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Copyright of Arid Land Geography is the property of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology & Geography and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The high-quality development of the logistics industry, which is an essential and strategic industry supporting the national economic operation and a fundamental component of modern industrial system construction, is not only a key component of the high-quality development of the national economy but also the main driving force for the high-quality growth of the national economy. As the supporting industry of the national economy, the logistics industry will also face spatial disequilibrium during development. Therefore, to achieve the coordinated development of the logistics industry, the high-quality development and the spatial-temporal unbalanced development status of the logistics industry in each province must be figured out first. This research established a comprehensive evaluation system for the logistics industry development, which included 14 basic indexes based on the provincial-level panel data of 30 provinces in China during 2009–2020. Then, the regional logistics development level score in China was measured using the entropy weight TOPSIS method, and the differences in the regional logistics development level in China and the dynamic evolution law of their distribution were deeply explored through the Dagum Gini coefficient model. The research results revealed that the evaluation index system (14 basic indexes) for the regional logistics industry development level in China was relatively scientific and reasonable; the regional logistics industry development level in China was increasing year by year, showing a steady upward trend, and the imbalance in the eastern, central, and western regions regarding the regional logistics development was shrinking year by year; the average intergroup contribution rate was 36.33%, the intragroup contribution rate was 31.49%, and the contribution rate of intensity of trans variation was 32.19%, proving that the regional differences exerted a most extraordinary influence on the spatial differences in the regional logistics industry development level in China. The research results have important reference value for summarizing the meaning of high-quality logistics industry development, constructing the evaluation index system for logistics industry development, and exploring the reasons for the temporal and spatial differences in logistics industry development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Engineering Management / Gongcheng Guanli Xuebao is the property of Journal of Engineering Management Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The difference in meteorological factors (such as weather phenomena, wind speed, and visibility) of sand–dust weather between China and Mongolia from 2011 to 2021 was analyzed using meteorological observational data and international exchange of meteorological observation data. Additionally, consistency analysis was performed by integrating satellite retrieval products with meteorological observation data. The results showed that the average annual frequency of sand–dust weather in Mongolia was significantly higher than that in China. In China, the sand–dust weather was mainly characterized by floating dust or blowing dust, while in Mongolia, it was primarily characterized by blowing dust or a sand and dust storm. The average annual wind speed and visibility during sand–dust weather in Mongolia were relatively higher than those in China. Based on the dust grade standard of China, when the floating dust occurred in Mongolia, there were cases with wind speed > level 3 and visibility > 10 km; when the blowing dust or sand and dust storm occurred in Mongolia, there were cases with wind speed ≤ level 3 and visibility > 10 km. In China, the sand–dust weather mainly occurred in the spring, while the sand-dust weather occurred frequently throughout the year in Mongolia. The number of days with dust lasting for 2 days or more in Mongolia exceeded that of China, and Mongolia had a significant impact on the sand–dust weather in China. According to the ground observation data and satellite retrieve products during the dust events, all dust events that significantly affected China and Mongolia during the same period from 2021 to 2022 were classified into three categories; among them, the proportion of types of large-scale sand–dust weather phenomena observed by both satellite and ground observation stations was significantly higher (6 times). By integrating ground observation data and satellite retrieval products and following the dust grade standard of China, the consistent correction of sand–dust weather phenomena was carried out. This laid the foundation for the future development of international dust grade standards and provided technological support for improved dust forecasting services in the Asian region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although several studies suggested considering gender in online learning, the literature about how male and female students would behave is fragmented. Little attention has been paid to the effect of gender on online learning behavioural patterns. This study aimed at investigating the roles of gender in online learning behaviours by analyzing the gender-related differences of students' online learning behavioural patterns. We used the case study approach with descriptive statistical analysis, lag sequential analysis, and temporal log data analysis to investigate gender-related differences in students' online learning behaviours. The results indicated no significant difference in the counts of occurrence of online single learning behaviours between female and male students. However, differences were observed in online learning behaviour patterns and how the online learning activities were performed over time. Females were more active in learning behaviours associated with achievement reports and peer list viewing. They tended to view their achievement reports before starting the main course learning activities, indicating that female students might be achievement-oriented. The findings provide further insights from a temporal perspective about how gender is associated with online learning. Implications on designing personalized online learning interventions based on considering gender-related differences are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining large-scale characteristics of the difference between ground surface temperature (GST) and surface air temperature (SAT) and its long-term trend will help understand land surface energy exchange and the effect of land-atmosphere interaction on climate change and variability. Based on a homogenized monthly dataset of GST and SAT from 1961 to 2018, this study analyzes the spatial distribution and long-term trend of the difference between ground surface temperature and surface air temperature (GST–SAT) in the warm season (April to October) over China mainland. The results show that the warm-season mean GST–SAT in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the northwestern deserts have the