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China enacted its Deep Seabed Mining Law in 2016 and promulgated the provisional measures for deep-sea data and sample management under Article 18 of the Deep Seabed Mining Law in 2017. After the institutional reforms in 2018, China entered a new era of ocean governance. This article presents a critical assessment of the provisional measures issued by the former State Oceanic Administration and proposes recommendations for the revisions of the provisional measures. Part one of this article introduces the background and briefly describes the purpose of this article. Part two provides an overview of the provisional measures for deep-sea data and sample management. Part three delivers a critical analysis of these provisional measures, demonstrating the flaws that the current provisional measures suffer. Part four proposes recommendations for the revision of the provisional measures, suggesting that an integrated data and sample management measure with a higher legal hierarchy should be promulgated by the Ministry of Natural Resources and that a streamlined regulatory framework for deep-sea data and sample management should be adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The volume of pork meat production is continuously growing in the EU over previous years due to lower food prices, higher number of reproduction sows and increased volume of pork exports to China. Consumer choices toward pork meat depend on culture, place of residence and social opportunities, as well as their perception regarding safety and quality of pork meat/meat products. The main biological hazards associated with pork meat/meat products important from the public health perspective are zoonotic food borne pathogens, bacteria and/or parasites, e.g. Salmonella spp., Yersinia enterocolitica, Listeria monocytogenes, Trichinella spp., Toxoplasma gondii and Verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC), by decreasing order, including associated antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Pathways of infection and contamination of pork meat differ, taking into consideration the multiple entry routes for zoonotic biological hazards along the pork meat chain, from farm to the final product. Therefore, the defined level of safety of pork meat/meat products should be achieved by synergistic action of control measures effectively applied at different points along the pork meat chain and supported by the integrated risk-based food (meat) safety management system in major modules of the meat chain: pre-harvest (farm), harvest (slaughterhouse), post-harvest (meat processing, distribution, retail, consumers), as well as identification and traceability. The integrated meat safety management system should be based on good hygienic practices (GHP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) encompassing the science based hazard analysis and risk characterization, as well as identifying the most effective control options and risk mitigation strategies in the pork meat chain continuum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cadmium (Cd) has high rates of soil-to-plant transference, coupled with its non-biodegradability and persistence; long-term management of Cd in agriculture is thus required to ensure better soil and food security and safety. Identifications of regions with high soil Cd concentration or high dietary Cd intakes are critical public health priorities. Human health risk assessment for dietary Cd intake was thus undertaken by employing three approaches: FCA (food chain approach), TDA (total diet approach), and FQA (food quality approach). The correlation between green/total vegetable consumption rates and dietary Cd intake from vegetables was statistically significant. For consumption, the hazard quotients (HQs) calculated by FCA and TDA were all less than 1 except for Hunan and Sichuan province. For rice consumption, the HQs derived by FCA or TDA approach for eight provinces exceeded 1. Residents in Hubei, Guangxi, Jilin, Zhejiang, Liaoning, Shanghai, Sichuan, and Guangxi were more vulnerable due to their notable higher consumption rates.Weighted rankings of the health risk levels were determined to derive the comparative risk management priority. For Cd intake from vegetables, four provinces/cities have high relative priority; for Cd intake from grains, three provinces have high relative priority. The comparative risk management priority for Hunan and Sichuan was high for dietary intake from vegetables or rice. Weighted average HQs were derived to determine the integrated dietary Cd intake health risk levels for dietary intake from vegetables or grains. The risk levels for Hunan, Guangxi, Sichuan, and Zhejiang are high, so effective measures should be taken to reduce Cd dietary intakes to ensure health protection.It is envisaged that the methodology employed in this study could provide useful insights into how various approaches can be integrated to determine human health risk levels for Cd intake, so more effective and targeted measures can be taken accordingly for the relevant regions., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Chinese urban planning has recently begun an institutional revolution that seeks to integrate plans drawn up by several ministries. Aimed at giving more coherence to public action, the