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Knowledge about how characters are written has been argued to play a particularly important role in how children learn to read Chinese. In the current study, we investigate the role that knowledge about writing characters plays in visual word processing in skilled adult readers. While there is clear neuropsychological evidence against the strong version of the hypothesis that reading depends on writing in Chinese even once literacy is acquired, it is still possible that writing could have a modulatory influence on how visually presented Chinese characters are processed in literate readers. The present study addressed this hypothesis using a visual same/different judgment task on pairs of characters that vary in how similar the 2 characters are visually and how similar they are in terms of motor plan, using 24 expert readers and writers of Chinese and 24 naïve participants with no prior experience with written Chinese as subjects. The results of linear mixed-effects modeling indicate that the speed of same/different judgments is influenced by visual similarity, but not by how similar they are written, even in the group of skilled readers. These results suggest that knowledge of how Chinese characters are written does not influence visual character processing in skilled readers.

Registries are excellent sources of data to address questions that are typically not evaluated in randomized clinical trials, including natural history, disease prevalence, treatment approaches and adverse events, and models of care. Global and regional registries can provide data to identify differences in outcomes and in haemophilia care between countries, economic settings, and regions, while facilitating research and data sharing. In this manuscript, we highlight five bleeding disorder registries: Country registries from Australia and China, Paediatric Network on Haemophilia Management (PedNet) data on children who have received emicizumab, data from the European Haemophilia Safety Surveillance (EUHASS) system, and data on women and girls with haemophilia from the World Federation of Haemophilia (WFH) registries. Data from these and other bleeding disorder registries have been and will continue to be used to advance patient care, understand treatment patterns and adverse reactions, and identify areas of increased need and focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relating forest productivity to local variations in forest structure has been a long-standing challenge. Previous studies often focused on the connection between forest structure and stand-level photosynthesis (GPP). However, biomass production (NPP) and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) are also subject to respiration and other carbon losses, which vary with local conditions and life history traits. Here, we use a simulation approach to study how these losses impact forest productivity and reveal themselves in forest structure. We fit the process-based forest model Formind to a 25 ha inventory of an old-growth temperate forest in China and classify trees as "mature" (full-grown) or "immature" based on their intrinsic carbon use efficiency. Our results reveal a strong negative connection between the stand-level carbon use efficiency and the prevalence of mature trees: GPP increases with the total basal area, whereas NPP and NEE are driven by the basal area of immature trees. Accordingly, the basal area entropy - a structural proxy for the prevalence of immature trees - correlated well with NPP and NEE and had a higher predictive power than other structural characteristics such as Shannon diversity and height standard deviation. Our results were robust across spatial scales (0.04-1 ha) and yield promising hypotheses for field studies and new theoretical work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is hardly any cross-cultural research on the measurement invariance of the Brief Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scales (BMSLSS). The current article evaluates the measurement invariance of the BMSLSS across cultural contexts. This cross-sectional study sampled 7,739 adolescents and emerging adults in 23 countries. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit of configural and partial measurement weights invariance models, indicating similar patterns and strengths in factor loading for both adolescents and emerging adults across various countries. We found insufficient evidence for scalar invariance in both the adolescents' and the emerging adults' samples. A multi-level confirmatory factor analysis indicated configural invariance of the structure at country and individual level. Internal consistency, evaluated by alpha and omega coefficients per country, yielded acceptable results. The translated BMSLSS across different cultural contexts presents good psychometric characteristics similar to what has been reported in the original scale, though scalar invariance remains problematic. Our results indicate that the BMSLSS forms a brief measure of life satisfaction, which has accrued substantial evidence of construct validity, thus suitable for use in cross-cultural surveys with adolescents and emerging adults, although evaluation of degree of invariance must be carried out to ensure its suitability for mean comparisons.

