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China is the world's largest walnut producer. There is still a scarcity of comprehensive information on the nutritional quality of Chinese walnuts and the influence of soil on walnut quality. In this study, 273 samples and the corresponding soils from the main English walnut (Juglans regia L.)-producing areas in China were collected. The results revealed that walnut oil contained a high percentage of linoleic acid and γ-tocopherol, with an average content of 62.36% and 77.70%, respectively. Walnut flour is rich in nutritional elements, with the highest content of macro-element K at 3961.29 mg kg−1. In addition, 12 micro-elements with concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 42.34 mg/kg were discovered in walnut flour. The total amino acid profile of walnut flour contains 27.23% of the seven essential amino acids, with the highest amount allocated to leucine at 2.07 g 100 g−1. The Pearson correlation analysis revealed that almost all amino acids showed a significant positive correlation (p < 0.01, r > 0.70). The soil's content in terms of three trace elements (Fe, Cu, and Zn) has the greatest influence on the nutritional qualities of walnuts. Furthermore, the pH of the soil played a role in determining the qualities of the walnut. These findings provide fundamental information for the consumer selection and trade of walnuts, as well as guidance for the development of high-quality walnuts in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Conventional perception about benefits of light walnut kernels was challenged. • Relationships between color or texture and intrinsic qualities were relatively low. • Kernels with a light color and a simple texture have better comprehensive qualities. The intrinsic nutritive components (fatty acids, amino acids, tocopherols and mineral elements) of kernels collected from the main planting area of China with varying appearance (color and texture) were assessed. The significant (p < 0.05) differences between different color groups were primarily for γ-tocopherol, K and Na, with contents ranging from 246.48 to 333.94 mg/kg, 3403.05 to 4409.65 mg/kg and 12.62 to 22.16 mg/kg, respectively. There was a significant (p < 0.05) difference between two texture groups only for γ-tocopherol, with the content of 303.04 and 342.08 mg/kg, respectively. Further investigation revealed that kernels with a light color and a simple texture had a significant (p < 0.05) advantage in terms of comprehensive qualities, particularly in the contents of total amino acids (191.91 mg/kg) and elements (P: 4165.57 mg/kg, Mn: 75.34 mg/kg). Furthermore, the advantageous kernels' high variability in monounsaturated fatty acids (25.7 %) suggests that they could be a good resource for breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rate and distribution of deformation along the Qilian Mountain, on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, is needed to understand the evolution of high topography associated with the plateau. Recently, a number of empirical studies have provided support for the contention, common to most models of fluvial incision, that rock uplift rate exerts a first-order control on the gradient of longitudinal river profiles. Along the northern Qilian Mountain, this method is used to extract information about the spatial patterns of differential rock uplift. Analysis of the longitudinal profiles of bedrock channels reveals systematic differences in the channel steepness index along the trend of the frontal ranges. Local comparisons of channel steepness reveal that lithology and precipitation have limited influence on channel steepness. Similarly, there is little evidence suggesting that channel steepness is influenced by differences in the sediment loads. We argue that the distribution of channel steepness in the Qilian Mountain is mostly the result of differential rates of rock uplift. Thus, channel steepness indices reveal a lower rock uplift rate in the eastern portion of the Qilian Mountain and a higher rate in the middle and west. The highest rates appear to occur in the middle-west portions of the range, just to the west of the Yumu Shan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater lakes across the world have undergone dramatic changes in biological components and water quality over the past several decades. Previous studies focused on potential drivers mainly on nutrient enrichment in the catchment. However, the relative importance of climate change and the top‐down cascade effects of fish stocking on water quality is not fully understood. Here, by compiling 155 lakes data with four periods of field investigation in subtropical lakes in China, we found no significant changes in water total nitrogen and total phosphorus in the past two decades. However, the phytoplankton abundance increased significantly, and the water clarity declined by 44.1%. We further found that carp stocking and climate change are potentially more important than nutrients driving water quality change, which is also evidenced in two lakes (Lake Donghu and Qiandao) with long‐term monitoring histories. Specifically, carp stocking can decrease the water clarity directly by stirring up sediment and indirectly by trophic cascade along the food web. For climatic factors, mean annual temperature (MAT) has a positive effect on phytoplankton abundance, while mean annual precipitation has a negative one, with climates overall having little effect on water clarity. In addition, nutrient enrichment and climate change also have strong interactions with carp stocking, which may enhance the top‐down effects on water quality. Our findings highlight that either MAT or carp stocking may become an overwhelming driver of water clarity decline, which provides new insights into the conservation strategy for water quality management in the subtropical lakes in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CP fandom behaviors or shipping, a growing popular phenomenon among Chinese young adults, refers to the activities of fans who take great satisfaction from the romantic relationships and interactions of their preferred pairings of idols or virtual characters. CP fans are regarded as a special group of fans with unique identities and interaction styles. This grounded theory study was conducted to explore the mechanism of CP fandom behaviors. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with thirty-one Chinese CP fans (twenty-eight females and three males). The antecedents, development, behavioral patterns, and consequences of shipping were identified in a comprehensive model. The reasons for CP fandom behaviors include individual factors (e.g., psychological projection, compensation, and social needs) and external factors (e.g., pop culture and internet environment). The consequences include positive emotional experiences, changed love values, and improved social interaction. CP fandom behaviors can be different in terms of the fans' degrees of engagement, and the development of shipping can be divided into three stages: exploratory stage, formation and stability stage, and rupture stage. This study contributes to the literature of CP fandom behaviors among young adults in China and proposes the directions of future studies on such topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing demand for forage supply to feed domestic animals with the rapid development of livestock husbandry. In adverse environments where plant growth is largely restricted, new forage crops are urgently needed to provide other forage source. Quinoa has a strong potential to be a forage crop in the midwestern China. We explored the responses of quinoa to sowing and cutting date to assess its potential as a forage crop. Cutting treatments with four cutting dates were designed as cutting at bud formation, 15 days after bud formation, flowering and grain filling stages at Zhangye and Qingyang sites. For sowing date test, sowing of quinoa was performed on April 11 (Sap), June 10 (Sju) and August 11 (Sau) at Qingyang site. Dry matter yield, plant height and nutrient status under different treatments were measured. Total dry matter yield was about 7.0 t/ha at flowering stage, which was greater than those cutting at other stages and crude protein content was 16.0%. After cutting, nutrition status of quinoa tended to be improved, but the total biomass decreased significantly except that there was equaling biomass yield at Zhangye site when cutting was performed at 15 days after bud formation. Early sowing increased plant height (for Sap: 138 and 145 cm at flowering and maturity; for Sju: 119 and 113 cm) and biomass yield (7,402 kg/ha for Sap and 4,360 kg/ha for Sju at maturity), with little influence on the nutritional status of quinoa. It is suggested that quinoa has a great potential to be used as a forage crop in the midwestern China. In the practice, early sowing and cutting in late June are recommended to produce forage quinoa in these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global income inequality is widening and carbon emissions remain high. So, reducing carbon emissions and income gap are urgent challenges. The purpose of this paper is to analysis how carbon emission efficiency influences the region income inequality. The improvement of carbon emission reduction efficiency has widened the regional income inequality with the flow of high-tech labor as an intermediary variable in China. Methods used in this article are mediating effect model and DEA method. This paper constructs a disposable income model of income and health costs, where health costs are a function of carbon reduction. If income is fixed, then the expectations of disposable income will change as the level of carbon emission reduction changes. This study finds that the disposable income expectations of high-income areas increases, while the disposable income expectations of lower-income areas decrease with the improvement of carbon emission reduction efficiency. High-income regions attract high-income labor from other regions, resulting in the widening of regional income inequality under the constraint of high cost of living. This result is verified by the data of China from 2007 to 2017. The regression model with Geordie coefficient as the dependent variable, carbon emission reduction efficiency as the core independent variable, gravitation of high-tech talent as the mediator variable, and urbanization rate, educational level, social security coverage, and highway and railway traffic mileage as control variables not only verifies the above results but also finds that high-tech talents' flow is not the only intermediary between carbon emission reduction efficiency and regional income inequality. This paper finds that when the carbon emission reduction efficiency increases by one unit, the income inequality gap of 25 provinces increases by 0.0202 units, provinces with high carbon emission reduction efficiency increases by 0.107 units, and provinces with medium carbon emission reduction efficiency increases by 0.026 units. However, the income inequality gap of provinces with low carbon emission reduction efficiency decreases by 0.0390 units. The carbon emission reduction efficiency of the high and medium carbon emission reduction efficiency groups is proportional to the income inequality, while the low carbon emission reduction efficiency group is the opposite, when the carbon emission reduction efficiency is grouped into high efficiency group, medium efficiency group, and low efficiency group. The