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The accountability audit of natural resources (AANR) is a major institutional arrangement for advancing the construction of an ecological civilization in China. Based on the panel data of 271 cities in China from 2005 to 2017, this paper investigates the relationship between the AANR and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions using a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model. The results show that AANR significantly increases the CO2 emission reduction rate by 0.009 units at the 5% significance level. The results still hold after a series of robustness tests. Given all else being equal, this significant effect is 0.001. Further analyses show that AANR improves pilot cities' CO2 emission reduction rates mainly by enhancing their green innovation capability. The mediating effect of cities' green technology innovation capability accounts for 96.00%, while the AANR's direct effect only accounts for 4.00%. The AANR has significantly positive effects of 0.017% and 0.029% for western cities and cities with high fiscal pressure at the 5% and 1% significance levels, respectively. Therefore, strengthening AANR implementation by enhancing the mediating efficiency of cities' green technology innovations and implementing dynamically differentiated AANR policies in Chinese meso-cities will contribute to the achievement of China's carbon peaking and carbon neutrality targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the super-efficiency data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to measure the higher education resource allocation efficiency (HERAE) of 30 provinces from China 2005-2018, and analyzes the regional difference and dynamic evolution law of the HERAE with Theil index and kernel density estimation, respectively. The results show that: The HERAEs of most provinces are DEA effective, but the HERAEs of a few provinces are DEA ineffective, calling for further improvement to the allocation of higher education resources in these places. There was a certain difference in the HERAE trend between eastern, central, and western regions. In the sample period, eastern region had higher HERAE than central and western regions. With the elapse of time, the internal gap of HERAE decreased to different degrees in the three regions. Eastern region had the largest gap, followed in turn by central and western regions. In addition, China's HERAEs were polarized in time. With the passage of time, the polarization of regional HERAEs slowly weakened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the method of minimum distance to the strong frontier is adopted to research the knowledge innovation efficiency of universities in 30 provinces of China during 2005-2015. The greatest strength of this method is that, to a decision-making unit under estimation, improvements in input or output are minimized to reach the cutting edge of production. According to research findings, a significant difference exists in the knowledge innovation efficiency of universities among provinces in China. Provinces with a high efficiency are mostly distributed in the eastern coastal region and provinces with a low efficiency in the hinterland of central and western regions. Judging from region, the efficiency in the eastern region is the highest; the efficiency in the central region is the second highest; the efficiency in the western region is the lowest. Judging from contribution to inefficiency, the contribution to inefficiency made by Human input, Capital input, and technology service declines but the contribution to inefficiency made by paper output and achievement assessment improves. While China practice the plan of revitalizing education, it will focus on the following 5 provinces: Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Guizhou, Gansu, Qinghai. In addition, in the long run, the gap between different provinces has a tendency to be narrowed in the knowledge innovation efficiency of universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly stressed soft rock subject to expansion deformation is particularly difficult to control. Field observations and experiments analysis show that an exhaust air roadway, level 100 of the Xiajing Coal Mine in Guangxi, China, is located in an intumescing rock with high in situ stress. Then we designed a bolt-mesh-anchor coupling support for the roadway repair and reinforcement, which consists of a first coupling support with bolt-mesh and secondary reinforcement with anchor cables. Field monitoring results show that bolt-mesh -cable coupling support has guaranteed the stabilization of the roadway and reduced the deformation of the surrounding rock considerably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at a substantial risk of HIV, given rising HIV prevalence in urban China. Adolescent and adult students often take HIV-related risk as part of sexual exploration. We compared the risks of HIV and syphilis infections and risky sexual behaviors between student and non-student among urban MSM. Methods: Respondent driven sampling approach was used to recruit men who were self-identified as MSM in Chongqing Metropolitan City in southwestern China in 2009. Each participant completed a computer-assisted self-interview which collected demographic and behavioral data, and provided blood specimens for HIV and syphilis testing. Multivariable logistic regression analyses identified predictors for HIV and syphilis infections while comparing student and non-student MSM. Results: Among 503 MSM participants, 36.4% were students, of whom 84.2% were in college. The adjusted prevalence of HIV infection was 5.