Economic and social development, the state of the environment and a propensity for disasters are closely intertwined. Therefore, environmental policy integration (EPI) across development and disaster management (DM) policies and plans is important. Pakistan as a country is highly vulnerable to climate-induced environmental changes and associated disasters. In this paper, the extent to which its national environment and climate change policy, disaster risk reduction (DRR) policy as well as disaster management (DM) plans are aligned is established, based on a review of government documents and expert opinions. In this context, a particular emphasis is put on China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that led the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor Plan (CPEC; 2017–2030). While environmental assessment (EA) is currently not conducted for any DM policies and plans, DM and EA are well integrated into provincial environmental protection acts, in national as well as most provincial DM plans. It is concluded that a regulatory framework to guide EPI in DM for BRI and CPEC projects is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate credit reporting (CCR), which aims at increasing trust in corporates, constitutes an intriguing, yet understudied set of regulatory institutions as it is both a regulatory object and subject at the same time. Differences in national CCR systems pose challenges for multinational companies and have increasingly become a subject of international conflicts on regulatory standards. In this context, the case of China deserves special attention since the country pursues both institutional divergence and convergence with international examples. Hence, the characterization of China's regulatory regime remains difficult. By comparing the institutional context of CCR in China to those in the United States and Germany, this paper sheds light on a specific aspect of China's complex regulatory regime. At the same time, it provides insights into the Chinese manifestation of CCR, which are important for the international business community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparison of two initiatives to bring modern management to China, one U.S. and one European funded, found that both succeeded to an extent in establishing business-administration education. Only the European effort has left a permanent presence in what is now China's leading business school. (SK)

Describes a biological and cultural framework that examines species-specific and culture-specific characteristics for the development of human emotions with evidence from Korea, China, and the United States. Discusses how emotions fall into broad families and dimensions across cultures, with both commonalities and differences. Notes that differences seem to be most prominent in social emotions, such as shame and love.(JPB)

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Aim: Seasonal variation in community composition and species distributional ranges along elevational gradients remain poorly known but are essential to inform conservation. In this study, we aim to understand how species richness, community composition and elevational ranges of montane birds change between the breeding and the non‐breeding season. Location: The east slope of the southern Gaoligong Mountains, Yunnan, southwest China, elevational range: 700–3,400 m a.s.l.; latitudinal range: 24°56′–26°09′N. Methods: We compared species richness and community composition of birds in nine 300‐m elevational bands in the breeding (April–May) and non‐breeding (December–January) seasons. We also calculated seasonal elevational shifts of 97 species with sufficient data recorded in both seasons and assessed how species' traits influenced these shifts. Results: Species richness declined in high and low elevations between the breeding and the non‐breeding season. The temporal beta diversity shift from the breeding to the non‐breeding season was mainly caused by species losses rather than species gains in high‐ and low‐elevation communities. Communities in middle elevations showed a contrasting pattern, with seasonal composition change resulting mainly from species gains. We also found that species' seasonal distribution shifts were mainly associated with breeding elevation and diet. Notably, high‐ and middle‐elevation breeders and insectivores significantly shifted their elevational ranges downslope in the non‐breeding season. In addition, species that participate in mixed‐species flocks and that rely on forests also showed significant downslope shifts in the non‐breeding season. Main conclusions: These results show complex patterns of the interconnectedness of bird communities along the elevational gradient. Keeping forests at middle elevations intact appears especially important as they are used in winter by species that breed at both high and middle elevations. Furthermore, our results suggested conservation actions maintaining connectedness in low and middle elevations are urgently needed to conserve regional biodiversity and highlight the importance of seasonality in montane ecosystem research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economists in both India and China see signs of slackening economic activity, from currency fluctuations in India to a falloff in imports, electricity consumption, and real-estate sales in China. A weakening of the economies in the two countries could be worrisome news for American colleges, for which an uptick in full-paying foreign students has been the one bright spot amid recent budgetary woes. China and India are by far the two largest sources of international students in the United States; together, they account for more than a third of all foreign students on American campuses. Mark W. Harris, president of ELS Educational Services, a language-instruction provider, remains bullish about the flow of international students. But he cautions that colleges need to be savvier about their overseas recruiting instead of relying so heavily on certain countries. Many educators, however, hesitate to draw a strong connection between the economy and international enrollments--and history is on their side.

Several stumbles by American colleges in setting up programs with foreign partners have called attention to problems inherent in making such arrangements. State University of New York Empire State College has allowed a university in Albania to deliver diplomas in its name. In North Dakota, state auditors issued a scathing review of dual-degree programs at Dickinson State University, reporting that they had admitted hundreds of unqualified students, mainly from China, and awarded them degrees even when they failed to meet graduation requirements. Then there is Houston Community College, which has been in the midst of its own desert storm. Students at the Community College of Qatar, in the tiny Persian Gulf emirate, protested after learning that they would not earn degrees from the Texas college, as they had expected to. Those degrees would allow them to transfer to four-year universities. Houston officials maintain that they were working with Qatar's first community college only in an advisory role, but that students could earn Houston diplomas by submitting their transcripts for review. These incidents have renewed concerns about whether, in embarking on ambitious international ventures, American colleges are putting themselves at risk, legally, financially, and reputationally. In their quest for global prestige and, often, dollars, are they rushing abroad without doing their homework? After all, experts note, even internationally savvy institutions, like George Mason University and Michigan State University, have occasionally misstepped in their efforts overseas.

Sun Yat-sen University's East-meets-West curriculum is distinctive, but its embrace of liberal education--education across disciplines, meant to provoke broad thinking--is far from unusual. At a time when China and its East Asian neighbors are trouncing U.S. students on international exams, educators in these countries are nonetheless adopting, and adapting, that quintessentially American approach to learning. Some of the top institutions in the region, like Sun Yat-sen and Taiwan's Tunghai University, are setting up selective liberal-education programs. In South Korea, a declaration by the late Apple chief Steve Jobs that equal parts liberal learning and technological know-how were critical to the computer giant's success has kindled interest in the humanities. This coming fall, all university students in Hong Kong will be required to take a new, fourth year of general-education courses. These undergraduate-education reforms, promoted by government officials and business leaders as well as educators, stem from a basic economic calculus: The countries' current educational systems have produced stellar test takers but few innovators and inventors. The global economy is placing new demands on international hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore and opening up China's once-closed markets to overseas investment. Not only do new hires in these places have to collaborate with counterparts around the globe, they're also competing for jobs. And they're not faring well, dinged for inflexible thinking, inability to work in teams, and lack of creativity. A survey of Hong Kong employers rated local graduates far inferior to those educated abroad. In mainland China, more than one in 10 graduates have yet to find a job a year later, even in a booming economy. Casting their eyes West, reformers have latched onto American-style liberal, or general, education as a way to foster more nimble and adaptable thinkers. But although the efforts share the goal of broadening out the narrow, professionally oriented degree programs favored by local institutions, they may have little in common with the U.S. model, and even less with one another. Some take a canonical Great Books approach, others emphasize interdisciplinarity, while still others are a hodgepodge of courses in public speaking, foreign languages, and computer literacy--in short, anything outside major requirements. Curriculum is just one of many challenges raised by the push toward liberal education.

