vaccination. She was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis due to penicillin-and third-generation cephalosporin-resistant strains of S. pneumoniae. The patient was successfully treated with a combination therapy of vancomycin (VCM) and levofloxacin (LVFX) and recovered without any neurological sequelae. As the treatment of penicillin-and third-generation cephalosporin-resistant strains of S. pneumoniae meningitis remains unclear, we conducted a review of the reported cases of meningitis caused by penicillin- and cephalosporin-resistant S. pneumoniae. We performed a search using the keywords "penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae ," "meningitis," and "pneumococcal meningitis". We searched the electronic databases PubMed, Embase, and Ichushi from their inception to March 2020. Subsequently, two authors independently reviewed the resulting database records, retrieved full texts for eligibility assessment, and extracted data from these cases. We identified 18 papers describing thirty-five cases of penicillin- and cephalosporin-resistant S. pneumoniae meningitis including our case. The patient's characteristics were; median age: 50 years, men:50%, 85% of cases received combination regimens of antibiotics: Ceftroriaxone (CTRX) plus VCM (20 cases), CTRX plus VCM plus rifampicin (RFP) (two cases), CTRX plus linezolid (one case), fluoroquinolones (two cases), carbapenems (six cases), Thirty-five percent received steroids. Twenty-four percent of patients died. Twenty-six percent of patients complicated neurological sequalae. Combination therapy including VCM plus LVFX could be a treatment option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retractions of erroneous and fraudulent papers from the biomedical literature continue to be a major concern. The aim of this analysis is to summarize trends of retractions in the cardiovascular literature over the past four decades. A review of the Retraction Watch database for retracted articles published between 1978 and 2020 in the cardiovascular literature was performed. Retractions with the term "medicine" in the subject code were selected. Titles and abstracts were reviewed and only retractions of articles in cardiovascular medicine and surgery were included. 459 retraction notices published in 228 journals were identified. The number of retractions increased with time from 1 in 1991 to 48 at the end of 2019 (P < 0.001). Overall, the yearly percentage of retraction increased during the study period (P < 0.001) but decreased after 2015. China had the highest percentage of retractions when compared to other countries (P < 0.001). The majority of articles were retracted for scientific misconduct (n = 289, 63.0%); retractions due to scientific misconduct increased significantly over the study period (P = 0.04) but decreased after 2015. The median time from publication to retraction was 1.4 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 0.6–3.8) and decreased significantly over time (P < 0.001). The median number of citations of retracted articles was 8.0. The number of retractions and the yearly percentage of retraction in the cardiovascular literature increased significantly during the study period, although a decrease was seen after 2015. Scientific misconduct represents the most common reason for retraction, although a reduction has been observed in the last five years. [Display omitted] • Retractions in the cardiovascular field have increased annually from 1978 to 2015. • China, USA, and Japan have the highest absolute number of retractions. • Two authors are responsible for 7.2% of the retractions alone. • Scientific misconduct represents the most common reason for retraction. • Most retractions are from journals with an impact factor lower than 5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to globally uneven distribution of forest resources and timely difference of supply and demand, forest products are difficult to achieve market equilibrium among neighboring countries. The global forest product trade not only alleviates the contradiction of supply and demand, but also ensures the sustainable development of the economic construction for each country. Previous literature analyzed the structure and evolution mechanism of forest product trade from different perspectives, but ignored the competitive relationships among forest product importers. Based on complex network theory, this paper selected global wood forest product trade data from 2004 to 2016. Then we constructed global unweighted and weighted wood-forest-product competitive network from import perspective, and three indicators (density, average path length, and clustering coefficient), core–periphery model and two indicators of competitive intensity were introduced to study the spatial competitive evolution of global wood forest product trade among countries. The results showed that there was wide competition in global wood forest product trade among continents, and the tightness of competitive relationships gradually decreased with time. Secondly, core countries and periphery countries were clearly identified in the competitive network, and China, Japan, the U.S., were the main core countries influencing the evolution of core–periphery structure. Finally, the U.S. played an important role in the global competition system. But with the increment of demand for Asian market, China and other Asian countries gradually became the center of