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Bilingual children have been shown to differ from monolingual children in several domains of human cognition. Comparatively few studies have investigated social-interactional processes in bilingual populations. Here, we investigated whether monolingual and bilingual children demonstrate similar susceptibility to an aspect of social functioning with broad societal reach: racial bias. We measured both implicit and explicit biases against African race individuals in 2 groups of monolingual preschoolers (native speakers of English or Chinese) and in 2 groups of English-Chinese bilingual preschoolers (tested in English or Chinese; total N = 160). We found that monolingual children demonstrated greater implicit bias against African race individuals than bilingual children, independent of their native language. Monolingual Chinese children demonstrated greater explicit bias than bilingual children, although monolingual English children's explicit bias scores did not differ from those of bilingual children. Findings are discussed in terms of cognitive and experiential mechanisms that may link bilingualism and racial bias.

We investigated the developmental courses of both implicit and explicit racial biases in relation to the perceived social status of outgroups. We did so by assessing these biases among Chinese participants (N = 200, age range from 4- to 19-year-olds) toward 2 different other-race groups that differ in terms of perceived social status (i.e., Whites and Blacks). At the youngest age, children showed both implicit anti-White and anti-Black bias at similar levels. However, these biases had different patterns of age-related change: implicit anti-Black bias remained strong and stable over time, whereas implicit anti-White bias declined after age 10. For explicit bias, children showed a decline in anti-Black and anti-White bias. Implicit and explicit biases were uncorrelated at all ages. The observed age-related changes demonstrate that it is possible for patterns of biases toward different races to diverge with age, and that perceived social status may contribute to the differential developmental patterns.

Better understanding of social media uses in crisis situations can help improve disaster management by policy-makers, organizations, businesses, and members of the public. It can also build theoretical understanding of how social life and citizenship incorporate social media usage. This study tracks the evolution of public sentiment in Wuhan, China, during the first 12 weeks after the identification of COVID-19 on the Chinese microblogging platform Sina Weibo. Data consist of 133,079 original Sina Weibo posts dealing with the novel coronavirus. The relative prevalence of eight different emotion groups is traced longitudinally using the ROST Content Mining System and the Emotion Vocabulary of Dalian University of Technology. The study finds a progression from confusion/fear, to disappointment/frustration, to depression/anxiety, then finally to happiness/gratitude. It argues that this progression indexes the changing affective energies of digital medical citizenship, which in turn indicates the context for intervention in future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although most of the faces we encounter daily are moving ones, much of what we know about face processing and its development is based on studies using static faces that emphasize holistic processing as the hallmark of mature face processing. Here the authors examined the effects of facial movements on face processing developmentally in children (8-year-olds), adolescents (12-year-olds), and adults (20-year-olds). In particular, the composite face effect was used to measure the influence of facial movements on part-based versus holistic processing after participants had viewed either a moving or static face in a within-subject design. Experiment 1 examined elastic facial movement (i.e., blinking and chewing). The results showed that children, adolescents, and adults exhibited a significantly smaller composite effect after viewing a moving face than after viewing a static face. This result indicates that elastic facial movement facilitates part-based face processing from at least 8 years of age onward. Experiment 2 examined rigid facial movement (i.e., head turning) and revealed that it too facilitates part-based face processing in children, adolescents, and adults. The results taken together suggest that contrary to the prevailing view, facial movements facilitate part-based, not holistic, face processing in children, adolescents, and adults. The findings call for revision in the conventional way of thinking about what constitutes the developmental trajectory toward mature face processing and also point to the importance of using more naturalistic moving face stimuli to study face processing and its development.

Two studies with preschool-age children examined the effectiveness of perceptual individuation training at reducing racial bias (Study 1, N = 32; Study 2, N = 56). We found that training preschool-age children to individuate other-race faces resulted in a reduction in implicit racial bias while mere exposure to other-race faces produced no such effect. We also showed that neither individuation training nor mere exposure reduced explicit racial bias. Theoretically, our findings provide strong evidence for a causal link between individual-level face processing and implicit racial bias, and are consistent with the newly proposed perceptual-social linkage hypothesis. Practically, our findings suggest that offering children experiences that allow them to increase their expertise in processing individual other-race faces will help reduce their implicit racial bias.

This research used an Implicit Racial Bias Test to investigate implicit racial biases among 3- to 5-year-olds and adult participants in China (N = 213) and Cameroon (N = 257). In both cultures, participants displayed high levels of racial biases that remained stable between 3 and 5 years of age. Unlike adults, young children's implicit racial biases were unaffected by the social status of the other-race groups. Also, unlike adults, young children displayed overt explicit racial biases, and these biases were dissociated from their implicit biases. The results provide strong evidence for the early emergence of implicit racial biases and point to the need to reduce them in early childhood.