Fly ash--the residuum of coal burning--contains a considerable amount of fossilized particulate organic carbon (FOCash) that remains after high-temperature combustion. Fly ash leaks into natural environments and participates in the contemporary carbon cycle, but its reactivity and flux remained poorly understood. We characterized FOCash in the Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) basin, China, and quantified the riverine FOCash fluxes. Using Raman spectral analysis, ramped pyrolysis oxidation, and chemical oxidation, we found that FOCash is highly recalcitrant and unreactive, whereas shale-derived FOC (FOCrock) was much more labile and easily oxidized. By combining mass balance calculations and other estimates of fly ash input to rivers, we estimated that the flux of FOCash carried by the Chang Jiang was 0.21 to 0.42 Mt C·y-1 in 2007 to 2008--an amount equivalent to 37 to 72% of the total riverine FOC export. We attributed such high flux to the combination of increasing coal combustion that enhances FOCash production and the massive construction of dams in the basin that reduces the flux of FOCrock eroded from upstream mountainous areas. Using global ash data, a first-order estimate suggests that FOCash makes up to 16% of the present-day global riverine FOC flux to the oceans. This reflects a substantial impact of anthropogenic activities on the fluxes and burial of fossil organic carbon that has beenmade less reactive than the rocks from which it was derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's Hengduan Mountain region has been considered one of the most diverse regions in the northern hemisphere. Its stunning topography with many deep valleys and impassable mountain barriers has promoted an astonishing diversification in many groups of organisms including plants, birds, mammals, and amphibians. However, the insect biodiversity in this region is still poorly known. Here, the first checklist of ant species from the Southern Hengduan Mountain region is presented, generated by sampling ant diversity using a wide array of collection methods, including Winkler leaf litter extraction, vegetation beating, and hand collection. 130 species/morphospecies from nine subfamilies and 49 genera were identified. Among them, 17 species from 13 genera represent new records for Yunnan province, and eight species are newly recorded for China. Moreover, we believe 41 novel morphospecies (31% of the total collected taxa) will prove to be new to science. These results highlight the rich ant fauna of this region and strongly support its status as a biodiversity hotspot. The current ant species checklist for the whole of Yunnan Province was updated by recording 550 named species from 99 genera. Taken together, our results suggest that the Yunnan ant fauna still remains under-sampled, and future sampling will likely yield many more species, among them many undescribed ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Essential oils may represent an alternative strategy for controlling scabies, a neglected tropical disease caused by the infestation of mite from the species Sarcoptes scabiei. Lemongrass (Cymbopogen citratus) oil is reported to possess pharmacological properties including antiparasitc, antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory. The aim of the present study was to assess the potential efficacy of lemongrass oil against the mites and eggs of Sarcoptes scabiei. Methodology/Principal findings: Mass spectrometry analysis confirmed that the main component presented in lemongrass oil was citral. Lemongrass oil at concentrations of 10% and 5% killed all Sarcoptes mites within 10 and 25 min, respectively. The median lethal concentration value was 1.37%, 1.08%, 0.91%, 0.64%, and 0.48% at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h, respectively. Lemongrass oil at all concentrations (10%, 5%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.1%) was able to significantly decrease the hatching rate of Sarcoptes eggs. Conclusions/Significance: Lemongrass oil should be considered as a promising miticidal and ovicidal agent for scabies control. Author summary: Scabies is a parasitic infestation which affects about 455 million people annually, with a particularly high prevalence in low income tropical regions. The disease is frequently complicated by bacterial infections. Currently available treatments do not meet the ideal profile which includes miticides, ovicidal, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory/antipruritic properties. Cymbopogon citratus is a plant widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions. The essential oil from C. citratus is known as lemongrass oil with reported antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. We conducted experiments to assess the miticidal and ovicidal efficacy of lemongrass oil against Sarcoptes mites collected from naturally infected rabbits in China. The results demonstrated that lemongrass oil can kill the motile stages of Sarcoptes mites effectively and presented a significant ovicidal activity. Considering all these properties, lemongrass oil should be considered a promissing miticide against scabies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese Medicinal Yam (CMY) has been prescribed as medicinal food for thousand years in China by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners. Its medical benefits include nourishing the stomach and spleen to improve digestion, replenishing lung and kidney, etc., according to the TCM literature. As living standard rises and public health awareness improves in recent years, the potential medicinal benefits of CMY have attracted increasing attention in China. It has been found that the observed climate change in last several decades, together with the change in economic structure, has driven significant shift in the pattern of the traditional CMY planting areas. To identify suitable planting area for CMY in the near future is critical for ensuring the quality and supply quantity of CMY, guiding the layout of CMY industry, and safeguarding the sustainable development of CMY resources for public health. In this study, we first collect 30-year records of CMY varieties and their corresponding phenology and agro-meteorological observations. We then consolidate these data and use them to enrich and update the eco-physiological parameters of CMY in the agro-ecological zone (AEZ) model. The updated CMY varieties and AEZ model are validated using the historical planting area and production under observed climate conditions. After the successful validation, we use the updated AEZ model to simulate the potential yield of CMY and identify the suitable planting regions under future climate projections in China. This study shows that regions with high ecological similarity to the genuine and core producing areas of CMY mainly distribute in eastern Henan, southeastern Hebei, and western Shandong. The climate suitability of these areas will be improved due to global warming in the