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Informed by an ethnographic approach, this study aims to investigate the professional culture of a group of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in a high school in China. Relying on data gathered through extended field observation and in-depth interviews, this study seeks to uncover the distinctive characteristics of EFL teacher culture as well as its underlying influencing factors. The research findings show that the participants formed a positive work culture which evolved in tensions. Professionally, the participants' aspirations and commitments toward teaching were in tension with limited resources; institutionally, a democratic relationship was in tension with an authoritative leadership; emotionally, the teachers' emotional wellbeing was in tension with contextual constraints. The participants' co-constructed culture played a positive role in promoting their collaborative learning and continuing development, which in turn contributed to their teacher culture.

Over the past few decades, the pursuit of teachers-as-researchers has become an ideal for developing teacher autonomy to which many in the world of curriculum development and language teacher education try to promote (Benson, 2001). Nevertheless, research into how teachers learn to do research has been scarce, and there are pressing needs for research-based accounts of how teachers gain their professional autonomy through research (Borg, 2009). This article reports on a collaborative action research project carried out by a group of university researchers with a group of senior secondary school English teachers in an attempt to promote teacher autonomy in the Chinese context. It first introduces the background and rationale for the project. Then it describes the project along with the research questions and data collection methods. Based on the analysis of the data obtained, the article looks into the processes that teachers go through in learning to do research and examines the impact the project has on the participating teachers. Then it further discusses issues related to such collaboration and concludes with the conditions that are essential for effective university-school collaborations.

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Trypanosomiasis continues to pose a global threat to human health, with human infection mainly caused by Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi. We present a 30-year-old pregnant woman with persistent high fever from Shandong Province, China. High-throughput sequencing revealed the presence of Trypanosoma dionisii in blood. We conducted an analysis of the patient's clinical, epidemiological, and virological data. The patients exhibited fever, shortness of breath, chest tightness, accompanied by change in liver function and inflammatory response. She made a full recovery without any long-term effects. T. dionisii was detected in blood collected 23 days after onset of illness. The 18S rRNA gene sequence showed close similarity to T. dionisii found in bats from Japan, while the gGAPDH gene was closely related to T. dionisii from bats in Mengyin County, Shandong Province. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated the current T. dionisii belongs to clade B within its species group. Positive anti- Trypanosoma IgG antibody was detected from the patient on Day 23, 66 and 122 after disease onset, as well as the cord blood and serum from the newborn. Retrospective screening of wild small mammals captured from Shandong Province revealed a prevalence rate of 0.54% (7/1304) for T. dionisii ; specifically among 0.81% (5/620) of Apodemus agrarius , and 0.46% (2/438) of Mus musculus. The confirmation of human infection with T. dionisii underscores its potential as a zoonotic pathogen, while the widespread presence of this parasite in rodent and bat species emphasizes the emerging threat it poses to human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitioning towards a low-carbon energy system is critical to mitigate climate change risks and ensuring energy security. However, few studies have examined the coordinated transition between the supply-side and demand-side aspects of energy systems. In the present study, a quantitative evaluation system for the energy transition in China considering both the supply and demand sides is established, and the coupled coordination degree and the Tapio decoupling model are utilized to analyse the level of coordinated development between these sides. Machine learning techniques are employed to identify key drivers of coordinated transitions. Several key findings are derived: (1) Between 2005 and 2020, China's energy transition level increased significantly. However, the demand-side transition lagged behind the supply-side. (2) Significant regional differences existed; the southwestern region led in terms of progress, while the northeastern and northern regions lagged behind. The spatial distribution pattern indicated higher levels in the southern region and lower levels in the northern region. (3) The level of coordinated transition was moderate, but the coupling relationship increased. The southwest region exhibited the highest level of coordinated transformation; however, supply-side transformation lagged in the southeastern region, and demand-side transformation lagged in the northern region. (4) The coordinated transition was linked to regional development levels. This transformation was driven by environmental regulations and industrial structures. Furthermore, technological level, affluence level, urbanization level, and foreign direct investment were influencing factors. This study provides a scientific basis for thoroughly understanding China's energy transition challenges, prioritizing governance efforts, and formulating effective transition policies. • The level of cleanliness in China's energy system significantly improved from 2005 to 2020. • The energy transition in China exhibited a spatial pattern of "higher levels in the south and lower levels in the north". • The level of coordinated transition in China is generally moderate, but the coupling relationship shows an upward trend. • The coordinated transition between the supply-side and demand-side is closely related to regional development levels. • Government regulation and industrial restructuring are core measures for promoting coordinated transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two-child policy has been implemented in China since 2016 and has attracted the attention of the world. Adolescents may face huge psychological challenges in the process of changing family structures and