The present study examined whether perceptual individuation training with other-race faces could reduce preschool children's implicit racial bias. We used an "angry = outgroup" paradigm to measure Chinese children's implicit racial bias against African individuals before and after training. In Experiment 1, children between 4 and 6 years were presented with angry or happy racially ambiguous faces that were morphed between Chinese and African faces. Initially, Chinese children demonstrated implicit racial bias: they categorized happy racially ambiguous faces as own-race (Chinese) and angry racially ambiguous faces as other-race (African). Then, the children participated in a training session where they learned to individuate African faces. Children's implicit racial bias was significantly reduced after training relative to that before training. Experiment 2 used the same procedure as Experiment 1, except that Chinese children were trained with own-race Chinese faces. These children did not display a significant reduction in implicit racial bias. Our results demonstrate that early implicit racial bias can be reduced by presenting children with other-race face individuation training, and support a linkage between perceptual and social representations of face information in children.

Current knowledge about face processing in infancy comes largely from studies using static face stimuli, but faces that infants see in the real world are mostly moving ones. To bridge this gap, 3-, 6-, and 9-month-old Asian infants (N = 118) were familiarized with either moving or static Asian female faces, and then their face recognition was tested with static face images. Eye-tracking methodology was used to record eye movements during the familiarization and test phases. The results showed a developmental change in eye movement patterns, but only for the moving faces. In addition, the more infants shifted their fixations across facial regions, the better their face recognition was, but only for the moving faces. The results suggest that facial movement influences the way faces are encoded from early in development.

Previous research has shown that 3-month-olds prefer own- over other-race faces. The current study used eye-tracking methodology to examine how this visual preference develops with age beyond 3 months and how infants differentially scan between own- and other-race faces when presented simultaneously. We showed own- versus other-race face pairs to 3-, 6-, and 9-month-old Chinese infants. In contrast with 3-month-olds' visual preference for own-race faces, 9-month-olds preferentially looked more at other-race faces. Analyses of eye-tracking data revealed that Chinese infants processed own- and other-race faces differentially. These findings shed important light on the role of visual experience in the development of visual preference and its relation to perceptual narrowing.

A visual preference procedure was used to examine preferences among faces of different ethnicities (African, Asian, Caucasian, and Middle Eastern) in Chinese 3-month-old infants exposed only to Chinese faces. The infants demonstrated a preference for faces from their own ethnic group. Alongside previous results showing that Caucasian infants exposed only to Caucasian faces prefer same-race faces (Kelly et al., 2005) and that Caucasian and African infants exposed only to native faces prefer the same over the other-race faces (Bar-Haim, Ziv, Lamy, & Hodes, 2006), the findings reported here (a) extend the same-race preference observed in young infants to a new race of infants (Chinese), and (b) show that cross-race preferences for same-race faces extend beyond the perceptually robust contrast between African and Caucasian faces. (Contains 1 figure.)

Research on delinquency has shown consistent results across Western industrialized countries. Few studies have been done in non-Western cultures. This study reports on the results of a birth cohort study in China, which was started by Marvin Wolfgang but never completed. The cohort, born in 1973, was traced through official and community files. The amount of delinquency is significantly low. However, significant differences were found between delinquents and nondelinquents in terms of peer influences, family influences, and school. Regression results show that the most important school factors associated with offending are those relating to level of education completed and dropout status and interactions between students and teachers. Offenders were found to be approximately five times more likely than nonoffenders to associate with delinquent peers. This study reinforces previous findings--there are critical sociological variables related to social integration, family, and school experiences that significantly differentiate between those who become offenders and those who do not. (Contains 1 figure, 5 tables, and 3 notes.)