next 50 years, and therefore, they will continue to be the most suitable CMY planting regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gene flow in plants via pollen and seeds is asymmetrical at different geographic scales. Orchid seeds are adapted to long-distance wind dispersal but pollinium transfer is often influenced by pollinator behavior. We combined field studies with an analysis of genetic diversity among 155 physically mapped adults and 1105 F1 seedlings to evaluate the relative contribution of pollen and seed dispersal to overall gene flow among three sub-populations of the food-deceptive orchid Phalaenopsis pulcherrima on Hainan Island, China. Results: Phalaenopsis pulcherrima is self-sterile and predominantly outcrossing, resulting in high population-level genetic diversity, but plants are clumped and exhibit fine-scale genetic structuring. Even so, we detected low differentiation among sub-populations, with polynomial regression analysis suggesting gene flow via seed to be more restricted than that via pollen. Paternity analysis confirmed capsules of P. pulcherrima to each be sired by a single pollen donor, probably in part facilitated by post-pollination stigma obfuscation, with a mean pollen flow distance of 272.7 m. Despite limited sampling, we detected no loss of genetic diversity from one generation to the next. Conclusions: Outcrossing mediated by deceptive pollination and self-sterility promote high genetic diversity in P. pulcherrima. Long-range pollinia transfer ensures connectivity among sub-populations, offsetting the risk of genetic erosion at local scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Following the near‐complete destruction of China's forest ecosystems during the 20th century, recent reforestation programmes have created large‐scale mosaics of protected secondary and plantation forests. These restored forests are often assumed to have limited biodiversity conservation value, but large‐scale evaluations of their diversity are lacking. In our study, we compared α‐diversity and species dissimilarity patterns of vascular plants and ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in restored secondary and plantation forests to remnant mature forests across north‐eastern temperate China. We also assessed functional traits of beetles and cross‐taxon diversity links to evaluate differences in ecosystem functioning among forest types. Location:. Northeast China. Methods: Vascular plant and ground beetle assemblages were recorded in 159 temperate forest plots. The α‐diversity and species compositional dissimilarity of these taxa and the functional traits of beetles were compared between plantation, secondary and mature forest ecosystems. Results: Herbaceous plant species richness peaked in mature forests, while carabid and woody plant diversity did not differ between forest types. Species dissimilarity of carabids was lowest in mature forests and highest in plantation forests. Mature forest contained the highest proportion of carnivorous beetles and secondary forests of large‐bodied carabids. Carabid diversity and woody plant species richness were positively correlated in mature forests, but not in secondary or plantation forests. Main conclusions: While China's mature forests show a great conservation value in harbouring highly diverse herbaceous plant assemblages and an abundance of distinct invertebrate trait groups such as small predatory carabids, China's restored temperate forests also support a high diversity of woody plants and carabids. Overall, our findings offer an encouraging conservation message for biodiversity conservation in China and demonstrate the importance of policy measures that ensure effective long‐term protection of both, China's remnant mature forests, but also its new forest ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse impacts and increasing economic losses from tropical cyclones (TCs) are a major focus in respect to the potential global warming of 1.5 °C or even 2.0 °C. Based on observed meteorological data and county‐scale loss records, loss‐inducing rainfall and wind speed thresholds are identified using the regional climate model CCLM to project future TC events in China. An established damage function is combined with future gross domestic product predictions under five shared socio‐economic pathways. At the 1.5 °C warming level, normalized TC losses will be four times higher than in the reference period (1986–2005). At the 2.0 °C warming level, a sevenfold increase is projected. Relative to the 1.5 °C warming level, TCs will become more frequent under the 2.0 °C scenario, especially along the southeast coast of China. Nearly 0.2–0.5% of the increase in gross domestic product might be offset by TC losses between the 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C warming levels, and the single highest TC loss at 2.0 °C may double that at 1.5 °C, with a larger affected area and more severe rainstorms and wind speeds. Rainfall is attributed more often to TC losses than wind speed. Limiting global warming at 1.5 °C would avoid an estimated increase in TC losses of more than 120 billion CNY annually. Based on a simple linear regression approach, normalized event‐based (a) and annual aggregated (b) TC losses in China will be four times higher at the 1.5 °C warming level than in the reference period (1986–2005). Relative to the 1.5 °C warming level, TCs will become more frequent under the 2.0 °C scenario, especially along the southeast coast of China. Limiting global warming at 1.5 °C would avoid an estimated increase in TC losses of more than 120 billion CNY annually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We project drought losses in China under global temperature increase of 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C, based on the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), a cluster analysis method, and "intensity-loss rate" function. In contrast to earlier studies, to project the drought losses, we predict the regional gross domestic product under shared socioeconomic pathways instead of using a static socioeconomic scenario. We identify increasing precipitation and evapotranspiration pattern for the 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C global warming above the preindustrial at 2020-2039 and 2040-2059, respectively. With increasing drought intensity and areal coverage across China, drought losses will soar. The estimated loss in a sustainable development pathway at the 1.5 °C warming level increases 10-fold in comparison with the reference period 1986-2005 and nearly threefold relative to the interval 2006-2015. However, limiting the temperature increase to 1.5 °C can reduce the annual drought losses in China by several tens of billions of US dollars, compared with the 2.0 °C warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on an entirely unexplored source of data, this paper analyses the evolution of Tibetan representation and preferentiality within public employment recruitment