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Abstract Human–object interaction (HOI) detection, which localises and recognises interactions between human and object, requires high‐level image and scene understanding. Recent methods for HOI detection typically utilise transformer‐based architecture to build unified future representation. However, these methods use random initial queries to predict interactive human–object pairs, leading to a lack of prior knowledge. Furthermore, most methods provide unified features to forecast interactions using conventional decoder structures, but they lack the ability to build efficient multi‐task representations. To address these problems, we propose a novel two‐stage HOI detector called PGCD, mainly consisting of prompt guidance query and cascaded constraint decoders. Firstly, the authors propose a novel prompt guidance query generation module (PGQ) to introduce the guidance‐semantic features. In PGQ, the authors build visual‐semantic transfer to obtain fuller semantic representations. In addition, a cascaded constraint decoder architecture (CD) with random masks is designed to build fine‐grained interaction features and improve the model's generalisation performance. Experimental results demonstrate that the authors’ proposed approach obtains significant performance on the two widely used benchmarks, that is, HICO‐DET and V‐COCO.

IntroductionWith industrial transformation and upgrading being essential to attaining sustainable growth, the pursuit of green development has grown in importance on a global scale.MethodsThis study employs a sample dataset from 2011 to 2021, utilizing the national Industrial Transformation and Upgrading Zones (ITUZ) policy interventions of 2017 and 2019 as a quasi-natural experiment. Employing a difference-in-differences approach, this paper investigates the impact and underlying mechanisms of these policies on green technology innovation, as well as their heterogeneity across different urban contexts.ResultsThe results indicate that the ITUZ policy substantially improves green technology innovation in the designated cities, a conclusion that persists across multiple robustness assessments. Subsequent mechanistic research reveals that financial development and the enhancement of industrial structures are essential avenues for the realization of green technology innovation. The heterogeneity study highlights the policy’s significant impact on green technology innovation in eastern cities, uniform demonstration zones, and old industrial cities.DiscussionThis study finishes with practical implications for policy design, indicating that it is essential to extract and share the beneficial experiences from pilot cities during the establishment of demonstration zones. It underscores the importance of synchronizing urban development policies with local characteristics to investigate varied and successful approaches for advancing green technology innovation. This research offers critical insights for policymakers and urban planners in guiding the transition of older industrial and resource-based cities toward a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future.

IntroductionThe implementation of energy-consuming right trading (ECRT) policy in 2017 is a major measure to promote the construction of ecological civilization and green development, which also aligns with the global trend towards sustainable energy management and carbon emission reduction.MethodsBased on energy consumption data in China from 2010 to 2021, this paper utilizes the Difference-in-Differences (DID) method to assess the extent and process of the impact of energy consuming right trading policy on the low-carbon transition of the energy structure. The transmission mechanism of industrial structure upgrading and the new-quality productive forces in the impact process was discussed, and the regulatory role of environmental regulations was tested.ResultsThe findings indicate: 1) ECRT has a strong driving effect on the low-carbon transition of the energy structure. 2) ECRT can promote low-carbon transition of the energy structure through the dual channel of promoting industrial structure upgrading and new quality productive forces. 3) The influence of ECRT on the low-carbon transition of the energy structure is different in different regions, and the higher degree of industrial agglomeration and renewable energy-rich regions are more significantly promoted by new quality productivity. 4) Environmental regulation has a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between ECRT and low-carbon transition of the energy structure. 5) Furthermore, the exploratory analysis reveals that the positive impacts of ECRT policies on the low-carbon Transition of the energy structure translates into higher green total factor productivity and lower environmental pollution, which promotes the sustainable development of the low-carbon Transition of the energy structure.DiscussionThis paper responds to the basic question of whether energy use rights policies can promote the low-carbon Transition of the energy structure, and provides empirical evidence and policy reference not only for the development of China’s environmental policy and the direction of energy consumption but also for the international community’s efforts in sustainable energy and environmental governance.