largest GST–SAT. On average, the GST–SAT in China is the greatest in summer, with the maximum monthly value occurring in July. During 1961–2018, the warm-season mean GST–SAT undergoes a significant increasing trend (0.04 °C/10yr, p < 0.01), with the largest increase seen in mid-late spring (April and May), and the smallest increase in August. Spatially, the GST–SAT increases significantly in the northern region, decreases slightly in the southern region, and remains unchanged in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The warm-season mean GST–SAT is significantly positively correlated with altitude and sunshine duration (R = 0.50, 0.40; p < 0.05), and significantly negatively correlated with relative humidity and precipitation (R = 0.48, −0.42; p < 0.05), in the country on a whole in the analysis period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of online education requires high-quality online teaching. Teachers' satisfaction with online teaching is of great significance for improving online teaching effectiveness. This study was to explore the primary school teachers' online teaching satisfaction during the spread of COVID-19 from Shanghai, who have experienced online teaching, and explore whether there were differences of teachers' online teaching satisfaction in subject and educational level. 939 teachers from Shanghai participated in the study. The non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test of variance were performed. Results showed that teachers' online teaching satisfaction was at a high level. Moreover, there was a significant difference in teachers' subject and educational level on online teaching satisfaction. In terms of subject differences of teachers, there were significant differences in resource suitability (RS) among teachers of different subjects. Therefore, it is recommended that each subject should develop the online teaching resources to support teachers' online teaching. In terms of the differences in teachers' educational levels, there were no significant differences between the satisfaction of college-level teachers on non-technical variables such as content selectivity (CS) and teachers with undergraduate and graduate degrees, and only on technical variables such as self-efficacy (SE), resource suitability (RS), ease of use (EU), and intention to use (IU). Given the national context in China, the difference in educational levels may be more reflected in the age of the teachers. For teachers with college educational level, due to their older age, rather than simply enhancing motivation and improving learning ability to increase online teaching satisfaction, emphasis should be placed on providing appropriate teaching service support to help improve online teaching effectiveness. The findings provide new empirical evidence, strategies and Chinese experience for promoting teachers' online teaching satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arid Zone Research / Ganhanqu Yanjiu is the property of Arid Zone Research Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article reports on perceptions of audiencing – the active roles of witnessing and validating involving physical expressivity – raised by a selection of foreign musicians in relation to their experiences of performing rock and related genres in China. It highlights the connections between embodied dimensions of face-to-face musical experiences and the lenses of national difference and sameness bound up in debates over the colonial implications of "intercultural" musical encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this study aims to compare the scale level average scores of Dark Triad personality in China and the USA, as well as the correlation differences between three subscales of dark personality. The present study examined Dark Triad personality perceptions, and three big adult samples are selected in China and the USA separately (N1 = 507, N2 = 925, N3 = 1251). They all finished the Short Dark Triad (SD3) personality scale in paper-pencil or online format. Descriptive statistics of two comparison samples are presented. We took classical NHST and Bayesian method to test the cultural differences on scale scores. In Bayesian statistics, the results are relatively reliable. There are significant differences between China and the USA samples on narcissism and psychopathy, East get higher scores. China participants get lower scores than the USA on Machiavellianism. For the intercorrelations of subscales, some values and patterns are different significantly. Moreover, the results should be replicated in more research. The limitations and future directions of the present study also be discussed at the end of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Given the men's predominance in the prevalence of chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH), we investigated the relationship between sex differences and clinical features of CSDH. Methods: We retrieved a large collection of clinical factors from CSDH patients between August 2011 and May 2019, and analyzed the differences and similarities in the clinical data and outcomes between men and women. Results: In total 1,307 CSDH patients were enrolled in this study. When we did not account for age, a greater proportion of women relative to men manifested diabetes (p = 0.001) and cardiac disease (p = 0.035) prior to the onset of CSDH. Regarding recovery outcome and recurrence rate, we observed no significant differences between men and women. The sole difference between women and men after surgery was that women experienced more complications than men (p = 0.044), and both length of hospital stay (p < 0.001, B = 0.159, Exp [B] = 1.172, 95% CI = 1.078–1.274) and the presence of cardiac disease (p = 0.002, B = 2.063, Exp [B] = 7.867, 95% CI = 2.167–28.550) were identified as independent risk factors. After accounting for age, women with CSDH exhibited more frequent disorders of consciousness at admission than men in group of ≤ 40-year-old patients (p = 0.018), while proportion of women with diabetes was higher than that of men in 41–79 year-old group (p < 0.001). However, women after surgery experienced more complications (p = 0.047), longer length of hospital stays (p = 0.005), and higher mortality at discharge (p = 0.035) than men in middle-aged group. Finally, length of hospital stay (p < 0.001, B = 0.186, Exp [B] = 1.205, 95% CI = 1.091–1.331) and cardiac disease (p = 0.017, B = 2.040, Exp [B] = 7.693, 95% CI = 1.430–41.372) impacted occurrence of complications in women 41–79-year-old, while duration of drainage catheter use (p < 0.001, B = 1.132, beta = 0.280) and complications (p < 0.001, B = 5.615, beta = 0.366) were identified as independent risk factors for length of hospital stay in the same group of women. Conclusions: Although sex differences did not constitute a crucial factor in all the CSDH patients, we still need to pay closer attention to disparities between men and women with respect to complications, length of hospital stay, and mortality at discharge in the various age groups (particularly with respect to 41–79 year-old women patients), to provide satisfactory management and treatment of CSDH patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Shipin Kexue/ Food Science is the property of Food Science Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The yearly tornado occurrence in China is approximately 5–10% of that in the United States, and the peak month of tornado occurrence in China is July, while that in the United States is May. However, the two countries have nearly the same land area and similar latitudinal location. This study attempts to disclose the differences in the key tornadic environments that are most possibly responsible for the large discrepancy of tornado occurrences observed between the two countries. The region with the highest tornado density in China (JS) is compared with three similarly sized regions in the United States, including two tornado‐prone regions (UC and USE1) and one region similar to JS (USE2). The results show that JS has a much lower tornado frequency than UC and USE1, mainly due to JS's much lower likelihood of multiple tornadoes occurring in a short period during its tornado season. Compared with UC and USE1, JS features relatively low mean values of the significant tornado parameter (STP) during their respective tornado seasons. The STP, incorporating several tornado‐related variables, was found to show a monotonic relationship with the total tornado count at a seasonal scale and perform well to explain monthly variations in tornado frequencies. Compared with the target regions in the United States, JS has a similar magnitude and decreasing trend of the 0–6‐km vertical wind shear from spring to summer, but a later increase in instability. Resulting from a balance between the decreasing vertical shear and the increasing thermodynamic instability, JS features a delayed monthly peak of STP and thus a delayed tornado season, which makes JS having a worse kinematic environment for tornadogenesis with far lower low‐level vertical wind shear during its tornado season than that of the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Administrative division is an important means of political power reorganization and management, resource integration and optimal allocation, which profoundly shapes the spatial layout of urban development in China. To clarify and compare differences between counties, county-level cities and municipal districts is the primary premise for the study of administrative division and urban development. This paper analyzes the institutional differences between counties and county-level cities, as well as counties, county-level cities and municipal districts, from the aspects of organizational structure, urban construction planning, land management, finance, taxation and public services. The research shows that the establishment of counties, county-level cities and municipal districts adapt to different levels and stages of economic and social development, and the conversion from county to county-level city and the conversion from county (or county-level city) to municipal district are both important transformation ways to change their administrative systems, which has different management system and operation pattern. At the same time, the transformation of county-level administrative region is also a “double-edged sword”, we should think about the administrative system as a whole to decide whether it should be adjusted, and effectively respond to the actual needs of local economic and social development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the background of "Internet plus," western countries have taken a lead in modernizing educational management technology to fit the times. The application of education management technology in China is in a period of rapid development. There are certain differences between China and western countries. In order to adapt to the intelligent trend of contemporary education management reform and improve the national macro education management level, there should be cross-cultural thinking on the differences in the development of educational management technology capabilities between China and the West. Based on the literature analysis of Chinese and Western education management technology and education management theory, and based on the research data of 8 domestic colleges and universities education management technology, we explored the development differences between China and the West in teaching evaluation, multimedia teaching, and teaching decision-making. The results showed that ideology, national conditions and technology are the main influencing factor of the differences in the development of educational management technology capabilities between China and the West. We need to create a cross-cultural education concept conflict, cross-cultural perspective to re-plan the teacher's positioning, and fundamentally change the concept of teachers to accept Western education management models in China. The application proportion of education management technology should be allocated based on the actual teaching situation, to increase the teaching utilization rate of multimedia equipment, and reduce unnecessary multimedia teaching. Data-driven intelligent teaching decision-making technology should be developed to guide teaching behavior scientifically and efficiently. Finally, we should construct a modern management system in line with national conditions, as well as narrow the gap between Chinese and western educational management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food safety and food quality are two closely related aspects of the food management system. The difference between the two is that one keeps consumers safe while the other keeps consumers satisfied. This study examined the differences in how consumers value food safety and food quality with a focus on the influence of loss aversion on one's psychological level and of income effect on one's socio-demographic level. Our findings indicate that loss aversion and income effect significantly influence the way consumers value food safety vs. quality labels when considering potential health risks and food price. High risk-averse and low-income consumers with strong loss aversion and a weak income effect show a higher demand for food safety labels as a way to ensure easy access to safety indications. Low risk-averse and high-income consumers with weak loss aversion and a strong income effect show a higher demand for food quality labels because they hope to gain more health benefits from high-quality food at good prices. This study provides insights that will assist public authorities and food industry in balancing food safety control and food quality improvement in order to meet the heterogeneous market demand changing alongside the transition of China's food consumption and production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relations between states are usually framed in human terms, from partners to rivals, enemies or allies, polities and persons appear to engage in cognate relationships. Yet whether or not official ties and relationships among people from those states actually correspond remains less clear. "Friendship," a term first applied to states in eighteenth-century Europe and mobilized in the (post)socialist world since the 1930s, articulates with