reason for this result is that the high carbon emission reduction efficiency of the former attracts high-income high-tech talent, while the latter's narrowing regional income inequality benefits from the reduction costs of health and the government's ecological compensation. The effective measures to narrow the income inequality are to implement carbon emission reduction policy, industrial policy, education investment policy, and public service policy, according to the above findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The yield, composition, structure and biofunction of microorganism exopolysaccharide (EPS) depended on their genetics and metabolic pathways. An EPS-producing endophytic fungus was isolated from Angelica sinensis planted in Dingxi, Gansu, China, and identified as Alternaria tenuissima F1. The production optimization, purification and characterization of the purified EPS from A. tenuissima F1 and the in-vitro antioxidant potentials was investigated. Results showed the optimal medium composition were 8% mannose, 2% yeast extract, 0.04% MgSO 4 ·7H 2 O, 0.005% Vc, and the optimal cultivation conditions were set at initial pH 7.0, culture temperature 30 °C, inoculum size of 3%, 180 r/min for 5 d. The EPS purified by ion exchange column chromatography and gel chromatography was a non-reducing sugar and glycoprotein with pyranoid ring by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis, displayed a porous network structure by scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation and exhibited a high thermal stability with the degradation temperature of 303.9 °C by thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DSC). Molecular weight of the purified EPS was 3.246 × 104 g/mol, and EPS was composed of d -galacturonic acid, rhamnose, d -mannose, glucose, and d -galactose in ratio of 0.45:3.02:3.25:1.0:0.95. The EPS exhibited strong scavenging activity and may be a new source of natural antioxidant. Unlabelled Image • EPS from A. sinensis endophytic fungus A. tenuissima F1 were optimized by orthogonal experiment and response surface methodology. • The purified EPS showed some different physicochemical properties. EPS has a strong antioxidant activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is the first attempt to understand the synergistic impact of anthropogenic and biogenic emissions on summertime ozone (O3) formation in the Guanzhong (GZ) Basin where Xi'an, the oldest and the most populous city (with a population of 9 million) in northwestern China, is located. Month-long (August 2011) WRF-Chem simulations with different sensitivity experiments were conducted and compared with near-surface measurements. Biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) concentrations was characterized from six surface sites among the Qinling Mountains, and urban air composition was measured in Xi'an city at a tower 100ma.s. The WRF-Chem control experiment reasonably reproduced the magnitudes and variations of observed O3, VOCs, NOx, PM2.5, and meteorological parameters, with normalized mean biases for each parameter within -21 %. Subsequent analysis employed the factor separation approach (FSA) to quantitatively disentangle the pure and synergistic impacts of anthropogenic and/or biogenic sources on summertime O3 formation. The impact of anthropogenic sources alone was found to be dominant for O3 formation. Although anthropogenic particles reduced NO2 photolysis by up to 60 %, the anthropogenic sources contributed 19.1 ppb O3 formation on average for urban Xi'an. The abundant biogenic VOCs from the nearby forests promoted O3 formation in urban areas by interacting with the anthropogenic NOx . The calculated synergistic contribution (from both biogenic and anthropogenic sources) was up to 14.4 ppb in urban Xi'an, peaking in the afternoon. Our study reveals that the synergistic impact of individual source contributions to O3 formation should be considered in the formation of air pollution control strategies, especially for big cities in the vicinity of forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The uplift rate and pattern of the Qilian Shan Mountain, which lies in the northeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau, are key to understanding the dynamics of crustal deformation in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. In this work, late Quaternary terraces in seven river valley sections in the eastern Qilian Shan Mountain are studied to determine terrace abandonment ages by OSL (optical simulating luminescence) and terrace heights by GPS (global positioning system) surveys. River incision rates since ~76kaBP are calculated ranging from 0.37mm/a to 1.49mm/a. Distribution of river incision rates shows that higher river incision rates (0.85–1.49mm/a) are located at the rivers'' upstream reaches where mean mountain elevation is ~4000m, and relatively lower incision rates (0.32–0.62mm/a) are located at the mountain front where the mean mountain elevation is <3200m. This difference of the river incision rate reflects spatial difference in rock uplift patterns within the eastern Qilian Shan Mountain. The high mountain range is characterized by a high river incision rate (on average of 1.2±0.4mm/a) and high relief, suggesting high rock uplift rate; whereas the low mountain range is characterized by low river incision rate (on average of 0.5±0.2mm/a) and lower relief, suggesting relatively low rock uplift rate. Based on fault distributions and slip rates, we propose that the differential rock uplift of eastern Qilian Shan is mainly controlled by the thrusting along active thrust faults separating different mountain ranges and by oblique thrusting along strike-slip faults near the mountain crest. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]