wood-forest-product competition. The research tried to provide some references for importers to follow the laws of global wood forest product trade, and formulate the corresponding policy under constructing sustainable society and facing climate change. • The paper considered the competitive relationship of global wood forest product trade. • TThe paper constructed global unweighted and weighted wood-forest-product competitive network, and studied spatial competitive evolution of global wood forest product trade. • The U.S. played an important role in the global competition system, but China and other Asian countries gradually became the center of global wood-forest-product competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We assess the economic consequences of the China's import ban on waste plastics. • The ban decreased the economic surplus of Japan by up to 95 billion yen. • Japan's plastic waste recycling will increase the economic surplus. • Reducing the generation of plastic waste might shrink the plastic recycling market. Over the years, China has imported a significant quantity of plastic waste from the rest of the world. In December 2017, however, it implemented a ban on the import of plastic waste, used paper, and miscellaneous scrap goods. This study aims to provide new insight on the waste trade, with specific focus on the market for recyclable plastics. By employing an economic surplus analysis, we investigate the impact of China's import ban on the market for recyclable plastics in China and Japan. Obtained results suggest a significant change in economic surpluses; Japan and China's surpluses reduced by 58 billion yen and 1,304 billion yen at the maximum, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dietitian has qualifications in nutrition and dietetics and applies the science of food and nutrition to improve the health of individuals, groups, and communities. The Registered Dietitian (RD) credential has gained recognition over the years for its expertise. The accreditation systems were developed and have been used to ensure quality of this profession. Accreditation systems set standards for academic and professional training in nutrition and dietetics and reflect current research-based information. The purpose of this paper is to review a few countries that have a RD accreditation system including China and several other countries, e.g. the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The aims are to introduce the newly established RD system in China and to compare the differences among the countries' systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Gastrodia elata Blume ( Orchidaceae ) is commonly called Tian ma in Chinese and mainly distributed in the mountainous areas of eastern Asia, such as China, Korea, Japan and India. It is an extensively used traditional Chinese herbal medicine in the clinical practice of traditional Chinese medicine, to treat headache, migraine, dizziness, epilepsy, infantile convulsion, tetany and so on. The present paper reviews the advancements in investigation of botany and ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology and quality control of Gastrodia elata Blume. Finally, the possible tendency and perspective for future investigation of this plant are also put forward. Materials and methods The information on Gastrodia elata Blume was collected via piles of resources including classic books about Chinese herbal medicine, and scientific databases including Pubmed, Google Scholar, ACS, Web of science, ScienceDirect databases, CNKI and others. Plant taxonomy was validated by the databases “The Plant List”, and “Mansfeld’s Encyclopedia”. Results Over 81 compounds from this plant have been isolated and identified, phenolics and polysaccharides are generally considered as the characteristic and active constituents of Gastrodia elata Blume. Its active compounds possess wide-reaching biological activities, including sedative, hypnotic, antiepileptic, anticonvulsive, antianxietic, antidepressant, neuroprotective, antipsychotic, anti-vertigo, circulatory system modulating, anti-inflammationary, analgesic, antioxidative, memory-improving and antiaging, antivirus and antitumor effects. Conclusion Despite the publication of various papers on Gastrodia elata Blume, there is still, however, the need for definitive research and clarification of other bioactive compounds using bioactivity-guided isolation strategies, and the possible mechanism of action as well as potential synergistic or antagonistic effects of multi-component mixtures derived from Gastrodia elata Blume need to be evaluated. It is also necessary and important to do more quality control and toxicological study on human subjects in order to maintain its efficacy stable in the body and validate its safety in clinical uses. In addition, more investigations on other parts of this plant beyond the tubers are needed. Further studies on Gastrodia elata Blume will lead to the development of new drugs and therapeutics for various diseases, and how to utilize it better should be paid more attention to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impervious surfaces are the most significant feature of human settlements. Timely, accurate, and frequent information on impervious surfaces is critical in both social-economic and natural environment applications. Over the past 40 years, impervious surface areas in China have grown rapidly. However, annual