process of integration, already technically complex, is confronted with a power struggle between administrations, making duoguiheyi difficult to implement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term mining activities have caused serious heavy metals contamination of farmland soils. In this study, we investigated the concentrations, distributions, accumulations, potential ecological risk, and sources of eight heavy metals in farmland soils of Pb-Zn mining areas. According to the soil standard GB15618-2018, Cd was the most contaminated, followed by Pb and Zn. The geo-accumulation index showed that Pb, Zn, Cd, and Hg accumulated seriously. The potential risk index indicated that Cd, Hg, and Pb were the main environmental risk elements. An integrated approach combining multivariate statistical analysis, PMF, and GIS mapping was used to analyze the sources of heavy metals. Four main sources were identified and quantified: (1) mining activities source, the main source of Cd (71.09%) and Zn (61.88%); (2) agricultural activities source, dominated by Hg (73.01%); (3) atmospheric deposition sources, with Pb (85.11%) as the main contributor; (4) natural source, characterized by Cr (72.96%), Ni (66.04%), As (55.98%) and Cu (37.70%). This study would help us understand the pollution characteristics and sources of farmland soils in mining areas and provide basic information for the next step of pollution control and remediation., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

As a characteristic new means for China to curb the excessive and disordered expansion of construction land, Construction Land Reduction (CLR) plays a significant role in achieving the sustainable use of land resources in economic, ecological and social terms. However, frequent value conflicts inevitably arise over diverse value appeals of various stakeholders throughout all phases of CLR projects, which has greatly impeded the effective implementation of CLR projects in China. To systematically recognize and strategically coordinate stakeholder value conflicts regarding multidimensional dynamic values under limited management resources and insufficient project experience, this study proposes an integrated SA (stakeholder analysis) - SNA (social network analysis) - TRIZ (theory of inventive problem solving) approach built on a systematic framework for stakeholder value conflict management. An empirical study on Shanghai's CLR projects is conducted to demonstrate the usefulness and effectiveness of the proposed approach. A total of 280 pairs of value conflicts over 53 value appeals of 11 stakeholders are identified during the four phases of CLR projects in the SA-based conflict identification process, with 4 key value appeals and 21 key value conflicts prioritized in the SNA-based criticality evaluation process. Through the TRIZ-based strategy proposal process, 31 targeted coordination strategies are proposed, from which six major managerial and policy implications for CLR can be distilled. Methodologically, this study contributes to conflict management research by providing an integrated SA-SNA-TRIZ approach with a novel systematic methodological framework. Practically, the research outcomes provide policy makers and practitioners with useful new insights into managing stakeholder value conflicts, thereby driving successful project implementation and facilitating sustainability practices. • A novel systematic methodological framework for stakeholder value conflict management. • A new integrated SA-SNA-TRIZ approach to recognize and coordinate stakeholder value conflicts. • An empirical study on Shanghai's Construction Land Reduction projects. • Managerial and policy recommendations for Construction Land Reduction practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flash drought is an extreme phenomenon, characterized by unusually rapid intensification of drought severity, with strong impacts on plant growth especially for crops. However, it's unclear how hydrometeorological changes contribute to flash drought and how vegetation physiology, greenness, and productivity respond to flash drought. In this study, we developed an multivariate integrated framework for flash drought identification using a regression model based on principal-components analysis (PCA): the PCA regression flash drought (PRFD) model. Three criteria are specified to emphasize the rapid intensification of drought and its impacts on vegetation growth and water resources. We applied our new model in two geographical units with different climates and hydrology: one is dominated by agriculture and subject to natural drought (the Loess Plateau) and the other, a natural region with infrequent drought (the Qinling Mountains). We found that high frequency of flash droughts is most likely to occur in the eastern and central Loess Plateau and part of the Qinling Mountains. However, in relatively humid areas, flash drought shows strong intensity such as the Qinling Mountains and western and eastern edges of the Loess Plateau. Trend analysis indicates that PRFD has increased frequency, longer duration, and stronger intensity since the 1990s in both regions. From an ecological perspective, PRFD also showed a spatial pattern consistent with values of vegetation-related proxies that were below the long-term average, demonstrating vegetation