Recent occasional attacks on Chinese entrepreneurs in Zambia, supposedly on grounds that they are expropriating socio-economic opportunities for Zambians, deserve a fresh interrogation of Zambia--China relations. Labourrelated tensions between Chinese employers and their Zambian employees have also ignited violence between the two parties. Opportunistic Zambian politicians have used these tensions to sponsor the narrative that China in general has malevolent designs over Zambia. Due to increasing external debt and general economic difficulties during the tenure of Zambia's Patriotic Front (PF) government, from 2011 to 2021, desperate Zambians took their frustration out on the increasing numbers of Chinese entrepreneurs who are considered harbingers of Zambia's external debt crisis and usurpers of Zambia's sovereignty. Using constructivism as the theoretical framework, the research found that Zambia--China relations are no longer driven by ethical moorings that were typical of the colonial and Cold War eras. Secondly, that China's identity in Zambia has assumed an ominous dimension with the increasing number of Chinese migrants whose conduct is at variance with the image that the Chinese government strives to present. Third, that the ineffective governance of the PF leadership threatened to force the country to default on the debt it owes to China and this could have led to China limiting the room for manoeuvre on the part of the Zambian government, thereby justifying the arguments of those who opine that China aims to take over Africa even though ineffective African governments are culpable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grazing exclusion is an effective management practice to restore grassland ecosystem functioning. However, little is known about the role of soil microbial communities in regulating grassland ecosystem functioning during long-term ecosystem restorations. We evaluated the recovery of a degraded semiarid grassland ecosystem in northern China by investigating plant and soil characteristics and the role of soil microbial communities in ecosystem functioning after 22 years of grazing exclusion. Grazing exclusion significantly increased the alpha diversity and changed the community structure of bacteria, but did not significantly affect the alpha diversity or community structure of fungi. The higher abundance of copiotrophic Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes with grazing exclusion was due to the higher carbon and nutrient concentrations in the soil, whereas the high abundance of Acidobacteria in overgrazed soils was likely an adaptation to the poor environmental conditions. Bacteria of the Sphingomonadaceae family were associated with C cycling under grazing exclusion. Bacteria of the Nitrospiraceae family, and especially of the Nitrospira genus, played an important role in changes to the N cycle under long-term exclusion of grazing. Quantitative PCR further revealed that grazing exclusion significantly increased the abundance of nitrogen fixing bacteria (nifH), ammonia oxidizers (AOA and AOB), and denitrifying bacteria (nirK and nosZ 1). Denitrifying enzyme activity (DEA) was positively correlated with abundance of denitrifying bacteria. The increase in DEA under grazing exclusion suggests that the dependence of DEA on the availability of NO3– produced is due to the combined activity of ammonia oxidizers and denitrifiers. Our findings indicate that decades-long grazing exclusion can trigger changes in the soil bacterial diversity and composition, thus modulating the restoration of grassland ecosystem functions, carbon sequestration and soil fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutrient resorption from senesced leaves is an important mechanism for nutrient conservation in plants. However, little is known about the effect of grazing on plant nutrient resorption from senesced leaves, especially in semiarid ecosystems. Here, we evaluated the effects of grazing on N and P resorption in the three most dominant grass species in a typical steppe in northern China. We identified the key pathways of grazing-induced effects on N and P resorption efficiency. Grazing increased N and P concentrations in the green leaves of Leymus chinensis and Stipa grandis but not in Cleistogenes squarossa. Both L. chinensis and S. grandis exhibited an increasing trend of leaf N resorption, whereas C. squarrosa recorded a decline in both leaf N and P resorption efficiency under grazing. Structural equation models showed that grazing is the primary driver of the changes in N resorption efficiency of the three dominant grass species. For L. chinensis, the P concentration in green and senesced leaves increased the P resorption efficiency, whereas the senesced leaf P concentration played an important role in the P resorption efficiency of C. squarrosa. Grazing directly drove the change in P resorption efficiency of S. grandis. Our results suggest that large variations in nutrient resorption patterns among plant species depend on leaf nutritional status and nutrient- use strategies under overgrazing, and indicate that overgrazing may have indirect effects on plant-mediated nutrient cycling via inducing shifts in the dominance of the three plant species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human adenovirus type 55 (HAdV-55) causes acute respiratory disease of variable severity and has become an emergent threat in both civilian and military populations. HAdV-55 infection is endemic to China and South Korea, but data from other regions and time periods are needed for comprehensive assessment of HAdV-55 prevalence from a global perspective. In this study, we subjected HAdV-55 isolates from various countries collected during 1969-2018 to whole-genome sequencing, genomic and proteomic comparison, and phylogenetic analyses. The results show worldwide distribution of HAdV-55; recent strains share a high degree of genomic homogeneity. Distinct strains circulated regionally for several years, suggesting persistent local transmission. Several cases of sporadic introduction of certain strains to other countries were documented. Among the identified amino acid mutations distinguishing HAdV-55 strains, some have potential impact on essential viral functions and may affect infectivity and transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigated the relation between racial categorization and implicit racial bias in majority and minority children. Chinese and Indian 3- to 7-year-olds from Singapore (N = 158) categorized Chinese and Indian faces by race and had their implicit and explicit racial biases measured. Majority Chinese children, but not minority Indian children, showed implicit bias favoring own race. Regardless of ethnicity, children's racial categorization performance correlated positively with implicit racial bias. Also, Chinese children, but not Indian children, displayed explicit bias favoring own race. Furthermore, children's explicit bias was unrelated to racial categorization performance and implicit bias. The findings support a perceptual-social linkage in the emergence of implicit racial bias and have implications for designing programs to promote interracial harmony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Environmental factors may play important roles in asthma, but findings have been inconsistent.Objective: The goal of this study was to determine the associations between early life exposures, environmental factors, and asthma in urban and rural children in southeast China.Methods: A screening questionnaire survey was conducted in 7,164 children from urban Guangzhou and 6,087 from rural Conghua. In the second stage, subsamples of 854 children (419 from Guangzhou, 435 from Conghua) were recruited for a case-control study that included a detailed questionnaire enquiring on family history, early life environmental exposures, dietary habits, and laboratory tests (including histamine airway provocation testing, skin prick tests, and serum antibody analyses). House dust samples from 76 Guangzhou families and 80 Conghua families were obtained to analyze levels of endotoxins, house dust mites, and cockroach allergens.Results: According to the screening survey, the prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma was lower in children from Conghua (3.4%) than in those from Guangzhou (6.9%) (P < .001). A lower percentage of asthma was reported in rural subjects compared with urban subjects (2.8% vs. 29.4%; P < .001) in the case-control study. Atopy (OR, 1.91 [95% CI, 1.58-2.29]), parental atopy (OR, 2.49 [95% CI, 1.55-4.01]), hospitalization before 3 years of age (OR, 2.54 [95% CI, 1.37-4.70]), high consumption of milk products (OR, 1.68 [95% CI, 1.03-2.73]), and dust Dermatophagoides farinae group 1 allergen (OR, 1.71 [95% CI, 1.34-2.19]) were positively associated with asthma. Living in a crop-farming family at < 1 year of age (OR, 0.15 [95% CI, 0.08-0.32]) and dust endotoxin levels (OR, 0.69 [95% CI, 0.50-0.95]) were negatively associated with asthma.Conclusions: Rural children from an agricultural background exhibited a reduced risk of asthma. Early life exposure to crop farming and high environmental endotoxin levels might protect the children from asthma in southern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research used an Implicit Racial Bias Test to investigate implicit racial biases among 3- to 5-year-olds and adult participants in China (N = 213) and Cameroon (N = 257). In both cultures, participants displayed high levels of racial biases that remained stable between 3 and 5 years of age. Unlike adults, young children's implicit racial biases were unaffected by the social status of the other-race groups. Also, unlike adults, young children displayed overt explicit racial biases, and these biases were dissociated from their implicit biases. The results provide strong evidence for the early emergence of implicit racial biases and point to the need to reduce them in early childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Chinese societies, family caregivers play an important role in the recovery of persons with serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia. While family caregivers are often invaluable sources of caregiving in the community, a majority of them lack adequate knowledge and support skills to cope with the tasks involved. Aims: This study compares the coping strategies and psychological health of caregivers for family members with schizophrenia in two Chinese cities, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Method: A total of 109 caregivers, including 39 from Hong Kong and 70 from Guangzhou, were recruited from non-governmental mental health organizations in the two cities. They were assessed by the Chinese version of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire. Results: While there was no significant difference in the psychological distress of the family caregivers in the two locations, the Guangzhou caregivers adopt significantly more of the eight coping strategies, namely, confronting coping, distancing, self-control, seeking social support, accepting responsibility, escape–avoidance, planful problem solving and positive reappraisal, than their counterparts in Hong Kong. Significant correlations were also found between psychological distress and coping strategies of caregivers in the two cities. Conclusion: There were significant differences in the coping strategies of family caregivers for people with schizophrenia in the two Chinese cities. Further studies are warranted to investigate factors affecting their coping strategies and their effects on psychological health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Texts in the genre of travel writing provide description and analysis of the author’s journeys and destinations. A variety of foci exists among texts in the genre, including accounts of explorations, personal narratives, or military memoirs. This article discusses Rev. George Smith’s A Narrative of an Exploratory Visit to Each of the Consular Cities of China, and to the Islands of Hong Kong and Chusan, Church Missionary Society, In the Years 1844, 1845, 1846 as an example of a missionary narrative, a sub-genre of travel writing, embodying features of British imperial ideology. Smith’s Narrative contributed to the discursive formation of China in the minds of people at the imperial center of London and probably other centers. His account and commentary of his travels to China in the early years of Hong Kong’s colonial history helped to foster the imperial meaning-making process. Written in a time of stable classifications of knowledge gleaned from the British imperial project, Smith’s travel writing affirms, consolidates, and incrementally expands features of the British imperialist ideology. Building on existing structures and employing the rhetorical and discursive strategy of binary oppositions, Smith’s Narrative depicted China as an inferior culture and Britain as superior to others and with a divine mission. Whereas China was dark and pagan, British civilization was enlightened and Christian. A hierarchy emerges where Britain is positioned above all others in terms of culture, religion, medicine, military technology, and law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the technical assistance programmes of the EU have been amongst the most effective soft power instruments in shaping the influence that Europe has had within key actor communities during China's re-emergence. The IPR2 project is one such example of this phenomenon. The article locates this initiative within the context of joint interests as an intersection between the EU's motivations in embedding a more sophisticated approach across China towards the importance of intellectual property protection and China's needs to improve her own domestic level of innovation. This method of cooperation is an illustration of normative transference through diffusion and shows how engagement can move beyond a narrow notion of soft power to encompass more wide-ranging interpretations that highlight the importance of a nation's technological capability and the influence possessed by a country's scientific achievement. The success of IPR2 is examined in two ways: first, through qualitative analysis of political dimensions in its formation and outcome, and second, in quantitative terms through reviewing increased IP activism by Chinese institutional and corporate actors. The article concludes by maintaining that engagement strategies of this kind offer a model for future relations and deserve sustained political support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined developmental changes in the ability to recognize face parts. In Experiment 1, participants were familiarized with whole faces and given a recognition test with old and new eyes, noses, mouths, inner faces, outer faces, or whole faces. Adults were above chance in their recognition of the eye and mouth regions. However, children did not naturally encode and recognize face parts independently of the entire face. In addition, all age groups showed comparable inner and outer face recognition, except for 8- to 9-year-olds who showed a recognition advantage for outer faces. In Experiment 2, when participants were familiarized with eyes, noses, or mouths and tested with eyes, noses, or mouths, respectively, all ages showed above-chance recognition of eyes and mouths. Thirteen- to 14-year-olds were adult-like in their recognition of the eye region, but mouth recognition continued to develop beyond 14 years of age. Nose recognition was above chance among 13- to 14-year-olds, but recognition scores remained low even in adulthood. The present findings reveal unique developmental trajectories in the use of isolated facial regions in face recognition and suggest that featural cues (as a class) have a different ontogenetic course relative to holistic and configural cues. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in behaviour and cognition have been observed in different human populations. It has been reported that in various types of complex visual task, eye movement patterns differ systematically between Chinese and non-Chinese participants, an observation that has been related to differences in culture between groups. However, we confirm here that, in healthy, naïve adult Chinese participants, a far higher proportion (22%) than expected (1-5%) exhibit a pattern of reflexive eye movement behaviour (high numbers of low latency express saccades) in circumstances designed to inhibit such responses (prosaccade overlap tasks). These participants are defined as "express saccade makers" (ESMs). We then show using the antisaccade paradigm, which requires the inhibition of reflexive responses and the programming and execution of voluntary saccades, that the performance of ESMs is compromised; they have higher antisaccade directional error rates, and the latency distributions of their error saccades again exhibit a higher proportion of low latency express saccade errors consistent with a reduced ability to inhibit reflexive responses. These results are difficult to reconcile with a cultural explanation as they relate to important and specific performance differences within a particular population. They suggest a potential unexpected confound relevant to those studies of Chinese versus other groups which have investigated group differences using oculomotor measures, and explained them in terms of culture. The confirmation of higher numbers of ESMs among Chinese participants provides new opportunities for examining oculomotor control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an attempt to understand how changes in the societal context of Chinese marriage are reflected in Chinese cultural understandings of marriage, we explore Chinese similes and metaphors for marriage posted on the World Wide Web. Seven themes were found: You will have to decide whether a marriage will work for you, marriage is not about romantic love, marriage is bitter and sweet at the same time, marriage is strong and real, you must work at a marriage, marriage is risky, and marriage is not always taken seriously. The themes give a picture of cultural meanings for marriage in China that reflect more traditional ideas and such recent changes as the move to greater freedom of choice of spouse and greater ease of divorce. The themes provide cultural understandings both by characterizing contemporary marriage and by capturing advice about how to find a partner and make a marriage work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Questions of existence of the “China Route” for drug smuggling and trafficking have been important in the literature. The profile of the offenders, particularly whether they are primarily members of traditional criminal organization, is a hotly debated issue. Much qualitative evidence has been collected and it provides important insights into these questions. However, little quantitative data has ever been collected and analyzed to provide a broader picture of these issues. The present study involves the systematical collection of data from court sentencing files from seven high courts whose jurisdictions cover the China Route. The findings provide valuable information that sheds light on the debated questions. Some evidence consistent with the China Route arguments is found. No evidence supports the idea that traditional organized criminal syndicates are behind most offenses. Logistic regression results reveal interesting associations between offender characteristics and types of offenses. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A Research Note on the river. We believe that these figures of speech represent Chinese cultural values that are important to Chinese thinking about families. Included in that, the figures of speech seem to us to represent the centrality of family in a society where for many the help they need will have to come from family. The method of investigating similes and metaphors for family as a way of understanding family in a culture has its risks, including issues of whose reality is reflected on websites and how search engines give priority to what comes up first in a search. But the method also seems worth considering as an addition to other social science tools for illuminating aspects of family life in a culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the social aspects of early writing systems. The author reflects on the development of writing within the contexts of oral society and culture. Emphasis is given to how actor network theory (ANT) can combine with research on emotion and affect to address issues related to surfaces, symbols, and practitioners of early writing. Historical examples include the Amarna letters from Egypt in the fourteenth century BCE, early Mesopotamian letters, and early Chinese writing during the late Shang period.