particular clarity both the promise and the limitations of harmonized personal and state ties. Understandings of friendship vary interculturally, and invocations of state-state friendship may be accompanied by a distinct lack of amity among populations. Such is the case between China and Russia today, and this situation therefore raises wider questions over how we should understand interstate and interpersonal relationships together. Existing social scientific work has generally failed to locate either the everyday in the international or the international in the everyday. Focusing on both Chinese and Russian approaches to daily interactions in a border town and the official Sino-Russian Friendship, I thus suggest a new scalar approach. Applying this to the Sino-Russian case in turn reveals how specific contours of "difference" form a pivot around which relationships at both scales operate. This study thus offers both comparison between Chinese and Russian friendships, and a lens for wider comparative work in a global era of shifting geopolitics and cross-border encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: High-risk human papilloma virus (hrHPV) is the main causal factor of cervical precancer and cancer when persistent infection is left untreated. Previous studies have confirmed the vaginal microbiota is associated with HPV infection and the development of cervical lesions. The microbiota at different parts of the female genital tract is closely related but different from each other. To analyze the distinction between the vaginal and cervical microbiota of hrHPV(+) women in China, one hundred subjects were recruited, including 10 patients with HPV16/18(+) and cervical carcinoma, 38 patients with HPV16/18(+) but no cervical carcinoma, 32 patients with other hrHPV(+) and 20 healthy controls with HPV(−). Vaginal and cervical microbiota were separately tested through next-generation sequencing (NGS) targeting the variable region (V3-V4) of the bacterial ribosome 16S rRNA gene. Results: HrHPV(+) subjects had higher percentages of vaginal douching history (P = 0.001), showed more frequent usage of sanitary pads (P = 0.007), had more sex partners (P = 0.047), were more sexually active (P = 0.025) and more diversed in ways of contraception (P = 0.001). The alpha diversity of the cervical microbiota was higher than that of the vagina. The cervical microbiota consisted of a lower percentage of Firmicutes and a higher percentage of Proteobacteria than the vagina at the phylum level. Sphingomonas, belonging to α-Proteobacteria, was almost below the detection limit in the vagina but accounted for five to 10 % of the bacteria in the hrHPV(−) cervix (P<0.001) and was inversely associated with hrHPV infection (P<0.05). Pseudomonas, belonging to γ-Proteobacteria, could hardly be seen in the normal vagina and shared a small percentage in the normal cervix but was significantly higher in the HPV16/18(+) (P<0.001) and cancerous cervix (P<0.05). No significant difference was shown in the percentage of BV associated anaerobes, like Gardnerella, Prevotella, Atopobium and Sneathia, between the cevix and vigina. Conclusions: The proportion of Proteobacteria was significantly higher in the cervical microbiota than that of vagina. The hrHPV infection and cervical cancer was positively associated with Pseudomonas and negatively associated with Sphingomonas. It is of great improtance to deeply explore the cervical microbiota and its function in cervical cacinogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective】 In this paper, the vegetation coverage of the research area for the period 2000 - 2017 was calculated by using the veg¬ etation index product (MODIS13QI) with spatial resolution of 250 meters and 16 days synthesis.【Method】 The spatial and temporal charac¬teristics of vegetation cover in the northern foothills of the central part of Tianshan, China were studied by using differential analysis in the past 18 years, and the annual and quarterly vegetation cover area was evaluated using the quantitative evaluation model of change trend.【Re- suit】 The results showed that the spatial characteristics of vegetation coverage in the northern foot of the central Tianshan Mountains gradually increased from the north to the middle to the south % The intensity of spatial changes in vegetation growth was gradually reduced fromsummer to autumn to spring. In the quantitative evaluation of annual dynamic changes in vegetation coverage, the degree of degradation was: summer spring > autumn % the annual degraded area accounted for 0. 27 % of tlie total area% The stable area of -0. 1 -0. 1 was： spring > au¬tumn > summer, annual stable area covered 84.46 % of tlie whole area% The improvement areas greater than 0. 1 were： summer > autumn spring, and the annual improvement area accounts for 15 . 27 % of the entire area. The change of the non-significant area was as follows: spring > summer > autumn, and the annual non-significant vegetation area was 64.39 % % the apparent increase trend was： summer autumn > spring, and the annual increase in area accounts for 29 . 13 %. 【Conclusion 】Through quantitative evaluation of the temporal and spatial changes of vegetation cover， the 3 value and the corresponding degree of vegetation change are defined. The seasonal vegetation cover area decreases from strong to weak and appears as ： spring > autumn > summer % The investigation of annual and quarterly vegetation dynamic changes in the study area provides a certain theoretical basis and data support for vegetation and ecological environmental protection in the northem foot of tlie central Tianshan mountains [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yangtze River and the Yellow River are located in the south and north of China respectively. They are considered the two sources of Chinese civilization. For thousands of years, the cultures of the two river basins have merged, thus forming the five thousand years of Chinese civilization. Despite this long integration, the two cultures have maintained their distinct personality. Vernacular dwellings are no exception. This paper researches the architectural decoration of traditional vernacular dwellings in these two basins. After field investigations, a total of 308 examples of traditional vernacular dwellings have been selected from the two regions. 