maps of impervious areas in China with high spatial details do not exist during this period. In this paper, we made use of reliable impervious surface mapping algorithms that we published before and the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform to address this data gap. With available data in GEE, we were able to map impervious surfaces over the entire country circa 1978, and during 1985–2017 at an annual frequency. The 1978 data were at 60-m resolution, while the 1985–2017 data were in 30-m resolution. For the 30-m resolution data, we evaluated the accuracies for 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015. Overall accuracies reached more than 90%. Our results indicate that the growth of impervious surface in China was not only fast but also considerably exceeding the per capita impervious surface area in developed countries like Japan. The 40-year continuous and consistent impervious surface distribution data in China would generate widespread interests in the research and policy-making community. The impervious surface data can be freely downloaded from http://data.ess.tsinghua.edu.cn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Recent literature draws attention to the relationship of some financial markets, in particular, both the co-movement and the lead–lag effect. This paper examines the weekly frequency market indices of Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and China over the period 2000–2013 using wavelet analysis. The Morlet wavelet coherence model is employed since it allows the simultaneous examination of co-movement and lead–lag effect between the two markets in both the time and frequency domains. Our results show there exist a strong co-movement between stock markets of Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and China in the long run and Japan leads the other markets in the long term. Highlights • The weekly frequency market indices of Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and China are used. • Both the co-movement and the lead–lag effect are investigated. • The Morlet wavelet coherence model is employed. • There exist a strong co-movement between stock markets of Japan, Singapore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Artemisia asiatica Nakai (Compositae) has a long history as a traditional remedy. Preparation from various parts of the plant (aerial parts and leaves) are used to treat a wide range of diseases including gastric trouble, liver dysfunction, and skin inflammation. Aims of this review The aims of this review were: 1) to provide an overview of recent studies and progress on A. asiatica -derived ethnopharmacological compounds and their pharmacological activities; and 2) to summarize existing evidence and provide insight for future studies. Materials and methods This investigation was carried out by analyzing published books and research papers via scientific databases, namely Science Direct, PubMed ACS Publication, Wiley Online Library, CNKI and information obtained online. The keywords “ Artemisia asiatica traditional uses,” “Compounds isolated and studied in Artemisia asiatica, ” and “Pharmacological advances in Artemisia asiatica ” were used and articles published between 1995 and 2017 were considered. In total, 500 works related to biological activities of A. asiatica were identified, and only materials published in English were included in the review. Results Comparative analysis of literature searched through sources available confirmed that the ethnopharmacological use of A. asiatica was recorded in Korea, China, and Japan. Phytochemical studies revealed the presence of flavonoids, sesquiterpene lactones, monoterpenes, and steroids in A. asiatica . Of these, flavonoids have been shown to exhibit significant pharmacological effects such as gastroprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and anti-microbial actions. Conclusions Phytochemical and pharmacological studies of Artemisia asiatica have proven that this plant is one of valuable medicinal sources with neuroprotective, gastroprotective, anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer effects. Although ethanol extract of this plant is now being prescribed as gastroprotective and anti-ulcerative medicine, it is now time to expand its application to other human inflammatory diseases such as pancreatitis and hepatitis and further extensive study on toxicity in human. Therefore, the present review will encourage further studies of A. asiatica in the pursuit of wide range of therapeutic remedy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methamphetamine (MA) abuse continues in East Asia and shows an increasing trend among youths in South Korea, Japan, and China. Although the negative effects of MA abuse on youth are considered as significant problems, few studies have been conducted on the topic in these countries. This paper focuses on the effects of MA on the human body and current MA abuse among youths in South Korea, Japan, and China. To investigate the negative effects of MA on the human body, we searched the keywords "MA," "human," and "effect" for studies published from 2013 to 2017. MA activates the neurotransmitter system and the central nervous system, and when used at high dosage or for long term, MA can cause severe neurotoxicity and cardiovascular problems. Online networks contribute to MA abuse by sharing methods for preparing synthetic MA. Despite efforts to reduce MA