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.1%-10.2%) in students and 20.9% (95% CI: 13.7%-27.5%) in nonstudents; the adjusted prevalence of syphilis was 4.4% (95% CI: 0.7%-9.0%) in students and 7.9% (95% CI: 3.6%-12.9%) in non-students (P = 0.12). Two groups had similar risky sexual behaviors such as number of sexual partners and exchanging sex for money. Multivariate analysis showed that students had lower HIV prevalence than non-students (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.3; 95% CI: 0.1-0.8) adjusting for age, ethnicity and other variables. Conclusion: Student MSM have lower HIV and similar syphilis prevalence compared with non-student MSM. However, due to a shorter duration of sexual experience and high prevalence of at-risk sexual behaviors among student MSM, HIV risk might be quite high in students as in non-students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Undiagnosed HIV presents great potential for the spread of infection. The authors identify the prevalence and correlates of never testing and being unaware of HIV infection in Beijing men who have sex with men (MSM). Methods Cross-sectional biological and behavioural survey using respondent-driven sampling; 500 MSM were included. Results HIV prevalence was 7.2% with 86.1% unaware of their infection; 33.2% had never tested. Never testing was associated with lower educational (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.6, 95% CI (CI) 1.1 to 2.5), living in Beijing for ⩽3 years (AOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.0 to 2.3), unprotected anal intercourse with most recent male partner (AOR 1.6, 95% CI 1.0 to 2.4), being unaware of the most recent male partner's HIV status (AOR 3.6, 95% CI 2.1 to 6.1) and holding stigmatised attitudes towards persons with HIV (AOR 1.1 per scale point, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.1). Predictors of having undiagnosed HIV infection were being married (AOR 2.4, 95% CI 1.0 to 5.4), living in Beijing for ⩽3 years (AOR 3.6, 95% CI 1.5 to 8.4), being unaware of the most recent male partner's HIV status (AOR 6.8, 95% CI 0.9 to 51.6) and holding negative attitudes towards safe sex (AOR 1.1 per scale point, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.1). Conclusions Recent attention has focused on HIV prevention interventions that depend upon knowing one's serostatus, including viral load suppression, prevention with positives, pre-exposure prophylaxis and seroadaptation. Until the low level of testing and resulting high level of undiagnosed HIV infection are addressed, these tools are not likely to be effective for MSM in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although various HIV prevention programs targeting men who have sex with men (MSM) are operating in China, whether and how these programs are being utilized is unclear. This study explores participation of HIV prevention programs and influencing factors among MSM in two cities in China. Methods: This is a mixed-method study conducted in Beijing and Chongqing. A qualitative study consisting of in-depth interviews with 54 MSM, 11 key informants, and 8 focus group discussions, a cross-sectional survey using respondent-driven sampling among 998 MSM were conducted in 2009 and 2010 respectively to elicit information on MSM's perception and utilization of HIV prevention programs. Qualitative findings were integrated with quantitative multivariate factors to explain the quantitative findings. Results: Fifty-six percent of MSM in Chongqing and 75.1% in Beijing ever participated in at least one type of HIV prevention program (P=0.001). Factors related to participation in HIV prevention programs included age, ethnicity, income, HIV risk perception, living with boyfriend, living in urban area, size of MSM social network, having talked about HIV status with partners, and knowing someone who is HIV positive. Reasons why MSM did not participate in HIV prevention programs included logistical concerns like limited time for participation and distance to services; program content and delivery issues such as perceived low quality services and distrust of providers; and, cultural issues like HIV-related stigma and low risk perception. Conclusions: The study shows that there is much room for improvement in reaching MSM in China. HIV prevention programs targeting MSM in China may need to be more comprehensive and incorporate the cultural, logistic and HIV-related needs of the population in order to effectively reach and affect this population's risk for HIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied nitrogen (N) resorption efficiencies (NRE), N use efficiencies (NUE), carbon-to-nitrogen ratios of green (C:Ngreen) and senesced (C:Nsenesced) foliage, and foliar litterfall for six tree species under three N treatments (control, no N addition; low N addition, 2.5 g N·m-2·year-1; and high N addition, 5.0 g N·m-2·year-1) in a mixed birch and poplar forest in northeastern China in 2007 and 2008. N additions were initiated in 2006. NRE, NUE, C:Ngreen, and C:Nsenesced were significantly decreased by N additions and tended to decrease with increasing N addition treatments. N additions significantly increased foliar litterfall of Acer mono Maxim., Betula platyphylla Sukatschev, Pinus koraiensis Siebold & Zucc., and Populus davidiana Dode and slightly altered litterfall of Fraxinus mandschurica Rupr. and Populus koreana Rehder. High N addition changed foliar litterfall of A. mono, F. mandschurica, P. davidiana, and P. koreana more than low N addition, whereas an opposite pattern was found for B. platyphylla and P. koraiensis. Our study showed that foliar litterfall responses to N additions varied among tree species, but this could not be predicted by the interspecific differences in NRE, NUE, C:Ngreen, and C:Nsenesced under each of the three N treatments. Nous avons étudié l'efficacité de la résorption de l'azote (N) (ERN), l'efficacité de l'utilisation de N (EUN), le rapport carbone (C) à l'azote du feuillage vivant (C:Nvivant) et du feuillage mort (C:Nmort) ainsi que la chute de litière de feuilles chez six espèces d'arbres soumis à trois traitements avec N (aucun apport de N, témoin; apport faible de N, 2,5 g N·m-2·an-1; apport élevé de N, 5 g N·m-2·an-1) dans une forêt mixte de bouleau et de peuplier dans le nord-est de la Chine en 2007 et 2008. Les apports de N ont débuté en 2006. L'ERN et l'EUN ainsi que les rapports C:Nvivant et C:Nmort étaient significativement réduits par les apports de N et avaient tendance à diminuer avec des apports croissants de N. Les apports de N ont significativement augmenté la chute de litière de feuilles d'Acer mono Maxim., de Betula platyphylla Sukatschev, de Pinus koraiensis Siebold & Zucc. et de Populus davidiana Dode et légèrement modifié la chute de litière de Fraxinus mandshurica Rupr. et de Populus koreana Rehder. Un apport élevé de N a davantage modifié la chute de litière de feuilles d'A. mono, de F. mandshurica, de P. davidiana et de P. koreana qu'un faible apport de N alors que l'effet contraire a été observé dans le cas de B. platyphylla et de P. koraiensis. Notre étude a montré que la réponse de la chute de litière de feuilles à des apports de N varie selon l'espèce d'arbre mais elle ne pouvait pas être prédite par les différences interspécifiques de l'ERN, de l'EUN et des rapports C:Nvivant et C:Nmort associées à chacun des traitements avec N. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies the behavior of mid- to long-run real coal price in the Chinese market. The problem is of great importance because the coal takes a 70% share in China's energy mix, and China is the world's second largest carbon emitter. An accurate forecast in coal price is crucial in predicting China's future energy consumption mix as well as the private sector's energy-type-related investment decisions. In estimation and forecasting, the shifting trend time-series model suggested by Robert Pindyck is used to capture the technological progress that is unobservable to the econometrician. It is found that the shifting trend model with continuous and random changes in price level and trend outperforms plain vanilla ARIMA models. It is argued that the model postulated by Pindyck is robust even in a transition economy where energy prices are subject to relatively rigid regulatory control. Out-of-sample forecasts are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Foliar litter decomposition of nine species in broadleaf-mixed Korean pine plantation forests, northeast China was assessed over a 34-month field experiment using litterbag method. Litter mass loss generally followed a sequential decomposition of water-soluble fraction (WSF), acid-soluble fraction (ASF), and acid-insoluble fraction (AIF). WSF decomposition contributed most of litter mass loss in the first 6 months, while ASF accounted for most of litter mass loss thereafter. There existed significant autocorrelations among the initial litter quality indices. Initial N, K, Ca, AIF, AIF/N, ASF/N, and WSF/N were significantly related to the percent remaining of litter mass, N, P, Ca, and Mg in both month 12 and month 34. No litter quality can significantly predict the percent remaining of AIF and K. N and P were immobilized by all litters, but Ca, Mg, and K exhibited minor or no immobilization phase. N was the most limiting element in this forest based on the results of correlation analysis and nutrient elements release dynamics. The relationships between WSF, ASF, and AIF loss and N or P release rate fitted the polynomial regression. The decomposition of WSF and ASF were faster than N and P were mineralized during the study. AIF loss rate relative to N and P loss varied greatly among species, with high-N litter showing slower AIF decomposition rates than N and P. The loss rates of WSF and ASF were in proportion to that of K, Ca, and Mg, while AIF decomposed slower than K, Ca, and Mg. This suggested that the decomposition of WSF and ASF caused the net release of K, Ca, and Mg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the chemical composition of Rhododendron primulaeflorum in China. It notes that the leaves and flowers of this plant help clear away heat, tonify the kidney, and is used for detumescence. Among the compounds identified from the plant include umbelliferone, lyoniside, scopoletin, and ssioriside. It points out that this investigation justifies the therapeutic effect of the plant.

The article offers information regarding the chemical constituents from Rhododendron spinuliferum in China. This evergreen shrub or tree is used in Chinese folk medicine for the treatment of phlegm, cough and asthma. Among the compounds identified include oleanolic acid, quercetin and catechin. It also mentions that these compounds are identified using several spectrographic analysis including ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, mass and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

The high and climbing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) rates among Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM) bring huge pressure and challenge to acquired immune deficiency syndrome response work in China. This study examined HIV-testing behavior and describes the characteristics of recently tested MSM in Chongqing to address targeting HIV prevention interventions. Two consecutive cross-sectional surveys were conducted among Chongqing MSM using respondent-driven sampling in 2009 and 2010. Information was collected regarding details on demographic characteristics, sexual practices with male and female partners, and HIV-testing experiences. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors independently associated with recent HIV testing.The final sample size included in our analyses was 992. The overall HIV prevalence was 13.4%, and HIV prevalence increased significantly from 11.6% in 2009 to 15.4% in 2010 (P = 0.08). The overall rate of HIV testing in the past 12 months was 44.6%, and the self-reported rates decreased significantly from 47.8% in 2009 to 41.1% in 2010 (P = 0.03). Factors independently associated with recent HIV testing included living in Chongqing >1 year (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-2.9), the age of most recent male partner ≤ 25 (AOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1-2.1), not having unprotected insertive anal sex with most recent male partner in the past 6 months (AOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1-2.0), disclosing HIV status to most recent male partner (AOR 2.8, 95% CI 2.0-3.8), and holding lower level of HIV-related stigma (AOR 1.1 per scale point, 95% CI 1.0-1.1). The extremely high HIV prevalence and low annual testing level put MSM at high risk of HIV infection and transmission, and it is a priority to promote regular HIV testing among this group in order to control the spread of HIV in Chongqing, China.