across all Tibetan areas from 2007 to 2015. While recruitment collapsed after the end of the job placement system (fenpei) in the early to mid-2000s, there was a strong increase in public employment recruitment from 2011 onwards. Tibetans were underrepresented within this increase, although not severely, and various implicit practices of preferentiality bolstered such representation, with distinct variations across regions and time. The combination reasserted the predominant role of the state as employer of educated millennials in Tibetan areas to the extent of re-introducing employment guarantees. We refer to this as the innovation of a neo-fenpei system. This new system is most clearly observed in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) from 2011 to 2016, although it appears to have been abandoned in 2017. One effect of neo-fenpei, in contrast to its predecessor, is that it accentuates university education as a driver of differentiation within emerging urban employment. The evolution of these recruitment practices reflects the complex tensions in Tibetan areas regarding the overarching goal of security and social stability (weiwen) emphasized by the Xi–Li administration, which has maintained systems of minority preferentiality but in a manner that enhances assimilationist trends rather than minority group empowerment. 摘要: 根据一组完全没有被研究过的原始数据, 本文分析了 2007 年至 2015 年之间, 整个藏族地区公职人员招聘中藏族的代表比例和优待的演变。虽然在 2000 年代早中期工作分配制度结束后, 招聘一度瓦解, 2011 年以后公职人员招聘又有强劲增长。藏人在这波增长中没有被充分代表, 但是并不严重。各种隐性的优待招聘实践还增加了这种代表比例, 在不同的地区和时间有明显的区别。这种组合重申了国家在受教育的千禧一代的就业中的主导地位, 以至于到了重新引入就业保障的地步。我们把此种创新称为新分配制度, 这种情形在西藏自治区最为明显。相对于它的前身, 新分配的一个效应就是它强调了大学教育在新兴城市就业中作为划分的驱动因素。这些招聘实践的演变显示了习李政府强调的安全和维稳的总体目标在藏族地区的复杂的张力 ——它虽然保持了少数民族优待的制度, 却在某种意义上强化了藏族的被同化而不是少数民族的自主性。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the wages for migrant workers increasing dramatically in China since 2003, the size of the agricultural labour forces has been shrinking rapidly. Intensively substituting agricultural machinery for the shrinking farm labour force is hardly possible for croplands in the mountainous regions of China where mechanization is difficult to achieve due to small field size and rough terrain. This has eventually led to cropland abandonment in these regions. Considering the high pressure for food security in China, cropland abandonment in the mountainous regions should not be ignored. By employing a novel method, this study estimates the extent of recently abandoned croplands (period 2000-2010) and the changes that can be expected in the future in China's mountainous areas. The results show that the total extent of abandoned croplands in Chinese mountainous counties during the period 2000 to 2010 is estimated at 147 million mu (1 mu = 666.67 m²); in total, about 28% of croplands in mountainous counties was abandoned, including croplands converted in the Grain for Green Programme. With 3 scenario assumptions, a sizeable extent, 114 to 203 million mu, of croplands may be abandoned from 2010 to 2030 with the rapid decrease and ageing of projected farm labour forces. This could exacerbate the future challenges of maintaining China's food security. A substantial increase in agricultural project investments, including land consolidation and agricultural productive fixed assets, especially microtillage machines, could help mitigate the risk of cropland abandonment. Additionally, land-use and environmental policymaking should take into account the expanding cropland abandonment in mountainous regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In water‐scarce regions of China, wastewater reuse is increasingly considered as a potential component of China's future water resource management strategy. Currently, the percentage of wastewater reuse varies substantially across Chinese provinces, but conditions leading to a high rate of wastewater reuse have not been elucidated clearly. In this work, we use fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to identify the drivers of high and low percentages of wastewater reuse in water‐stressed Chinese provinces in 2013. We find that among the five conditions studied (per capita water availability, urban population, access to sea, access to urban space, and access to agricultural land), a high percentage of wastewater reuse is primarily driven by water stress and access to urban green space. Consequently, policies should consider targeting provinces with these attributes where wastewater reuse is more likely to be successful. Further, our results show that there is asymmetry in the conditions that lead to high and low percentages of wastewater reuse, and that the drivers for and against reuse identified in this study are not completely analogous to those identified in previous studies. As such, the drivers for and against wastewater reuse should not be generalized without due consideration of the local context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the intensity, area and duration of future droughts in China are analyzed using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). The SPI and SPEI are used to evaluate the simulation ability of drought characteristics with the regional climate model COSMO-CLM (CCLM). The projected intensity and duration of future drought events are analyzed for the period 2016-2050 under three different respective concentration pathways (RCPs). The simulated and projected drought events are analyzed by applying the intensity-area-duration method. The results show that CCLM has a robust capability to simulate the average drought characteristics, while some regional disparities are not well captured, mainly the simulation of more drought events of shorter duration in Northwest China. For the future period 2016-2050, more intense dryness conditions are projected for China. An increase in evapotranspiration is found all over China, while a reduction in precipitation is apparent in the southern river basins. The increase in evapotranspiration plays an important role in the changes of future droughts over the northern river basins and southern river basins. Under RCP2.6, drought events of longer duration and with higher frequency are projected for the southwest and southeast of China. Under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, a continuing tendency to more dry conditions is projected along a dryness band stretching from the southwest to the northeast of China. More frequent drought events of longer duration are projected in the southwestern river basins. For all future droughts, larger extents are projected, especially for events with long-term duration. The projected long-term drought events will occur more often and more severe than during the baseline period, and their central locations will likely shift towards Southeast China. The results of this study can be used to initiate and strengthen drought adaptation measures at regional and local scale, especially in the south of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To evaluate the relationship between quality of