abuse, social crimes associated with its abuse continue and numbers of illegal MA users are increasing steadily in Korea, Japan, and China. In young users, diverse factors associated with drug addiction, such as curiosity and peer effect, lead to MA abuse and its attendant personal and social problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The International Collaboration for a Life Course Approach to Reproductive Health and Chronic Disease Events (InterLACE) project is a global research collaboration that aims to advance understanding of women's reproductive health in relation to chronic disease risk by pooling individual participant data from several cohort and cross-sectional studies. The aim of this paper is to describe the characteristics of contributing studies and to present the distribution of demographic and reproductive factors and chronic disease outcomes in InterLACE.Study Design: InterLACE is an individual-level pooled study of 20 observational studies (12 of which are longitudinal) from ten countries. Variables were harmonized across studies to create a new and systematic synthesis of life-course data.Main Outcome Measures: Harmonized data were derived in three domains: 1) socio-demographic and lifestyle factors, 2) female reproductive characteristics, and 3) chronic disease outcomes (cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes).Results: InterLACE pooled data from 229,054 mid-aged women. Overall, 76% of the women were Caucasian and 22% Japanese; other ethnicities (of 300 or more participants) included Hispanic/Latin American (0.2%), Chinese (0.2%), Middle Eastern (0.3%), African/black (0.5%), and Other (1.0%). The median age at baseline was 47 years (Inter-quartile range (IQR): 41-53), and that at the last follow-up was 56 years (IQR: 48-64). Regarding reproductive characteristics, half of the women (49.8%) had their first menstruation (menarche) at 12-13 years of age. The distribution of menopausal status and the prevalence of chronic disease varied considerably among studies. At baseline, most women (57%) were pre- or peri-menopausal, 20% reported a natural menopause (range 0.8-55.6%) and the remainder had surgery or were taking hormones. By the end of follow-up, the prevalence rates of CVD and diabetes were 7.2% (range 0.9-24.6%) and 5.1% (range 1.3-13.2%), respectively.Conclusions: The scale and heterogeneity of InterLACE data provide an opportunity to strengthen evidence concerning the relationships between reproductive health through life and subsequent risks of chronic disease, including cross-cultural comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safety is the precondition and guarantee of railway development. However, due to equipment failure, poor management, misoperation and so on, accidents on the railway occur from time to time. China and Japan, as leading countries in Railway Technology in the world, have done a lot of work in accident prevention and safety. Through the collection and comparison of transport data and typical casualty cases in China and Japan, this paper summarizes the main causes of accidents and the experience of accident prevention in the two countries. And further, puts forward suggestions for preventing accidents and large-scale casualty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building sector accounts for a large percentage of the total national energy consumption in most of the countries, thus it is critical to formulate and implement appropriate energy saving policies in the building sector. This paper focuses on energy saving policies in the building sector by conducting a comparative study between Japan and China. The exiting Building Energy Saving (BES) policies, actual effectiveness of policy implementation and obstacles to the effective policy implementation are compared in sequence. Related policies are categorized into four groups: control and regulatory instruments; economic/market-based instruments; fiscal instruments and information and voluntary actions. Policy effect analysis identifies that BES policies have promoted building energy saving in both Japan and China. Obstacles comparison reveals that Japan and China shared many obstacles including high transaction costs and lack of applicable methodology. Compared with Japan, China is suffering more obstacles such as inefficient enforcement, insufficient levels of information and awareness and immature financial regulation system. Based on the previous findings, common suggestions for overcoming these obstacles of BES policies in Japan and China are presented, such as the accurate methods of baseline identification and emission accountings, innovative incentives, and more capacity building activities. Distinct suggestions for Japan and China are also added by considering their own situations so that both countries can further improve their BES policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the frequent coastal activities of human beings, tens of thousands of tons of floating marine plastics pose a serious threat to marine ecosystems and human survival. This paper studies the feasibility of regional marine plastic garbage management, taking the Northwest Pacific as the research object. According to the Cobb-Douglas utility function of the costs and benefits of plastic processing in China, Japan and South Korea, the Shapley value method was used to analyze it. The study found that the data were substituted into the Shapley