We describe a new species of psittacosaur, Psittacosaurus gobiensis, from the Lower Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia and outline a hypothesis of chewing function in psittacosaurs that in many respects parallels that in psittaciform birds. Cranial features that accommodate increased bite force in psittacosaurs include an akinetic skull (both cranium and lower jaws) and differentiation of adductor muscle attachments comparable to that in psittaciform birds. These and other features, along with the presence of numerous large gastroliths, suggest that psittacosaurs may have had a high-fibre, nucivorous (nut-eating) diet. Psittacosaurs, alone among ornithischians, generate oblique wear facets from tooth-to-tooth occlusion without kinesis in either the upper or lower jaws. This is accomplished with a novel isognathous jaw mechanism that combines aspects of arcilineal (vertical) and propalinal (horizontal) jaw movement. Here termed clinolineal (inclined) jaw movement, the mechanism uses posteriorly divergent tooth rows, rather than kinesis, to gain the added width for oblique occlusion. As the lower tooth rows are drawn posterodorsally into occlusion, the increasing width between the upper tooth rows accommodates oblique shear. With this jaw mechanism, psittacosaurs were able to maintain oblique shearing occlusion in an akinetic skull designed to resist high bite forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Generic Assessment Criteria (GAC) are derived using widely applicable assumptions about the characteristics and behaviour of contaminant sources, pathways and receptors. GAC provide nationally consistent guidance, thereby saving money and time. Currently, there are no human health based Generic Assessment Criteria (GAC) for contaminated sites in China. Protection of human health is therefore difficult to ensure and demonstrate; and the lack of GAC makes it difficult to tell if there is potential significant risk to human health unless site-specific criteria are derived. This paper derived Chinese GAC (GAC) for five inorganic and eight organic substances for three regions in China for three land uses: urban residential without plant uptake, Chinese cultivated land, and commercial/industrial using the SNIFFER model. The SNIFFER model has been further implemented with a dermal absorption algorithm and the model default input values have been changed to reflect the Chinese exposure scenarios. It is envisaged that the modified SNIFFER model could be used to derive GAC for more contaminants, more Regions, and more land uses. Further research to enhance the reliability and acceptability of the GAC is needed in regional/national surveys in diet and working patterns. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