life (QOL) and physical as well as psychological variables in Chinese breast cancer patients. Methods: This multicenter cross-sectional study enrolled 254 Chinese breast cancer patients in different stages and treatment phases. They answered standard instruments assessing QOL (EORTC), somatic symptom severity (PHQ-15), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), health-related anxiety (WI-7), illness perception (BIPQ), and sense of coherence (SOC-9). Canonical correlation was applied to identify the strongest correlates between the physical, emotional and social QOL scales and the physical and psychological variables. Results: In our sample, a low global QOL was significantly associated with the following physical and psychological variables: symptom-related disability (Karnofsky Index) (r = .211, p < .01), somatic symptom severity (r = -.391, p < .001), depression (r = -.488, p < .001), anxiety (r = -.439, p < .001), health-related anxiety (r = -.398, p < .001), dysfunctional illness perception (r = -.411, p < .001), and sense of coherence (r = .371, p < .001). In the canonical correlation analysis, high somatic symptom severity, depression, anxiety, dysfunctional illness perception, and low sense of coherence showed the strongest correlations with low physical, emotional and social functioning. The first three significant canonical correlations between these two sets of variables were .78, .56, and .45. Conclusions: QOL in Chinese breast cancer patients is strongly associated with psychological factors. Our results suggest that Chinese physicians and nurses should incorporate these factors into their care for women with breast cancer to improve patients' QOL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports that at Rollins College, a liberal-arts institution, professors are paid to get away for overseas travel so that their students will learn to be more globally minded. The college's president, Lewis M. Duncan, has pledged to send every faculty and staff member with teaching duties abroad once every three years. Since 2006, 128 Rollins employees, about two-thirds of those eligible, have used the $3,000 grants to conduct individual research projects or to travel internationally with faculty-led groups to destinations including China, Ecuador, and Tanzania. Rollins is among a growing number of colleges across the country that are trying to create more-global campuses by cultivating a faculty of internationalists. Indeed, a recent report by the American Council on Education pointed to the expansion of support for faculty members to study or conduct research abroad, or to lead overseas programs, as a bright spot in colleges' otherwise uneven efforts at internationalization.

The chemical composition of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, from the body to the pigment and the glaze, has been widely investigated over the last decades. However, most studies focused on ware from official kilns and much less attention has been given to folk kilns whose production was primarily aimed at supplying overseas markets. Moreover, scientific analysis has often relied on sophisticated laboratory-based instrumentation, a methodology that can be used neither for large sets of archaeological sherds nor in the field. The research presented here evaluates the applicability of non-invasive portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) for the study of overseas Chinese blue-and-white porcelain manufactured in Jingdezhen and Zhangzhou, the main production centers during the late 16th to early 17th centuries. Results obtained on a limited number of sherds found in Indonesia and the Philippines show that concentration levels of some minor and trace elements, in particular zirconium and associated thorium, are sufficient to clearly distinguish Jingdezhen and Zhangzhou productions. The composition of the cobalt-based blue pigment was also easily identified with pXRF, highlighting the Fe-poor and Mn-rich compositional pattern in accordance with the local asbolite ores used during this time period. Furthermore, FORS provided additional information on tint and shade variations of the blue pigment. Consequently, pXRF combined with FORS represents an innovative and cost effective analytical approach to study the chemistry and provenance of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, particularly in the field and/or for large archaeological sherd collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the intensity, area, and duration of droughts in China are analyzed using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The SPI was calculated on monthly data for 530 meteorological stations in China for the period 1960-2013. The time series were analyzed for ten major hydrological regions of China, respectively. The relationships between the intensity and the area of droughts for a specific duration were analyzed by the intensity-area-duration method. The results show that areas with a significant trend in dryness can be found in a band reaching from the southwest to the northeast of China, while areas with significant trends in wetness are especially detected in the northern river basins in recent decades. In addition, for recent years (2000-2013), most of the ten major hydrological regions show opposite trends in the SPI when compared to the whole study period (1960-2013) except for the central and southwestern parts of China. This dryness/wetness trends are related to the intensity and duration of drought events, which have been stronger and lasted longer in the detected dryness band except for some northern river basins. A regional shift of drought centers is found from the northwest to the southeast within Central China. Moreover, a decreasing trend in drought area is observed, which might be related to the regional changes in precipitation pattern associated with the atmosphere-ocean interaction. Changes in the SST of the Tropical Pacific and the Tropical Indian Ocean may have resulted in frequent severe drought events of small areal extent in the central and southwestern parts of China. For the study period, the most severe droughts that covered large areas mainly occurred in the north and west of China during the mid-to-late twentieth century. However, in the early twenty-first century, the most severe droughts were located in the southwest of China covering areas less than 0.7 million km. Conclusively, drought areas show a decreasing tendency, while more intense droughts of longer duration have been experienced, especially in the south of China, in the last decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the less attention towards global boom of investment in small hydropower plants (SHPs). Topics discussed include information on the adverse impacts of large hydropower plants on nature and human livelihoods; discussions on the importance of the hydropower plants in generating the electric power; and the information on providing investment grants and feed-in tariffs in China provinces on SHPs.