transpiration, normalized-difference vegetation index (NDVI), gross primary productivity have obvious feedback on flash drought events. The Loess Plateau's NDVI responded immediately to flash drought, versus a 1-month lag in the Qinling Mountains. Because our proposed framework integrates multiple aspects of drought information, it can be applied in areas outside the study region according to regional hydrometeorological conditions. This has significant implications for improving agricultural management and forecasting future severe impacts of flash drought on plant growth. • A new integrated framework is proposed to identify flash drought (FD) events. • FD with greater frequency, longer pentads, and stronger intensity since 1990s. • Vegetation structure and physiological function respond rapidly to FD. • The response time of plant activity to FD is different in diverse climate-water regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application of the super capacitor automobiles in a safe operational condition is significant and necessary, which has been a new energy strategy in China. As the traditional methods of safety analysis, FTA has no ability to describe dynamics and quantitative analysis of the accident, while ETA is restricted by the safety analysis of complex systems. This paper builds bridge for conversion between GTST-MLD and Petri net, for example, basic symbol, base type and 5 evolution routes of accident. The integrated approach is not only qualitatively describes the evolution of safety accident, but also combines with other factors such as time and probability of the evolutionary progress, and provides a more accurate quantitative result of safety assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Solar energy is receiving much more attention in building energy systems in recent years. Solar thermal utilization should be based on integration of solar collectors into buildings. The facades of buildings can be important solar collectors, and, therefore, become multifunctional. In addition, solar collectors can be used to enhance the appearance of the facade when considering their aesthetic compatibility. Currently, installation of collectors on the south tilted roofs, south walls, balconies or awnings of buildings are the feasible approaches for integration of solar collectors into buildings. The most well known solar energy demonstration projects in China are introduced in this paper, which cover different integrated approaches, and solar heating and cooling systems. In China''s cities, the process of rebuilding apartment roofs from flat to inclined offers the ideal opportunity to carry out solar renovation in combination with roof-integrated collectors. It can be seen from the demonstration projects over the last twenty years, that, solar cooling systems were mainly used in public buildings for either absorption or adsorption. Besides, nearly all solar cooling systems are multifunctional. They have been used to supply heating and hot water in other seasons for the purpose of high solar fraction. In the 11th Five-year research project (duration 2006–2010), the government has encouraged solar energy researchers to study, develop, and break through the key technologies involved in the integration of solar thermal technologies with buildings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents the major tourism management issues in Xishuangbanna Prefecture, with a focus on Xishuangbanna Biosphere Reserve. The paper emphasizes the integration of the social, economic and environmental goals for effective tourism planning and development. The situation analysis was patterned after the principles of the 7Es Environmental Management model developed by Catibog-Sinha & Bushell (2004, Environmental management of wildlife tourism: a case study in Nelson Bay, Port Stephens. Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE) Conference, Brisbane, Australia) for nature-based tourism management. The paper focuses on the planning stage of the 7Es model, which is comprised of the following seven interrelated elements. (1) Environment - management of the natural and physical environments as well as the human-nature interactions. (2) Economics - promoting financial profitability without destroying or depleting the natural capital and eroding the cultural values of the host community. (3) Enforcement - implementation, management and monitoring of plans, legislative and other regulatory measures, and voluntary codes of conduct. (4) Experience - enhancing tourist satisfaction, experience and knowledge provided by the attractions. (5) Engagement - actively involving the stakeholders including the local/host community in planning, decision-making and implementation. (6) Enquiry - conducting research through scientific enquiry on the technical and social implications of tourism on the conservation of natural and cultural heritage including environmental protection. (7) Education - improving understanding about the natural and cultural environments as well as visitor use and impacts. The 7Es model incorporates the cyclical and iterative nature of the planning process, which is regularly informed by field experience, trends in tourism practice, evolving knowledge about the physical and biological environments, monitoring and conservation. Ultimately, the model endeavours to achieve a balance between