After feeding female Eriocheir sinensis on an optimized formulated diet or fresh razor clam Sinonovacula constricta for 7 months, their reproductive performance and offspring quality were compared. To evaluate diet nutrient contents, the proximate, fatty acid and amino acid compositions of the formulated diet and the razor clam were analysed. The nutritional value of the diets was determined by assessing survival, gonadosomatic index (GSI) and hepatosomatic index (HSI) of female crabs from both diet treatments, together with the percentage of females that spawned, total egg production per female and fecundity (number of eggs g−1 female wet weight). Furthermore, the quality of eggs and newly hatched larvae from the two dietary treatments were determined using the following parameters: egg diameter, wet weight and dry weight, hatchability, proximate and fatty acid profile of eggs, larval carapace length, resistant to starvation and osmotic shock, larval survival and development to the zoea II stage. Higher protein, phospholipids (PL) and amino acids (AA) contents were found in the razor clam while the formulated diet contains higher levels of ash, total lipid (TL) and 18:1n-9, 18:2n-6 and 22:6n-3 fatty acids. Although female crabs fed the two different diets showed similar reproductive performances, newly hatched zoea I larvae produced by the crabs fed the formulated diet had significantly longer mean carapace length and shorter development time to the zoea II stage under identical culture condition ( P<0.05). Moreover, dietary fatty acid appeared to have more significant effects on the fatty acid composition of the hepatopancreas than it did on mature ovaries or eggs. This suggests that the fatty acid profile of mature ovaries is indicative of the specific fatty acid required for ovarian development in E. sinensis. In conclusion, our results show that the optimized formulated diet developed in this laboratory can totally replace the razor clam, a broodstock food widely used in E. sinensis hatcheries in China. This encouraging result should facilitate more reliable hatchery production of this important aquaculture species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the socioeconomic patterns of cooptation to advisory bodies and other political offices in Hong Kong during the colonial, transition, and post-colonial periods. Despite a substantial continuity in the composition of elites coopted, government/elites relations have changed because of the rise of a new form of functional-elite politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has illustrated the importance of risk and protective factors on offending. The current study examines survey data from a sample of 81 offenders and 81 nonoffenders residing in Wuhan, China, in 1991/92 to determine how the accumulation of risk and protective factors in various domains differentiates offenders from nonoffenders. Specifically, we examine the importance of multiple causation and cumulative effects of risk and protective factors as they apply in a Chinese context. Results suggest that the risk and protective factor approach often used in studies of western offending also holds promise in studies of Chinese offending. Specifically, our findings support the importance of examining multiple causation and cumulative effects of risk and protective factors as related to offending. The findings also suggest that the risk and protective factors found to be important in China may be somewhat different to those identified through studies conducted in the West, illustrating the importance of recognising historical and cultural context in the risk and protective factor paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Profiles Chinese algologist and college teacher Tseng Cheng-Kwei. Educational background; Impetus to the interest of Tseng in phycology; Contributions of Tseng in taxonomy and biogeography.