The reduction of uncertainty in simulations and projections of regional climate models is a critical issue for regional climate impact studies, especially in the context of climate extremes. In this study, the regional climate model COSMO-CLM (CCLM) is evaluated in terms of daily precipitation and temperature characteristics, in order to obtain reliable projections of climate extremes for the Tarim River Basin (TRB) in Northwest China. The results show that CCLM can acceptably reproduce the annual cycle of maximum and minimum temperature, as well as the spatial distribution of precipitation pattern. Nonetheless, some systematic biases have been encountered. The equidistant cumulative distribution function matching method has been applied, which led to an efficient reduction of the systematic biases of observed and simulated climate variables. The bias correction has further been applied to climate projections for the period of 2016-2035 under the Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5. The projected indices of climate extremes as calculated from the bias-corrected CCLM projections show that most of the TRB is likely to experience a decrease in daily temperature range, and an increase in minimum temperature as well as consecutive wet days. The total precipitation on very wet days is projected to slightly increase at most stations, while the annual total precipitation will mostly increase in the southwestern parts of the TRB. The findings on the spatial-temporal patterns of these climate extremes will enable decision makers, especially in the water and agricultural sectors, to adapt and be better prepared for future climate impacts in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the characteristics of tropical cyclones (TCs) and their economic losses in China for a 30-year period (1984-2013) are analyzed on a provincial scale. The TC parameters are quantitatively analyzed for inherent trends and cycles using the Mann-Kendall test and the fast Fourier power spectrum. Different normalization methods are applied to attribute socioeconomic factors to the increasing original economic losses. These losses are normalized with the consumer price index, the conventional as well as the alternative normalization method. The frequency of maximum economic losses from TC events is expressed in return periods as calculated with the generalized extreme value distribution function. The results show a noticeable shift to stronger TCs within detected strong cycles of 5 and 11-13 years, but no significant trends in the climatic parameters related to TCs. The numbers of affected population and the TC intensities in inland provinces have been especially amplified. Results of the different normalization methods show that by considering population growth, urbanization, and economic development, the economic losses per capita did not increase but rather stabilized. The original economic losses from TCs increased during the period of 1984-2013, with 2013 being the most costly TC year. In comparison, the conventional and alternative normalized economic losses have not increased and instead saw 1996 as the most costly TC year. Based on the return periods of probable maximum losses per TC, it is shown that the TC event with the highest losses in 2013, i.e., Typhoon Fitow, is a 23-year event if the losses are adjusted with the consumer price index, but more realistically a 3.5-year event if the conventional normalization method is considered. In conclusion, with economic development and urbanization, China's vulnerability and exposure to tropical cyclones has increased, while the normalized economic losses from TCs did not rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been increasing concerns on risks and uncertainty posed by climate change to China's future crop production. The existing assessments using popular process-based and site-specific crop growing models highlight the significant extent of climate-induced yield reduction, and thus suggest a scary downward risk for China's future food production. Surprisingly, much less attention has been paid to exploring the potential gains that may also be brought by climate change. To address this imbalance, we develop an integrated agro-climatic and ecological assessment tool that is capable of detecting the shifts of multicropping opportunities under different climate change scenarios. The application of this tool to the context of China reveals significant extension of multicropping opportunities brought in by climate change. We argue for an active adaptation to such emerging opportunities through both market and policy incentives, because the aggregate gain of such adaptation is sufficient to outweigh the loss as revealed by the existing assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study estimates the extent of subsidization in the ten provinces of western China from 1990 to 2012 with the aim of highlighting the exceptionality of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) leading up to and following the widespread Tibetan protests that swept through four Chinese provinces in 2008. Although the Tibet development model was criticized by many Chinese economists in the 1980s and 1990s for being highly subsidy-dependent and inefficient, these aspects of dependence and inefficiency were exacerbated even further under the Hu–Wen administration, particularly following the 2008 protests. While subsidies and investment also increased in other western provinces, the exceptionality of the TAR stands out in terms of the levels of subsidization attained, the sheer disassociation of these subsidies from changes in the local productive economy, and the degree to which ownership in the local economy has come to be dominated by external interests. The recent phase of intensive subsidization has thereby exacerbated the dependence of local Tibetan livelihoods on these state strategies, while at the same time intensified the state-led economic integration of the region into the rest of China through externalized patterns of ownership and consolidated state control. Arguments that the resultant inefficiencies and social tensions are owing to a marketization of social relations or to cultural insensitivity and lack of adaptation to local circumstances de-emphasize the central role of the state in shaping the deeply structural character of these transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since their inception in 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have improved understanding of the global development process. Although the goals will not be significantly achieved on a global scale, each country has had accomplishments deserving of attention and analysis. With regard to the MDGs as they relate to children, China has made significant achievements, the deeper understanding of which might help in the process of refreshing the MDGs beyond 2015. China's accomplishments in economic development and human welfare, and the benefits this has brought to its children potentially teach lessons that