biodiversity conservation and economic development. Based on the situation analysis, some suggestions and recommendations for tourism management of Xishuangbanna Biosphere Reserve are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various models of urban sustainable development have been introduced in recent years and some of these such as integrated waste management have been proved to be of particular value. Integrated industrial waste management systems include all the administrative, financial, legal, planning and engineering functions involved in solutions to the problems of industrial waste. Even though the pace of the improvement made to China's industrial waste management capacity is impressive, China has been unable to keep up with the increasing demand for waste management. This paper will evaluate the application of integrated industrial waste management systems in promoting urban sustainable development in the context of three case study cities in China (positive case, average case and negative case) by identifying and accessing the factors that affect the success or failure of integrated industrial waste management systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: China's TB control system has been transforming its service delivery model from CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)-led model to the designated hospital-led model to combat the high disease burden of TB. The implications of the new service model on TB health workforce development remained unclear. This study aims to identify implications of the new service model on TB health workforce development and to analyze whether the new service model has been well equipped with appropriate health workforce., Methods: The study applied mixed methods in Zhejiang, Jilin, and Ningxia provinces of China. Institutional survey on designated hospitals and CDC was conducted to measure the number of TB health workers. Individual questionnaire survey was conducted to measure the composition, income, and knowledge of health workers. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were organized to explore policies in terms of recruitment, training, and motivation., Results: Zhejiang, Jilin, and Ningxia provinces had 0.33, 0.95, and 0.47 TB health professionals per 10 000 population respectively. They met the national staffing standard at the provincial level but with great variety at the county level. County-designated hospitals recruited TB health professionals from other departments of the same hospital, existing TB health professionals who used to work in CDC, and from township health centers. County-designated hospitals recruited new TB health professionals from three different sources: other departments of the same hospital, CDC, and township health centers. Most newly recruited professionals had limited competence and put on fixed posts to only provide outpatient services. TB doctors got 67/100 scores from a TB knowledge test, while public health doctors got 77/100. TB professionals had an average monthly income of 4587 RMB (667 USD). Although the designated hospital had special financial incentives to support, they still had lower income than other health professionals due to their limited capacity to generate revenue through service provision., Conclusions: The financing mechanism in designated hospitals and the job design need to be improved to provide sufficient incentive to attract qualified health professionals and motivate them to provide high-quality TB services.

Introduction: In China, dementia is one of the most devastating illnesses for patients and their caregivers living at home. As the disease progresses, many patients' cognitive, behavioral and psychological symptoms get severe and so do the burdens of caregivers. Lack of community health resources and social service provision in China, the complex care needs of dementia patients and their caregivers are often ignored. There is thus a need for innovative approaches to solve the problem and to improve quality of life for both dementia patients and their caregivers. Aim & Method: This study aimed to present an innovation approach that integrate music therapy with social work practice in a home-based program of dementia care in China. Previous researches on music therapy and social work practice for home-based dementia care were reviewed. A participatory action research approach was applied and actions included meetings and discussing with stakeholders, participating in the caseworks and making suggestions for the program implementation. Four cases were explored in depth by social workers, doctors, nurses and researchers together(n=7). Results: An approach of integrating music therapy and social work practice has been developed. Detailed framework and implementation process, including methods of integrated assessment, intervention and evaluation are discussed. Conclusion: The paper concludes with a discussion that how to further integrate music therapy with social work practice based on the principles of person-centredness in working with dementia patients and their caregivers at home in China. Potential theoretical issues behind the relationship between music therapy and social work practice and the implication for integration of social and health care in home-based dementia care is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]