AbstractBackground There have been published reports from the United Kingdom of good responses to the use of traditional Chinese herbal medicine (Zemaphyte®, Phytopharm Plc, Cambridge, UK) in treating recalcitrant atopic dermatitis. We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study among Chinese patients with recalcitrant atopic dermatitis using this same herbal preparation. Methods Forty patients were recruited. They were given Zemaphyte® and placebo in random order, each for 8 consecutive weeks with a 4-week wash-out period in between. Scores based on the severity and extent of four clinical parameters (erythema, surface damage, lichenification and scaling) were recorded at baseline and at 4-weekly intervals throughout the 20-week trial period. Results Thirty-seven patients completed the trial. There was a general trend of clinical improvement with time throughout the trial period in both patient groups, irrespective of whether they received Zemaphyte® or placebo first. Zemaphyte®, however, offered no statistically significant treatment effect over placebo for all four clinical parameters, except for lichenification at week 4. There were no significant carry-over effects. Blood tests for hematologic, renal and liver functions were all normal throughout the trial. Conclusions Zemaphyte® did not seem to benefit Chinese patients with recalcitrant atopic dermatitis in our study. Further research is required to evaluate its efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines fee-taking and salary reform in the context of financial centralization efforts between 1909 and 1911 in China's Qing dynasty. How a study of salary reform can aid in understanding the nature of the Qing financial reforms and their results; Revealing fundamental characteristics of the late imperial state on the eve of its demise; Why fee-taking and salary reform posed obstacles to the creation of a modern, centralized state.