IntroductionGovernment-business relations are a concentrated manifestation of the interaction process and outcomes between the government and enterprises, directly influencing the social capital and institutional environment upon which businesses rely. Sound government-business relations are crucial for addressing environmental issues and promoting high-quality development in China.MethodsThis study extensively examines how New Government-business Relations (NGR) impact Corporate Environmental Performance (CEP) by analyzing A-share listed companies from 2017 to 2021 and applying the regulatory capture theory.ResultsThe empirical findings show that NGR can prevent environmental regulatory capture, thereby improving CEP. After conducting several robustness tests, such as substituting the dependent variable, using instrumental variables, and performing dynamic panel analysis, the results remain consistent. Additionally, the mechanism analysis reveals that NGR can effectively thwart environmental regulatory capture resulting from rent-seeking behavior and political connections, leading to enhanced CEP. Moreover, additional research indicates that the beneficial impact of the NGR on the environmental performance of non-high-pollution industry enterprises, mature enterprises, and businesses operating in regions with stringent environmental regulations is more significant.DiscussionBuilding on prior literature, this paper augments the body of relevant research on environmental regulatory capture within the Chinese context, offering fresh insights and empirical evidence to comprehend the evolving government-business relations in contemporary times and their significance in environmental conservation.

BackgroundResidents’ health plays an important role in economic prosperity and national development.MethodsThe research analyzes data from 262 prefecture-level cities in China spanning the period from 2010 to 2021. Utilizing the implementation of green credit policy in China as a quasi-natural experiment, the paper employs the time-varying Differences-in- Differences (DID) model to evaluate the influence of green credit policy on residents’ health.ResultsThe paper results show that: (1) the green credit policy significantly improves residents’ health, and this conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. (2) Mechanism analysis reveals that the green credit policy affects residents’ health through the improvements of the environment and the elevation of public services standards in demonstration cities. (3) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of green credit policy on residents’ health is more significant in the western cities and resource-based cities than in the central-eastern cities and non-resource-based cities. This paper explains the specific path and realization of green credit policy to enhance residents’ health, which provides a reference for further designing and improving effective green credit policy.DiscussionThe deficiencies within the green credit policy has resulted in limited improvements. It is recommended that China should broaden the ambit of the green credit policy and refine the criteria for its execution.

Energy conservation is a key way for China to achieve the goal of “carbon peaking” and “carbon neutrality” goals. Based on the panel data of 152 resource-based and old industrial cities (RBOI cities) in China from 2010 to 2021, this study explores the effect of national industrial transformation and upgrading demonstration zones (ITUDZ) on city's energy consumption and its mechanism channel using a time-varying difference-in-differences method. The results show that: (1) The ITUDZ significantly reduce the city's energy consumption. And the result still robust after a series of robustness tests. (2) Mechanism analyses show that the ITUDZ mainly rely on optimizing the industrial structure and improving the green innovation to reduce energy consumption. Moreover, this energy-saving effect can be enhanced by the market-oriented reform. (3) Heterogeneity analyses find that the energy-saving effect of ITUDZ on the eastern China and multi-city zones are significantly stronger than that of the central-western China and single-city zones. This study provides new evidence to understand the effect of industrial place-based policy on energy conservation. It provides a reference for the realization of green development in China.

Energy-consuming rights trading (ECRT) policy represents a critical policy instrument for China striving to achieve its “dual carbon” objectives, captivating significant attention for its potential to reduce pollution and carbon emissions. This study utilizes panel data from 290 Chinese cities spanning 2010 to 2021, leveraging the ECRT policy as a quasi-natural experiment. Employing Difference-in-Differences (DID) and Propensity Score Matching-Difference-in-Differences (PSM-DID) methodologies, we assess the effect of the ECRT policy on urban pollution and carbon reduction levels. The findings indicate: 1) Relative to non-demonstration cities, the ECRT policy significantly enhances pollution and carbon reduction levels in demonstration cities; this conclusion remains robust after rigorous testing. 2) Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the policy’s effect on pollution and carbon reduction is more significant in the central and western regions, and particularly evident in key and resource-based cities. 3) Mechanism tests demonstrate that the policy facilitates urban pollution and carbon reduction by cultivating green technological innovation and industrial structure upgrading. Therefore, to further advance the ECRT policy, it is necessary to expand the breadth, depth, and flexibility of policy implementation, while also optimizing environmental regulations to fully leverage the system’s potential in enhancing urban pollution and carbon emissions.