relationships. To date, no mental health survey of adolescents from two-child families has been conducted. We investigated the prevalence and risk factors for childhood trauma, anxiety, and depression in two-child families in a statistically representative sample of Chinese senior high school students from Shanghai. A total of 426 participants were randomly selected from 1,059 students of four senior high schools in different districts of Shanghai. The childhood trauma questionnaire-short form (CTQ-SF), self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) were used as the screening tools. We found that the overall prevalence of childhood trauma, anxiety, and depression among senior high school students in two-child families was 46.70% (95% CI, 39.93–53.47%), 22.17% (95% CI, 16.53–27.81%), and 35.85% (95% CI, 29.34–42.36%), respectively. The two-child families was an important factor associated childhood trauma, emotional neglect, and physical neglect (χ2 = 5.984, p = 0.014; χ2 = 4.071, p = 0.044; χ2 = 4.202, p = 0.040). Ranking in two-child families was a risk factor for childhood trauma (β = −0.135, p = 0.048). Parental preference was a significantly correlated with physical abuse, physical neglect, anxiety, and depression (β = −1.581 to 0.088, p < 0.05). Meanwhile, emotional abuse, physical abuse, emotional neglect, and physical neglect of participants in the two groups were positively correlated with anxiety and depression (r = 0.195–0.478, p < 0.05). There was a significant relationship between sexual abuse and anxiety symptoms in the one-child family group (r = 0.161, p < 0.05). The findings suggest that the overall prevalence of childhood trauma, anxiety and depression among adolescents from two-child families in China was high. The two-child families and family ranking are important factors associated childhood trauma, while parental preference is related to anxiety and depression. These results highlight an urgent need to be addressed by adolescents' mental health service providers and policy-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we restudied a rarely known oospecies from China, Stromatoolithus pinglingensis. Original materials from type locality Nanxiong, Guangdong Province as well as recently recovered materials from Shanyang, Shaanxi Province and Laiyang, Shandong Province are compared in this study. After detailed study about general and micro-structure of these eggshells, we are sure that this ootaxon cannot be placed within Spheroolithidae or any other oofamilies, though new oofamily cannot be erected due to lack of complete specimen. In the meantime, we reviewed some Spheroolithidae eggs from Asia, North America, and Europe. We propose that the Mongolia oospecies Spheroolithus maiasauroides is a synonym of Stromatoolithus pinglingensis. Eggs of Maiasaura, Spheroolithus albertensis from North America and Spheroolithus europaeus from Spain should be reassigned to Stromatoolithus. The Lower Cretaceous oospecies Guegoolithus turolensis from Spain should also be considered as ootaxon with close relationship to Stromatoolithus but not Spheroolithidae. The geographic distribution of Spheroolithidae may not be so wide as former researchers thought, and the producer of Spheroolithidae is back to unknown. The oogenus Stromatoolithus is associated with hadrosaurs, and may restrict to Hadrosauridae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vaccine hesitancy is one of the top ten health threats. We aimed to (1) assess parental Category B vaccines hesitancy and associated sociodemographic factors in China, and (2) explore the association between attitude toward vaccines and self-reported hesitant behavior. A cross-sectional study was performed through a web-based anonymous online questionnaire survey between 9 February and 7 April 2021. Chinese parents aged ≥ 18 years with one child aged < 6 years were included to assess vaccine hesitancy using the vaccine-hesitancy scale (VHS). Structural equation model was used to determine relationships between variables. Of 2952 Chinese parents included in the analysis, 17.5% were highly hesitant in Category B vaccines. Parents who were younger, less educated, engaged in health-related occupations, and had been vaccinated against influenza in the past year were more hesitant when vaccinating their children (P < 0.001). VHS score accuracy to identify vaccine-hesitant behavior was acceptable, and the optimal cutoff was 37.50 (with 61.96% parental vaccine hesitancy). Parents who lack confidence or believe vaccines were risk were more likely to show vaccine hesitant behavior (P < 0.001). In China, effective interventions need to be implemented to eliminate parental Category B vaccines hesitancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of three strategic orientations (customer, competitor and innovation) on mass customisation (MC) capability via the organisational learning process known as customisation knowledge utilisation (CKU). The moderating effect of product life cycle (PLC) is also investigated. Using data collected from 204 manufacturers, we show that all three strategic orientations positively contribute to MC capability, both directly and indirectly through CKU. Further, our empirical findings suggest that the effects of customer, competitor and innovation orientation on MC capability are contingent on PLC. The effects of customer orientation on CKU and the effects of competitor orientation on CKU and MC capability are stronger when a product is in the maturity stage of its life cycle, whereas the effect of innovation orientation on CKU and MC capability are stronger in the growth stage. These findings suggest that to effectively improve MC capability, managers need to leverage external and internal orientations at different stages of the PLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morbidity of mixed cystic and alveolar echinococcosis (CE and AE) is exceptionally rare. Less literature retrieved from a database on the internet detailed the content, including radiography, pathology, and therapeutics data. Such a case of cooccurrence of the different Echinococcus species was diagnosed and treated at our hospital center from Nov 2019 to Feb 2020. A 30 yr old female from the pastoral area in Qinghai Province, China, was diagnosed with a case of echinococcosis and diagnosis was confirmed after image studies, immunoassaying of hydatid enzymes, life history and pathology result. The patient underwent hepatectomy along with excision of the internal capsule. Post-operative pathology was done, and it confirmed a mixed infection of both CE and AE. The patient recovered well without complications after