Presents information on a study which discussed Chinese programs and crime-prevention policies based on individual and systemic correlates of crime and the theoretical needs for prevention. Social changes in China since the start of the second revolution; Theoretical linkage between development and crime; Individual and systematic factors related to international commonalities in crime.

The authors discuss the prevalence and challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes in Hong Kong, China, including in regard to the prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes. An overview of the role diabetes screening plays in identifying the risk factors associated with the disease is provided.

Objectives: Divided zygoma (DZ) occurs in contemporaneous human populations, with the highest incidences in people from East Asia and Southern Africa. The present study examines the prevalence and variation of this condition in the Holocene populations of Northern China for the first time. Methods: In this study, 1145 skulls from various human populations living in Northern China from the Neolithic Age to recent dynasties (5000‐300 years BP) were examined. Specifically, cranial measurements and a CT scan were conducted to quantify craniofacial morphology. Results: Fifteen skulls were identified with DZ, revealing an overall prevalence of 1.3% in the collection, while it was determined to be higher in North Asian and Northeast Asian regional groups. In skulls with unilateral DZ, the superior division of the zygoma was generally slender, while the inferior division of the zygoma was more robust. In skulls with bilateral DZ, the maxillae were generally more laterally extended. Moreover, unilateral DZ skulls displayed differences in cortical bone thickness between two sides of the facial skeleton. Discussion: In context, the distribution pattern within these data points toward a greater prevalence of the DZ phenotype in North and Northeast Asian regional groups, suggesting a hypothesis that the DZ trait is more frequent in populations characterized by flat and broad faces. Accordingly, further studies into the DZ condition will deepen our understanding of developments in plasticity, variation, and recent evolution of the human cranium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human infections with the avian influenza A(H7N9) virus were first reported in China in 2013 and continued to occur in annual waves. In the 2016/2017 fifth wave, Yangtze River Delta (YRD) lineage viruses, which differed antigenically from those of earlier waves, predominated. In this phase 2 double-blinded trial we randomized 720 adults ≥ 19 years of age to receive two injections of a YRD lineage inactivated A/Hong Kong/125/2017 fifth-wave H7N9 vaccine, given 21 days apart, at doses of 3.75, 7.5, and 15 µg of hemagglutinin (HA) with AS03A adjuvant and at doses of 15 and 45 µg of HA without adjuvant. Two doses of adjuvanted vaccine were required to induce HA inhibition (HI) antibody titers ≥ 40 in most participants. After two doses of the 15 µg H7N9 formulation, given with or without AS03 adjuvant, the proportion achieving a HI titer ≥ 40 against the vaccine strain at 21 days after the second vaccination was 65 % (95 % CI, 57 %-73 %) and 0 % (95 % CI, 0 %-4%), respectively. Among those who received two doses of the 15 µg adjuvanted formulation the proportion with HI titer ≥ 40 at 21 days after the second vaccination was 76 % (95 % CI, 66 %-84 %) in those 19–64 years of age and 49 % (95 % CI, 37 %-62 %) in those ≥ 65 years of age. Responses to the adjuvanted vaccine formulations did not vary by HA content. Antibody responses declined over time and responses against drifted H7N9 strains were diminished. Overall, the vaccines were well tolerated but, as expected, adjuvanted vaccines were associated with more frequent solicited systemic and local adverse events. AS03 adjuvant improved the immune responses to an inactivated fifth–wave H7N9 influenza vaccine, particularly in younger adults, but invoked lower responses to drifted H7N9 strains. These findings may inform future influenza pandemic preparedness strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grazing causes changes in microbiome metabolic pathways affecting plant growth and soil physicochemical properties. However, how grazing intensity affects microbial processes is poorly understood. In semiarid steppe grassland in northern China, shotgun metagenome sequencing was used to investigate variations in soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling-related genes after six years of the following grazing intensities: G0, control, no grazing; G1, 170 sheep days ha−1 year−1; G2, 340 sheep days ha−1 year−1; and G3, 510 sheep days ha−1 year−1. Taxa and functions of the soil microbiome associated with the C cycle decreased with increasing grazing intensity. Abundances of genes involved in C fixation and organic matter decomposition were altered in grazed sites, which could effects on vegetation decomposition and soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content. Compared with the control, the abundances of nitrification genes were higher in G1, but the abundances of N reduction and denitrification genes were lower, suggesting that light grazing promoted nitrification, inhibited denitrification, and increased soil NO 3 − content. Q-PCR further revealed that the copies of genes responsible for carbon fixation (cbbL) and denitrification (norB) decreased with increasing grazing intensity. The highest copy numbers of the nitrification genes AOA and AOB were in G1, whereas copy numbers of the denitrification gene nirK were the lowest. A multivariate regression tree indicated that changes in C fixation genes were linked to changes in soil DOC content, whereas soil NO 3 − content was linked with nitrification and denitrification under grazing. Thus, genes associated with C fixation and the N cycle affected how C fixation and N storage influenced soil physicochemical properties under grazing. The findings indicate that grazing intensity affected C and N metabolism. Proper grassland management regimes (e.g., G1) are beneficial to the balances between ecological protection of grasslands and plant production in the semiarid steppe. • Grazing intensity affected soil microbial carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) metabolism. • Grazing affected C cycling by increasing C fixation and decreasing C decomposition. • Dissolved organic C was the predominant driver of changes in soil C fixation. • Changes in soil nitrate content under grazing impacted the N cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the developmental courses of both implicit and explicit racial biases in relation to the perceived social status of outgroups. We did so by assessing these biases among Chinese participants (N = 200, age range from 4- to 19-year-olds) toward 2 different other-race groups that differ in terms of perceived social status (i.e., Whites and Blacks). At the youngest age, children showed both implicit anti-White and anti-Black bias at similar levels. However, these biases had different patterns of age-related change: implicit anti-Black bias remained strong and stable over time, whereas implicit anti-White bias declined after age 10. For explicit bias, children showed a decline in anti-Black and anti-White bias. Implicit and explicit biases were uncorrelated at all ages. The observed age-related changes demonstrate that it is possible for patterns of biases toward different races to diverge with age, and that perceived social status may contribute to the differential developmental patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the debate regarding the association of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China or Taiwan in participating in the operations of the World Health Organization (WHO). Both countries are always fighting in the WHO Assembly for the right to bring political and scientific delegates in the various processes of the WHO. China and Taiwan are encouraged to work together in providing health care systems as the threats of several pandemic are seen.