can be modelled by other countries moving from low- to middle-income status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The recent warming trends have led to rising concerns on how the changing climate has been altering and will continue to alter agroclimatic conditions in China. In this study, high resolution climate scenarios from regional climate models ( RCMs) are used as input to the agro-ecological zones ( AEZ) model for China and to compute a comprehensive set of agroclimatic indicators. Uncertainties in the projected impacts of climate change on agroclimatic conditions are also discussed with respect to (1) RCM outputs for different emission scenarios, and (2) differences in projections obtained from two different RCMs under the same emission scenario. The results indicate a significant extension of the crop growing period in tandem with the rising temperatures during the crop growing season, which may lead to increase in multi-cropping opportunities at high latitudes and thus advance the total potential output per unit of cropland. However, the results show that the Southwest China will experience a significant reduction in the value of humidity index, implying severe challenges for future agricultural development in the region. Spatially explicit patterns of changes in future agroclimatic conditions, as revealed in this study, can be beneficial for policy-makers, farming communities and other stakeholders to assess risk factors, design adaptation and mitigation measures, and improve management practices at the local to regional scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past three decades, China's fast economic development has induced considerable changes in China's university and research institution landscape, research financing and academic career incentives. This paper argues that these changes have affected the motivation and the ways in which Chinese scholars engage in international research cooperation. Most recently it has been observed that strong pressures on scholars and scientists - especially at leading academic institutions - to excel in international publications while simultaneously fulfilling their obligation to generate income for their institutions can lead to a dilemma with regard to international research cooperation: Those institutions and scholars most interesting for foreign scholars to cooperate with may be the ones with the least amount of both incentive and time to enter into serious cooperation. This article invites us to reflect on the implications of these changes in the incentive structure for cooperation in social science research on China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until recently Anglophone business research into the issues surrounding the costs of and barriers to internationalisation has focused on cultural barriers and their potential for conflict and misunderstanding. Most of this research assumes that, as English is the international language of business, language itself is not an issue and that communication problems are situated in underlying cultural assumptions. This paper surveys recent research on issues relating to the use of a lingua franca, normally English, in intercultural business dealings, and in communication and conflict management, and relates it to a pilot study of five Chinese business people who use English in their daily business transactions. The results confirm that the choice of language itself has considerable potential for causing conflict, and raises interlinked issues of face, harmony, hierarchy, directness and power. Furthermore, the Chinese preference for conflict avoidance and indirectness means that many of these conflicts may be hidden from the English speaking interlocutors. This has implications for monolingual English speaking businesses in their future dealings with Chinese counterparts. It also contributes to identifying potential underlying sources of conflict in these interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the large-scale investments of both China and the EU in climate-change mitigation and renewable-energy promotion, the prevailing view on China-EU relations is one of conflict rather than cooperation. In order to evaluate the prospects of cooperation between China and the EU in these policy fields, empirical research has to go beyond simplistic narratives. This paper suggests a conceptual apparatus that will help researchers better understand the complexities of the real world. The relevant actors operate at different levels and in the public and private sectors. The main message of the paper is that combining the multilevel governance and value-chain approaches helps clarify the multiple relationships between these actors [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims The dispersal of pollen and seeds is spatially restricted and may vary among plant populations because of varying biotic interactions, population histories or abiotic conditions. Because gene dispersal is spatially restricted, it will eventually result in the development of spatial genetic structure (SGS), which in turn can allow insights into gene dispersal processes. Here, we assessed the effect of habitat characteristics like population density and community structure on small-scale SGS and estimate historical gene dispersal at different spatial scales. Methods In a set of 12 populations of the subtropical understory shrub Ardisia crenata, we assessed genetic variation at 7 microsatellite loci within and among populations. We investigated small-scale genetic structure with spatial genetic autocorrelation statistics and heterogeneity tests and estimated gene dispersal distances based on population differentiation and on within-population SGS. SGS was related to habitat characteristics by multiple regression. Important Findings The populations showed high genetic diversity (He = 0.64) within populations and rather strong genetic differentiation (F′ST = 0.208) among populations, following an isolation-by-distance pattern, which suggests that populations are in gene flow–drift equilibrium. Significant SGS was present within populations (mean Sp = 0.027). Population density and species diversity had a joint effect on SGS with low population density and high species diversity leading to stronger small-scale SGS. Estimates of historical gene dispersal from between-population differentiation and from within-population SGS resulted in similar values between 4.8 and 22.9 m. The results indicate that local-ranged pollen dispersal and inefficient long-distance seed dispersal, both affected by population density and species diversity, contributed to the genetic population structure of the species. We suggest that SGS in shrubs is more similar to that of herbs than to trees and that in communities with high species diversity gene flow is more restricted than at low species diversity. This may represent a process that retards the development of a positive species diversity–genetic diversity relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]