liver-protecting and tissue repair treatment for 15 days. Knowing about infective mode and immune method of the case might be vital for research on variation for Echinococcus infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global efforts to develop renewable energy include a focus on biofuels, especially algal‐based biofuels. As the world's largest developing country, China is striving to develop a range of renewable energy sources. Here, we performed an informatics analysis to monitor the development of microalgal biofuels in China by analyzing energy policies related to microalgal biomass and biofuel production and funding inputs and scientific research projects in this field. China has already made substantial contributions to the microalgal biofuel industry worldwide. Despite recent declines in research and investment due to the overall economic environment, microalgal energy research and applications technologies have tremendous prospects. We summarize progress in research on microalgal biomass and biofuel production, focusing on microalgal culture patterns and the production of energy, including efforts in China to promote the industrialization of microalgal biofuels. Finally, we explore possible solutions to bottlenecks that must be overcome before microalgal biofuels can be widely used and discuss future prospects. In addition to serving as a theoretical reference for researchers and decision makers in China and beyond, the information presented in this review article can be used to guide the industrialization of microalgal‐based biofuel production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As third-party logistics (3PL) plays an increasingly important role in businesses, managing dependences between 3PL providers and users has become critical for business success. Drawing on the resource dependency theory (RDT), we propose that logistics integration and interorganisational relationships are two effective approaches for 3PL users to cope with their dependence on 3PL providers and to achieve better financial performance. The model was empirically tested using data collected from 134 3PL users in China. The results show that both inter-organisational relationships and integration and their interplay effectively carry the positive influence of dependence on financial performance. We also find that while both interorganisational relationships and integration are effective for Chinese-controlled 3PL users to leverage their dependence on 3PL providers for financial performance improvement, foreign-controlled 3PL users rely solely on interorganisational relationships to manage their dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The variation of hydrological processes has been extensively discussed worldwide, yet little is known about the relative impact of human activities, and the precipitation–water level relationship in urbanized, watery areas. Thus, the change in water level and the influential variables are analysed for 1960–2014 in the urbanized and watery Taihu Basin, China. The results indicate that the water level displays a significant increasing trend. Furthermore, low-oscillation and high-oscillation periods were found to have occurred in the 1960s–1970s and 2000s, respectively, by the quantile perturbation method. A strong relationship was shown between water level and precipitation in the 1960s–1980s, especially in the flood season. Since then, human activities, such as land-use change, river system degradation and hydrological structures, have played distinct roles and caused more than 82% of the annual and flood-seasonal water level variation. The results may provide a more comprehensive understanding of the hydrological processes and provide a good reference for flood control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reported in this paper is an ethnographic study in a Beijing senior high school that aims to examine the pedagogical lived experiences of Chinese EFL teachers against the backdrop of the nation's mandated curriculum change. The lived experiences of teachers gleaned from this study speak to the complexity and difficulty of pedagogical change at the classroom level. In particular, the teachers' classroom pedagogies are found to reflect neither the official curriculum ideas nor their own espoused beliefs. The study points to the necessity of expanding space for teachers' autonomy to achieve more meaningful mutual adaption in curriculum implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When firms meet in more than one market, it is generally regarded that the possibility of collusion will increase because of mutual interdependence (or mutual forbearance). Mutual forbearance is tacit collusion that directly results from familiarity and deterrence. This paper examines the effect of multimarket contact on airline prices in the Chinese domestic airline market where private and low-cost carriers have been thriving and high-speed rail services growing quickly in the last few years. We find strong evidence supporting the mutual forbearance hypothesis in high revenue markets. We also find that the collusive effect due to increasing multimarket contact is insignificant within the same airline group, whereas multimarket contact between airlines in different airline groups triggers higher airfares. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanization in China has severely disturbed the underlying surface and river systems. The stream structure parameters of Suzhou City were analysed to study the evolution and spatial differentiation of a water system undergoing urbanization. The influencing pattern of different urbanization processes on river system structure and hydrological processes was detected by statistical methods and simulation analysis. The results show that urban sprawl is influenced by both the natural environment and the social economy. At different stages of urbanization, the spatial urban expansion and the natural river characteristics influence the evolution of the river network: during rapid urbanization, the decline in surface water ratio and river density is more intense. The decrease of surface water ratio and river density in rapidly urbanized areas was greatest, followed by that in area urbanized in the 1980s, with few changes in the old town. Under high urbanization, river system indicators tend to stabilize. The rivers' hydrological features were affected by urbanization, with water yield in the study area increasing from 0.81 to 0.95 m3/m2 (1991–2015). The same rainfall intensity results in higher flood levels and greater risk of flooding under rapid urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]