186 examples are located in the Yangtze River basin and 122 examples in the Yellow River basin. The architectural decoration of these traditional vernacular dwellings is examined from the aspects of brick carvings, wood carvings, stone carvings, oil paintings and colour paintings. The focus of this study is the identification of decorative variances in the architectural decoration of these traditional vernacular dwellings due to regional influences. Attempts were made to ascertain the reasons for these differences, in terms of geography, climate, politics, technology and folk customs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study discussed the division of matrix- and fracture-type shale oils in the Jiyang Depression, and proposed the concept of fracture development coefficient. The fracture development coefficient is defined as the ratio of fault throw to the distance between a shale oil well and the nearest fault. Based on CO2 content, state of water, oil production and logging response of shale oil formations, the classification of shale oils was established, Le., a fracture-type shale oil well has a fracture development coefficient greater than 0.2, while a matrix-type one has a fracture development coefficient less than 0.2. Furthermore, the key control factors of matrix- and fracture-type shale oil enrichment were analyzed using typical anatomical and statistical methods. For matrix-type shale oil enrichment, these factors are lithofacies, total organic carbon (TOC), shale porosity and abnormal pressure; for fracture-type shale oil enrichment, they are lithofacies, extent of fracture development, and abnormal pressure. This study also first described the differences between matrix- and fracture-type shale oils. The results provide reference for the exploration of terrestrial faulted basins in eastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of changes in urban construction land and driving forces of urban agglomerations in China. First, the urban construction land areas and the urban construction land areas per ten thousand persons were compared in the Jing-Jin-Ji urban agglomeration, the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, and the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration from 2000 to 2008. Second, a dynamic degree model was used to express changes in urban construction land areas at different periods and to present the spatial traits of the changes using geography information system software (9.0). Furthermore, cointegrated relationship analysis and the Granger causality test were adopted to analyze the correlation between urban construction land area and the influential factors. The conclusions are that (1) the periodicity of urban construction land area increase in the three urban agglomerations is obvious, and the rate of increase before 2005 was higher than after 2005 for all three urban agglomerations; (2) the difference in dynamic degree was significant among the different periods, and the dynamic degrees were the largest at the beginning of the total period. There was an obvious difference in the urban distribution of higher dynamic degree in each urban agglomeration; (3) all three urban agglomerations displayed highly significant correlations between the urban construction land area and the influential factors, and there were significant differences in the factor distribution and influential direction of Granger causality at the certain probability; and (4) the relationship of the Granger causality at a lag of 2 was more obvious than at a lag of 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay deploys the joint lenses of branding and space to examine the hegemonic operation of the Apple brand in the global culture industry. It does so by analyzing China’s ‘fake Apple Store’ event in 2011, which began with an American expat blogger’s discovery and subsequently caught the attention of global news media. While copying the look of an official Apple Store, these retailers displayed and sold genuine products originally assembled in China. Probing the cultural logic that gave rise to the event, I argue that China’s ‘fake’ Apple Store emblematizes the power relations and subject positions that emanate from Apple’s global hegemony. The Apple Store, as a branded environment, is best seen as a heterotopia whose interpellating mechanism relies on the extensive-intensive character of the intellectual property rights (IPR) regime. While China’s copycat Apple Store can be seen as an attempt at a production of sameness, the ‘user-generated’ charge of its ‘fakery’ stems from the ‘distributed’ power of the Apple brand, which operates through a production of difference. Even though the varied responses to the event (on the part of Chinese authorities and Apple, the brand owner) reveal the contradiction within Apple’s extensive global reach, it more importantly points to a condition wherein consumer turned ‘prod-user’ subjects act as self-enlisted agents who work to perpetuate the brand’s design-intensive value regime. While the spectacle of ‘Chinese fakery’ manifests the ideological work of IPR in naturalizing the distinction between the copy and the fake, the extensive-intensive operation of the brand, embodied by the Apple Store, also undermines the ability of consumer subjects to meaningfully engage the ‘Chinese reality’ that is manufacturing labor. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the reform and opening up, China's economic development has made great achievements, but it did not benefit all. The income gap among the famers expanded continuously, which not only exacerbated the problem of rural poverty and weakened the income growth of farmers, but also seriously affect the harmony and stability for the sustainable development of Chinese economy and society. This paper firstly analyzed by income decision equation cross-section data collected from 566 households of sample survey in Jiangsu, He'nan and Sichuan Provinces and determined the major factors affecting the farmer households' incomes. Secondly, it analyzed the contribution of each significant factor on the income differences between households by Shapley value decomposition. The results showed that the average outdoor-work time of household labor force during a year was the most important factor affecting households' income increase and differences in between. And the average education years of labors took the second place. Based on the above mentioned results, this paper suggested that speeding up the development of non-agricultural industries in rural areas, increasing the non-agricultural employment opportunities, adding financial input to rural education, and providing equal access to education and training to farmers will sustainably increase farmers' incomes, and reduce the differences between farmers incomes at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we investigate the cultural imageries of place and their relation to the politics of difference within China's emerging space of modernity. Using a case study of the place politics in Xiaozhou Village, Guangzhou, we consider how particular subject positions in relation to the ideologies of modernity and rurality shape particular imaginative structures of place and cognitive mappings of social relations. We argue that Massey's theory of a global sense of place needs to include a dimension concerning how concrete subject positions can be negotiated and challenged in the imagination of place. We also contend for a face-to-face politics of difference to analyze the anxieties and tensions between particularized subject positions. In concluding this paper we also suggest that the political potential of this model of place politics lies in its recognition that, while conflicts which are grounded in place-based social relations will not vanish, place should not to be mobilized as a citadel within which an enclosed subjectivity is protected from the interference of otherness. Thus the Other is also ascribed with the political potential to reproduce the cognitive mapping of the lifeworld of