value model of cooperative game for calculation, and the results showed that any country joining the triple alliance U would create greater benefits, and obtain higher benefits than the sub alliance. It is a triple win situation for China, Japan and the South Korea to jointly manage marine plastic in the Northwest Pacific. The results of the model confirm that the three countries are willing to maintain long-term cooperation on marine plastic governance, this method can be used to solve the trans-national marine governance innovatively and promote regional ocean cooperation governance. At the same time, by comparing the Northwest Pacific Plan with other action plans, China, Japan and South Korea should abandon political controversy, seeking common ground while putting aside differences, to cooperate fully to curb the growing trend of plastic waste problem in the Northwest Pacific, and contribute to the sustainable development of regional marine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's economic growth has been progressively moving towards reducing carbon intensity. In parallel, Japan has long been regarded as the pioneer of energy efficiency worldwide. Why have these two economic giants had such different experiences of carbon intensity in the past decades? A closer examination in both countries may hold vital clues, which are still very unclear. This paper compares the patterns of carbon intensity between China and Japan, in which we propose a bilateral-country decomposition framework by combining production-theoretical decomposition analysis and index decomposition analysis. The decomposition highlights the effects of emission factor, energy structure, sectoral structure, substitution among labor-energy and capital-energy, and technological progress. The results show that the energy structure, sectoral structure, and capital-energy substitution are the main drivers behind that China is much higher carbon intensity than Japan, accounting for 26%, 25%, and 38%, respectively. Yet, these effects also narrowed the carbon intensity gap between China and Japan over the years. Furthermore, the labor-energy substitution effect has generally decreased the carbon intensity gap. The technological effect has a minor impact on the carbon intensity gap per year, while it plays a dominant role in enlarging the carbon intensity gap over time. • An improved approach is proposed to decompose driving forces of carbon intensity. • The approach is applied to carbon intensity gap between China and Japan. • Potential energy intensity of each sector is uncovered by input substitution. • Enabling policymakers in developing countries to reduce carbon intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a fully coupled flow deformation model to characterize the nonlinear seismic site response of liquefiable marine sediments, considering the ocean wave environment. Emphasis is placed on extending a simplified soil hysteresis model for the effective stress analysis of nonlinear site seismic response. The proposed model addresses the limitations of existing one-dimensional (1D) hyperbolic soil models to simultaneously capture the 3D hysteretic stress–strain behavior and the accumulated volumetric deformation of soil skeleton. The volume strain formulation of soil skeleton is included in the Biot's volumetric compatibility equation as the source term for excess pore water pressure buildup. The proposed method is implemented into an explicit time matching finite difference analysis platform, and validated against the recordings of the KSRH10 site for North–South (NS) direction of KiK-net borehole arrays in Japan. Finally, the influences of ocean wave loading upon the seismic wave propagation behavior in liquefiable marine sediments are examined with reference to the Bohai Strait site condition, China. The obtained results indicate that the ocean wave environment has significant effect on the nonlinear seismic site response of liquefiable seabed at shallow depth. • A fully coupled flow deformation model is presented for the simulation of seabed liquefaction. • A simplified soil hysteresis model is extended for the fully coupled seismic site response analysis. • Model calibrations are carried out against the recordings of the KSRH10 site from the KiK-net. • Influences of ocean wave on the seismic response of liquefiable marine sediments are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The black rot disease of Vitis species and other host genera of Vitacease is caused by Phyllosticta ampelicida and allied taxa which is considered to be a species complex. In this paper, we introduce four new species of Phyllosticta , including two from the P. ampelicida complex, based on a polyphasic characterization including disease symptoms and host association, morphology, and molecular phylogeny. The phylogenetic analysis was conducted based on the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and a combined multi-locus alignment of the ITS, actin (ACT), partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF-1), and glyceraldehydes 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) gene regions. Our study confirms the phylogenetic distinctions of the four new species, as well as their phenotypic differences with known species in the genus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improvement of recovery rates is crucial for the supply chain management of waste cooking oil-to-biofuel