Thermodynamics is a powerful tool for the study of system development and has the potential to be applied to studies of ecological complexity. Here, we develop a set of thermodynamic indicators including energy capture and energy dissipation to quantify plant community self-organization. The study ecosystems included a tropical seasonal rainforest, an artificial tropical rainforest, a rubber plantation, and two Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M. King & H. Robinson communities aged 13 years and 1 year. The communities represent a complexity transect from primary vegetation, to transitional community, economic plantation, and fallows and are typical for Xishuangbanna, southwestern China. The indicators of ecosystem self-organization are sensitive to plant community type and seasonality, and demonstrate that the tropical seasonal rainforest is highly self-organized and plays an important role in local environmental stability via the land surface thermal regulation. The rubber plantation is at a very low level of self-organization as quantified by the thermodynamic indicators, especially during the dry season. The expansion of the area of rubber plantation and shrinkage of tropical seasonal rainforest would likely induce local surface warming and a larger daily temperature range. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To avoid excessive chemical-fertilizer application and improve agricultural productivity in rice, a fertilizer recommendation system called Nutrient Expert® (NE) was designed. However, the ability of NE to balance yield, profitability and environmental sustainability in rice production needs to be further evaluated, as it is still difficult for farmers to assess the proper nitrogen (N) application rate. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the advantages of the NE system in balancing yield, profitability and N loss in rice production, and recommend proper N application rates for different cropping seasons of rice. This study describes results from field experiments conducted in five main rice cropping provinces from 2017 to 2020 in China, to investigate any advantages of NE compared with local farmers' practice (FP), and to determine the proper N application rates for different cropping seasons of rice. Compared with FP, NE had 12.1% lower N-fertilizer application, but increased rice grain yield by 4.3% and net profit by 7.4%, and decreased yield-scaled N loss by 20.7%. We showed how yield, profitability and N loss were affected by N balance (i.e., N applied to the field minus N removed from the field by the harvested crop biomass), and quantified relationships between N balance and N application rate, and between N output and input. Based on relationships between N balance and N application rate, we recommend N application rates in a range from 122 to 214 kg ha−1, depending on cropping seasons of rice. We demonstrated that NE can simultaneously improve yield, profitability and environmental sustainability. Our study provided quantitative support for NE-based recommendations on the N application rate for smallholders farming in different rice cropping systems, and these recommendations can serve as a reference for avoiding excessive N application rate in paddy fields in other regions with similar eco-environment. [Display omitted] • Smallholder rice growers in China apply too much nitrogen (N) fertilizer, given their realized yields. • Using Nutrient Expert® (NE) as advisory system for scientific fertilization helps reduce economic loss and ecological risk. • NE maintained rice yields, increased net profit while decreasing N loss. • Sustainable N application rates were 122–214 kg ha−1 for rice. • NE optimizes agronomic practice that balances yield, profitability and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]