mine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this article we investigate local citizens’ place politics and discourses of place identity during the 2010 language conflict in Guangzhou, China. Drawing on geographical scholarship on the relational construction of place and the progressive politics of difference, we conceptualize place as an assemblage of trans-local connections and disparate trajectories which constitute the radical hybridity of any particular place. In concretizing a relational rethinking of place into a local politics of difference, we suggest that Doreen Massey’s thesis of a global sense of place provides an important epistemological basis for destabilizing the normative local/non-local boundary in order to realize a relational constitution of place-based cultural identity and subjectivity. Based on a social and political campaign against state-led hegemonic language standardization, the 2010 language conflict in Guangzhou is a socially and culturally constructed process in which the Guangzhou locals’ imagination and representation of place and identity are reproduced within a local geometry of social relations involving the state language policy, the local community and the city’s migrant population. Both exclusionary and progressive discourses of place identities have been articulated in this process of re-negotiation and re-imagination of place-based identities. This paper acknowledges that some place-bounded politics may demonstrate a counter-hegemonic dimension and are therefore not inherently regressive. But we also contend that any place politics needs to ask which elements are to be welcomed and which can be excluded in a fluid regime of politics within specific networks of social relations. The cultural boundary of insiders/outsiders must be constantly re-negotiated and rendered relational with the attentiveness to ethical responsibility towards otherness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Focused on the characteristic of coal seam in southern Qinshui Basin and analysis on the process and difference of production from one group well, the conclusions are shown that: in different group single-well, the gas production has a large change, production effect has obvious difference, water production capacity is also difference; in the process of CBM production, in order to avoid sand is brought out and compression-sensitivity, the production intensity and institutional adjustment are not be too large and frequent. Using different working system in different stages of CBM production, in the early stage is mainly drainage, the core of working system is controlled by the fluid level; in the medium-late stage is mainly gas production, the core of working system is controlled by the casing pressure (bottom hole flowing pressure). In the process of CBM production, on the premise of keeping a certain back pressure and ensuring coal seam security, as possible as decreases casing pressure to product in order to decrease the average pressure of coal seam, enlarge the range of CBM adsorption and get high gas production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to focus on the differences of physical condition between China National Level Social Sports Instructor and the Coeval. Methods: Test the vital capacity, step test, reacting time, crook before the seat body, grip strength, eye-closed and single-legged standing. The results were compared between experimental group and control group. Results: compared with control group, cardio-respiratory function of experimental group was obviously better (P<0.05). The flexibility, static balance ability and the grip strength of experimental male were obviously better (P<0.05). The static balance ability of experimental female was very obviously better (P<0.01). But the flexibility and static balance ability of the experimental female didn’t have obviously discrepancy (P>0.05). The reacting time between the two groups didn’t have obviously discrepancy. Conclusion: The physical conditions of National Level Social Sports Instructor are obviously better than the coeval, which is the important factor to conduct the instruction process of social sports. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background: The migration of registered nurses as a response to a global nurse shortage has seen a growth in research interest in this area. Much of the research focuses on differences in language and culture which are posed as the attributes of the immigrant nurse. Objectives: In reporting on an analysis of data drawn from China-educated nurses working in the Australian health care system, this paper explores the social construction of difference and the related intersection of difference and racialisation. Design: A symbolic interactionist approach informed 46 in-depth interviews with 28 China-educated nurses. The method of analysis was initial and focused coding and constant comparison of data. The focus of interpretation was on human action and interaction as contextual and thus structural factors were critical to the analysis. Results: Two levels of meaning were depicted in this study: difference as “you are you and I am I” and difference as “incompetence”. Negative meanings were ascribed to difference which in turn legitimised inequality and held the potential to perpetuate racism. Conclusions: We argue that it is problematic to conceptualise difference as individual attributes. Difference needs to be contextualised and thus explored as a complex and socially constructed concept that in its application has social and political implications for immigrant nurses in Australia and elsewhere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study uses discourse theory to explore the teaching identities of a group of mainland Chinese pre-service teachers of English in a teacher education institute in Hong Kong. Exploring how the teaching identities are discursively constructed, the study reaches two conclusions. First, that the pre-service teachers negotiate their own positions within multiple positionings from peers, students on the teaching practicum and the broader enterprise of professional language teaching in Hong Kong; and second, that they discursively construct their teaching identity as English language teachers with particular linguistic and cultural backgrounds to gain legitimacy. The study extends understandings of the interconnected relations of discourse and identity in such contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ginseng is a precious traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Different parts of ginseng are deemed to have different medicinal values and properties. Rapid and non-destructive methods, such as diffuse reflectance near-infrared spectroscopy (DR-NIR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with attenuated total reflectance (ATR-FTIR), were used to evaluate the differences of epidermis, phloem and xylem in ginseng, respectively. Samples were grounded into 200-mesh fine powder or cut into slices with about 2mm thickness for DR-NIR and ATR-FTIR spectra measurement, respectively. To explore the classifications between different parts of ginseng, the spectra of DR-NIR and ATR-FTIR were pretreated to calculate first derivative and then was analyzed with principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA results of DR-NIR spectra indicate that epidermis and xylem part of ginseng have distinct difference, and even different positions of epidermis or xylem part show regular and gradual differences. ATR-FTIR spectra directly show that three parts of ginseng are different at 2920, 2852, 1736 and 925.7cm−1 peaks, especially for epidermis of ginseng. The PCA results of ATR-FTIR spectra yield clear classifications of the three parts of ginseng. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A large number of studies have been carried out on second/foreign language learners’ identities, but there seems to be insufficient research on the constitutive effect of discourse on L2 learners’ identities, especially among English learners in China. Informed by discourse theory, this study explored how college students’ identities were discursively constructed in and through their English learning experiences. This study identified the discursive strategies of establishing oppositions and differences that the students adopted in identity construction as they interacted within the specific learning community, the surrounding social environment and an imagined global community. The paper starts by discussing the constructs that guide the study and then provides an interpretation of the extracts from interviews and diary studies in a way that takes account of the socio-cultural context in which the investigation takes place. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Intercultural communication is a field which concentrates on the study of the relationship between communication and culture. To create harmonious communication in relationships among people from diverse cultures is of vital importance to successful intercultural communication. While the traditional Chinese notion of "harmony" underscores the value of difference, reconciliation and creation, it can provide the field with new and illuminating resources. resources. [China Media Research. 2009; 5(1): 55-58] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What type of ecotourism in China should be advocated so as to keep its own distinctive locality, while accepting the Western concept of ecotourism? Many scholars have their own opinions and answers to this question. The article attempts an answer by analysing the differences in ecotourism between China and the West. There are some similarities, but more differences, in the ecological values between China and the West in history: Westerners tended to claim man and nature are separate, whereas ancient Chinese traditionally conceived of them within a unity. Influenced by ecological values, Western ecotourism paradigms emphasise the natural attributes, whereas Chinese consider the unity of nature and human. Thus, both mass ecotourists separated from mass tourists and elite ecotourists comprise the initial group of Chinese ecotourists. Although the ecological value of 'the unity of man and Heaven' born in ancient China was seldom put into social practice, today's mass ecotourism, which is similar to Western sustainable tourism, still holds the idea as an indigenous form of ecotourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well-known that Dasheng Group founded by Zhang Jian and Rongshi Group founded by Rongshi brothers were the two earliest, largest and most important private enterprises in modern China. Both the groups began in the late of the nineteenth century, located in the south of Jiangsu Province. Originally Dasheng Group was much stronger than Rongshi Group. However, with decades of frustrations and tortuousness, Dasheng Group has come down the world, yet Rongshi Group has increasingly become prosperous. This paper reveals the causes of their prosperity and decay by making a profound contrast of the two groups from their respective development strategies, marketing tactics, managing systems, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Logic is shared by the human, but the logical system has the characteristics of the era, nation, and individual. When we analyze the logic systems of ancient China, India and Greece, we should not merely pay close attention to the common ground, but recognize the difference all the more. The article discusses the differences of the logic ratiocination of the three ancient nations and the impact caused by the difference on the thinking methods and national cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of China's manufacturing industry is still facing the challenge of regional imbalance. To solve the problem of development imbalance, it is necessary to realize regional development. First, we must analyze the development characteristics of different regions. To this end, we consider the requirements of the new development era and design an evaluation index system for the high-quality development level of the manufacturing industry from the dimensions of innovation, green, and efficiency. Then construct a novel hybrid model which combines the grey incidence clustering model and AP algorithm for panel data in this paper. According to the statistical data from 2014 to 2018, we find out the high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry is characterized by obvious regional differences, different development stages and different constraints.

This paper focuses on the difference in inter-group and intra-group price of Yesso scallop (Patinopecten yessoensis) and the simulation accuracy of three different exponential smoothing models in the price. Based on the farm-gate price and wholesale price data of P. yessoensis in Changhai county from January 2017 to December 2018, this study uses the Wilcoxon rank sum test to compare the inter- and intra-group price and applies simple exponential smoothing (SES), Holt's linear trend method, and Holt-Winters' additive method to simulate and predict the price. The results suggest that (i) to improve economic benefits, it is necessary to formulate reasonable farming area and establish low-density ecological cultivation mode; (ii) the price's Akaike information criterion (AIC) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) values by the SES model are optimal, and the MAPE value is lower than 4%; and (iii) the result of SES analysis shows no obvious change from January to March 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chilo suppressalis is a widespread rice pest that poses a major threat to food security in China. This pest can develop resistance to Cry toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), threatening the sustainable use of insect-resistant transgenic Bt rice. However, the molecular basis for the resistance mechanisms of C. suppressalis to Cry1C toxin remains unknown. This study aimed to identify genes associated with the mechanism of Cry1C resistance in C. suppressalis by comparing the midgut transcriptomic responses of resistant and susceptible C. suppressalis strains to Cry1C toxin and to provide information for insect resistance management. Results: A C. suppressalis midgut transcriptome of 139,206 unigenes was de novo assembled from 373 million Illumina HiSeq and Roche 454 clean reads. Comparative