conversion. This paper constructs a dynamic game model between biofuel enterprises and recyclers to compare the recycling modes and recycling rate decisions of waste cooking oil-to-biofuel conversion in China and Japan. Results demonstrate that: (1) the recovery rate of Chinese mode with recyclers as price leader is not necessarily lower than that of Japanese mode theoretically, indicating that the collection-storage-transportation integrated mode in several cities led by Chinese government may not be the optimal choice. (2) The subsidies for recyclers have insignificant impact on recovery rate, while the subsidies for biofuel enterprises can significantly improve the recovery rate. (3) Decreasing difficulty coefficient and expanding the market size can greatly improve the recovery rate. Therefore, reforming the beneficiary of subsidies, improving the recycling infrastructure, implementing strict technical and administrative control and creative sales policy of biofuel finished products may benefit the recovery rate in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the discursive realisation of on-site problem-solving encounters in a large international construction project in Hong Kong. Specifically, the analyses focus on professional English as a lingua franca interactions between the engineers from Japan who are full-time employees of the company heading the joint venture, and contracted Hong-Kongese foremen and engineers. A combination of methods and several data sources are used to interpret the interlocutors' communications and relationships, and show how certain items, for instance problem , issue and if , as well as evaluative items such as metaphors and idioms, index discursive practices and patterns during problem solving. These data sources include fully transcribed spoken interactions, interviews with the participants and expert informants, and researcher field notes. The results shed light on the key intertextual role the contract plays in the context of construction industry problem solving, the various bodies that are involved in addressing complex problems, and the importance of the foreman and on-site engineer relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, agents for sludge dewatering have received extensive attention both from fundamental and applied research. Papers in the field of sludge dewatering agents are mainly concerned with the synthesis and characterization of agents as well as their interaction mechanisms with sludge. On the other hand, patents, which are characteristically different than papers, involve the invention and application of sludge dewatering agents. However, these researches rarely use bibliometric technology and social network analysis to provide a better understanding of the fundamental and applied researches in this specific field. This paper presents a quantitative analysis based on a total of 338 (out of 1126) core papers from Web of Science Expanded and 961 (out of 4678) core patents from Derwent Innovation to provide valuable suggestions that may promote further development in the field of sludge dewatering agents. The core point of this paper is to explore the relationship between fundamental research and applied research in the field of sludge dewatering agents through citation, characteristics of different countries/regions, collaborations of research area and organizations. Our results underline that highly cited papers support applied research by citating information among them. With respect to countries, Japan paid more attention to applied research, whereas the USA performed well both in fundamental research and applied research. China has high quantity in both papers and patents in agents for sludge dewatering. However, the papers per capita of population of China is low and the pattern still needs to optimized to improve the quality in this field. The unique development path revealed that developing countries still have a long way to go in terms of technology innovation. In addition, collaboration network of research areas has shown strong cooperation among applied researches, however they lack connection with fundamental sciences, such as physics or chemistry. Furthermore, collaboration network of organizations disclosed the necessity for upstream enterprises (agent producers) to work closely with downstream enterprises (agent users) in the sludge dewatering. Image 1 • A bibliometric analysis on agents for sludge dewatering was conducted. • Highly cited papers support applied research. • Japan is application-oriented and USA performed well in both fundamental research and applied research. • Developing countries still need to optimize their pattern or promote technology innovation. • Interdisciplinary collaboration covering the lifecycle of industrial chain is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The global coal import competition network is tight. • Japan and China have made coal competition on the Asian-Pacific region more drastic. • The competition intensity of European importers is becoming weaker. • Asian countries should make out strategies to decrease the carbon dioxide emission. Until today, the volume and trade relationships of the global coal trade still follow an increasing trend, which adversely affects both the environment and coal supply security. However, whether the possibility exists to change this trend to a decrease in global coal trade competition remains unknown. If this were