analysis identified 5328 significantly differentially expressed unigenes (DEGs) between C. suppressalis Cry1C-resistant and -susceptible strains. DEGs encoding Bt Cry toxin receptors, aminopeptidase-P like protein, the ABC subfamily and alkaline phosphatase were downregulated, suggesting an association with C. suppressalis Cry1C resistance. Additionally, Cry1C resistance in C. suppressalis may be related to changes in the transcription levels of enzymes involved in hydrolysis, digestive, catalytic and detoxification processes. Conclusion: Our study identified genes potentially involved in Cry1C resistance in C. suppressalis by comparative transcriptome analysis. The assembled and annotated transcriptome data provide valuable genomic resources for further study of the molecular mechanisms of C. suppressalis resistance to Cry toxins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background : At present, whether to use the World Health Organization's (WHO) growth standards or native growth standards to assess the nutritional status in a given population is unclear. This study aimed to compare the differences between the WHO's growth standards and China's growth standards in assessing the nutritional status of children aged 0~36 months. Methods : We used z-scores to evaluate the nutritional status of children. The weight-for-age z-scores (WAZs), length/height-for-age z-scores (LAZ/HAZs), and weight-for-length/height z-scores (WLZ/WHZs) were calculated using the WHO's growth standards and China's growth standards. MeNemar's test was used to compare the nutritional status of children. Results : The results in this study showed that there were differences between the WHO's standards and China's standards in assessing children's nutritional status except for stunting and obesity. The prevalence of underweight assessed using China's standards was higher than when using the WHO's standards (except when 3 and 36 months old). The prevalence of wasting was significantly higher when assessed using China's standards than when using the WHO's standards from 12 to 36 months. The prevalence of overweight was higher when assessed using the WHO's standards from 3 to 8 months. Conclusions : Both the WHO's and China's growth standards are useful measures in assessing children's nutritional status but with key significant differences. Therefore, caution should be taken in selecting appropriate measures in a given population.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the differences between two typical payment methods for the new rural cooperative medical scheme (NRCMS) in China on the utilisation of inpatient services. Interrupted time-series analysis (ITSA) and propensity score matching (PSM) were used to measure the difference between two typical payment methods for the NRCMS with regard to the utilisation of inpatient services. After the reform was formally implemented, the level and slope difference after reform compared with pre-intervention (distribution of inpatients in county hospitals (DIC), distribution of inpatients in township hospitals (DIT) and the actual compensation ratio of inpatients (ARCI)) were not statistically significant. Kernel matching obtained better results in reducing the mean and median of the absolute standardised bias of covariates of appropriateness of admission (AA), appropriateness of disease (AD). The difference in AA and AD of the matched inpatients between two groups was -0.03 ( p -value = 0.042, 95% CI: -0.08 to 0.02) and 0.21 ( p -value < 0.001, 95% CI: -0.17 to 0.25), respectively. The differences in the utilisation of inpatient services may arise owing to the system designs of different payment methods for NRCMS in China. The causes of these differences can be used to guide inpatients to better use medical services, through the transformation and integration of payment systems.

Green technology innovation is an important means to break out of the constraints of resources and the environment, enhance the competitiveness of enterprises, and achieve the upgrading of industrial structures, and promote high-quality economic growth. In order to realize the overall improvement of the green technology innovation capability of Chinese enterprises, it is necessary to measure the efficiency of industrial enterprises' green technology innovation and explore their regional differences. In this paper, from the perspective of a two-stage innovation value chain, by introducing the industrial carbon emissions per unit of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the "three wastes" pollutants into the research framework of green technology innovation efficiency, we established a novel green innovation efficiency evaluation indicator system for industrial enterprises. Furthermore, we used a two-stage network DEA with shared input to measure the efficiency of regional enterprises' green technology innovation and explored the regional differences in industrial enterprises' green technology R&D and the efficiency of green technology achievement transformation. Finally, we provide some suggestions for improving China's industrial enterprises' green innovation efficiency, so that they can ameliorate the significant regional imbalances and differences and realize high-quality economic growth.

The differences in the spatial distribution of regional Chinese material medicine resources between regions are determined by differences in natural conditions and social resources among different regions. Spatiotemporal evolution of the distribution of Chinese material medicine resources is a manifestation of the development process of Chinese medicine industry in time and space. The spatiotemporal evolution of the distribution of regional Chinese material medicine resources can reveal the regularity of spatial distribution of Chinese material medicine resources. County as the basic unit of the national material medicine resources census, the difference of resource endowment is of great significance to the rational development of Chinese material medicine resources policy and the coordinated development of regional resources and environment. Based on the results of the pilot project of Jilin province, this study selected 51 counties that had completed the census of Chinese material medicine resources. According to the species of Chinese material medicine resources, we explored the diversity of Chinese material medicine resources in Jilin province by using statistical data analysis (ESDA), trend surface analysis and spatial variability function to analyze the spatial differences of Chinese material medicine resources. Chinese material medicine resources are distributed in the eastern and southeastern part of Jilin province, mostly in the Changbai Mountains. The species of Chinese material medicine resources tend to be low-value spatial aggregation; the overall cold spots are located in Changchun and Jilin city, near the administrative center, mostly urban built-up area. The rich areas of Chinese material medicine resources are rich in hot spots, mainly in broad-leaved forest. The low-abundance of Chinese material medicine resources is dominated by cultivated vegetation., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.)