possible, the volume and relationships of coal trade would gradually decrease. To address this question, this paper applies the complex network model and comprehensively explores the dynamic competitive relationship and intensity among the global coal import trade. At the global level, the results indicate that more competitive relationships regarding coal imports emerge, and the coal import competition network has changed from a core periphery structure to a reticular structure. In addition, the competitive intensity of the global coal trade continues to rise. At the regional level, the role of the Asian-Pacific region, led by Japan and China, in the evolution of this competitive pattern is increasingly becoming prominent. In contrast, the competitive intensity of European importers has declined since 2007. At the national level, Japan bore the greatest competitive pressure among all coal-importing countries from 1998 to 2007, when it was replaced by China. The intensity of competition in China has increased fiercely, from seventh in 2009 to first in 2016. Finally, based on the results, meaningful policy implications are presented. For example, it is recommended that the result of record-high levels of coal competition in Asia should receive more attention, and a more appropriate use of coal should be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Provide a state-of-the-art review of buckling restrained braces (BRBs). • Discuss the development and classifications of BRBs. • Outline the advantages and limitations of the various types of BRBs. • Explore some innovative applications of BRBs in earthquake-resistant design of buildings. As an earthquake-resistant structural element, buckling-restrained brace (BRB) not only adds strength and stiffness but provides excellent energy absorption capability to a structure. Since its inception in the late 1980s, BRB has been the subject of research by many researchers. Different types of BRBs have been proposed for use to address miscellaneous structural requirements by researchers and practitioners primarily in Japan, U.S. and China. Research is continuing toward the development of BRBs that are more efficient, compact, lightweight, less expensive to fabricate and easier to install. This paper summarizes the development of BRBs in the past few decades including their history, classifications, applications and scientific research. A discussion on the advantages offered by different types of BRBs and some insights into the future prospects for BRBs are also given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In midsummer (July-August) of 2017, the high temperature (HT) frequency in China breaks the record since 1951. For each HT threshold from 35 °C to 40 °C, the frequency is beyond the normal by 2.58–3.46 standard deviations. Specifically, the HT events in southern China make major contributions to the new record, and they demonstrate obvious temporal variations. The strongest episode in southern China appears in mid-to-late July and lasts for nearly 20 days. The westward extension and intensification of the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) is usually considered as the leading factor of the HT in southern China. However, the diagnostic analysis in this paper shows that the 2017 HT event does not correspond to the intensification of the whole WPSH but to its western part, and there is a cyclonic circulation anomaly over the western Pacific warm pool, which is closely related to the southward extension of the middle-latitude trough over the east side of Japan. This circulation pattern is favorable for the southward retreat of the WPSH northern boundary over the warm pool, which results in the shape change and even the split of the high. Then the west part of the high is incapable of withdrawing eastward, and it dominates over the southern China steadily, leading to the persistent HT events. This conclusion is further confirmed by the statistical analysis both of the multi-year circulations and the typical HT extreme case in 2013, which could provide reference for the sub-seasonal prediction of HT in southern China. • China suffered the record-breaking extreme high temperature event in July-August 2017 since 1951. • Middle-latitude trough over the East of Japan was first found in causing a constant westward WPSH. • The leading influence of the trough could be considered in the forecast of HT event in southern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• In the aspect of anti rheumatism, the effect of A. japonica and A. coreana is closer to that of Atractylodis Rhizoma. • A. coreana and A. chinensis have better and similar therapeutic effects on rheumatoid arthritis. • A. japonica and A. lancea are more similar in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. • Rheumatoid arthritis causes changes in two metabolic pathways: primary bile acid biosynthesis and steroid hormone biosynthesis. Atractylodes DC. mainly includes Atractylodis Rhizoma and Atractylodis macrocephalae Rhizoma. According to Chinese Pharmacopoeia, Atractylodis Rhizoma is the rhizome of Atractylodes lancea (Thunb.) DC. (A. lancea) and Atractylodes chinensis (DC.) Koidz. (A. chinensis), while Atractylodis macrocephalae Rhizoma is the rhizome of Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz. (A. macrocephala). Although Atractylodes japonica Koidz. ex Kitam. (A. japonica) and Atractylodes coreana (Nakai) Kitam. (A. coreana) are not included in the Pharmacopoeia, they are often used as Atractylodis Rhizoma in northern China. But in Japan, A. japonica is used as Atractylodis macrocephalae Rhizoma. In order to compare the efficacy of A. japonica and A. coreana with that of Atractylodis Rhizoma and Atractylodis macrocephalae Rhizomain in Pharmacopoeia, this paper studies the anti rheumatism of the five medicinal species in Atractylodes DC., and provides the basis for the rational application of A. japonica and A. coreana. With this purpose, the rheumatoid model of rats was established by Freund's complete adjuvant. Then, Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine the contents of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF - α), arthritis factor (RF), anti cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), Nuclear factor-κB (NF - κB), interleukin-10 (IL-10) and Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in rats of each group. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS) was used to analyze the plasma of each group. After that, multivariate statistical analysis method was used to analyze the data. The results showed that the five medicinal species in Atractylodes DC. can reduce the levels of IL-6, IL-1 β, PGE2 and NF - κB in the plasma of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) rats in varying degrees, among which the regulation of A. macrocephala is relatively weak. A. chinensis, A. lancea, A. coreana and A. japonica can significantly reduce the content of TNF - α, in which A. japonica and A. lancea have better and similar regulatory effects. A. chinensis and A. coreana can significantly reduce the content of RF in arthritis rats. A. coreana, A. lancea and A. japonica can significantly reduce the anti-CCP level, that is, the regulatory effect of A. coreana and A. chinensis is similar. The metabolic disorder of 11-deoxycortisol, taurocholate and other small molecules in the body of rats with RA directly affects the metabolic pathways of primary bile acid biosynthesis and steroid hormone biosynthesis, leading to the decline of immune function and other symptoms. Most of the metabolic pathways tend to be normal after oral administration of five medicinal species in Atractylodes DC. Among them, the regulating effect of A. coreana and A. chinensis is similar, while that of A. japonica and A. lancea are similar. A. macrocephala had little effect of intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Halocarbon emissions in the building sector is increasing. • Non-Annex parties become bigger emitter instead of Annex parties. • Building sector accounts for more than half of global HFCs emissions. • Data sufficiency is key barrier for policy making. • Building cooling demand increase will push further halocarbon emissions. Estimates of the non-CO 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contributed by the buildings sector are necessary to evaluate this sector's potential for climate change mitigation. As data is lacking on fluorinated gases (F-gases) and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) emissions from the buildings sector, this study aimed to estimate these emissions. First, the share of total global GHG emissions represented by buildings-sector emissions was estimated. Then, the HFC emissions of the buildings sectors in several countries (USA, EU, Japan, and China) are compiled. Next, based on necessary assumptions, global buildings-sector HFC emissions were estimated. Finally, this paper discusses implications for policy-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, an increasing number of single-box multi-cell composite box-girders with corrugated steel webs (SBMC-CBGCSWs) have been built in China and Japan. However, the torsional stiffness of SBMC-CBGCSW is dramatically decreased due to the employment of thin corrugated steel webs (CSWs). Investigations of SBMC-CBGCSW under pure torsion are relatively limited, therefore, additional research is needed to investigated to guarantee the safety of such bridges. In this paper, an experimental study on four scaled specimens subjected to pure torsion is conducted to understand the effect of the number of cells and spacing of CSWs on the full torsional response of SBMC-CBGCSW. The failure mode, cracking patterns, and buckling patterns of specimens are presented, and a new shear strain relationship between CSWs obtained from experimental results is proposed to evaluate the contribution of inner CSWs to the torsional behavior of SBMC-CBGCSW. Then, finite element analysis (FEA) models are created to compare with experimental results, such as torque-twist curves, shear strains of CSWs and shear strains of concrete slabs. Finally, a parametric study is performed to examine the effect of geometric factors, such as the ratio of width to height, ratio of width to span length, ratio of width to thickness of slab, number of cells and spacing of CSWs, on such bridges under torsion. • Cracking and buckling patterns and failure modes of 4 scaled SBMC-CBGCSWs under pure torsion are presented. • Effects of number of cells and spacing of CSWs on full torsional response are examined. • Torque-twist curves and shear strains obtained from FEA agree well with that of test. • A new shear strain relationship between CSWs is proposed. • Parametric study is performed to clarify the effect of geometric factors and find optimum positions of CSWs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]