Improving the residents’ health is an important strategy for addressing the declining population dividend in China under the new development paradigm. Based on the panel data of 290 prefecture-level cities in China from 2010 to 2021, this paper uses environmental tax as a quasi-natural experiment, and adopts a DID model to explore the impact of market-based environmental regulation on the residents’ health. The results show that the implementation of environmental tax can significantly reduce the population mortality rate, indicating an enhancement in residents’ health outcomes. Mechanism analysis shows that environmental tax mainly relies on air quality to improve the residents’ health. Also, the heath effect of environmental tax will be effective with the increase of income, and it’s stronger in administrative border areas. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the effect of environmental tax on residents’ health in western regions and resource-based cities is significantly stronger than those in central and eastern regions and non-resource-based cities. This paper provides new evidence for a comprehensive understanding of the impact of market-based environmental regulations on residents’ well-being, offering insights for the implementation of green development strategies.

Public health is an important symbol of national wealth and prosperity. At present, China's public health is hindered by the poor management of public hospitals, which impacts the demographic structure and socioeconomic development. Therefore, taking the implementation of public hospital reform in China as a quasi-natural experiment, this study employed the time-varying DID model and the mediating effect to evaluate the influence of public hospital reform on public health. The results were as follows: (1) Public hospital reform can significantly improve public health, and a series of robustness tests have also confirmed the effects; (2) Government's financial support is a transmission mechanism for public hospital reform to promote public health; (3) After taking control variables into consideration, the effect of public hospital reform is stronger in the western region with a poorer economy. This research provides a vital policy reference for promoting the scope of reform and improving the health of the general public.

As a measure to promote the reform of China’s ecological civilization system, the energy-consuming right trading policy has great potential to reduce pollutant emissions and achieve green development in China. Based on the panel data of 254 cities in China from 2005 to 2019, this paper uses difference-in-differences (DID) model and super-efficiency slacks-based measure (Super-SBM) to investigate the impact of energy-consuming right trading policy on the efficiency of urban green development. The findings are as follows. i) The energy-consuming right trading policy can significantly promote the efficiency of urban green development. The conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. ii) The energy-consuming right trading policy can improve the efficiency of urban green development by promoting green technology innovation. This finding supports the Porter Hypothesis. iii) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the energy-consuming right trading policy can significantly improve the green development efficiency of cities in the eastern region. On the contrary, there is no significant effect on the green development efficiency of cities in the central and western regions. The government should expand the scope of energy-consuming right trading policy implementation according to local conditions. At the same time, the government should also stimulate enterprises to innovate green technologies and maximize the effect of the energyconsuming right trading policy on the efficiency of green development.

Residents' health is the basic condition for economic and social development. At present, China's environmental pollution problem is becoming increasingly serious, which not only hinders sustainable economic and social development, but also poses a major threat to public health. Therefore, based on the carbon emissions trading policy implemented in China, this paper explores this policy's impact on residents' health using the DID model and illustrates the moderating effect of environmental pollution. The results show that (1) carbon emissions trading policies can promote the improvement of residents' health; (2) the effect is stronger for western regions and provinces with smaller population sizes after taking control variables into consideration; and (3) environmental pollution has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between carbon emissions trading and residents' health. This research serves as an important reference for expanding the scope of the policy pilot, reducing pollutant emissions, and improving the health of the population.

Air pollution significantly impacts sustainable development and public health. Taking the implementation of China's Environmental Protection Tax Law in China as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper employs the difference-in-differences (DID) and spatial DID models to evaluate the effects of environmental tax reform on urban air pollution. The findings are as follows. (1) Environmental tax reform can significantly reduce urban air pollution, and a series of robustness tests have also been conducted to provide further evidence. (2) Green technology innovation and industrial structure upgrading from a vital transmission mechanism for environmental tax reform to improve air quality. (3) Environmental tax reform significantly inhibits urban air pollution in cities located north of the Qinling-Huaihe line and big cities. (4) Moreover, environmental tax reform not only promotes the improvement of local air quality but also has a significant negative spatial spillover effect, reducing air pollution in neighboring cities. The research conclusions provide theoretical support and policy suggestions for promoting sustainable economic development, rationally optimizing environmental protection tax policies and improving urban air quality.

Environmental tax, as an essential part of China's green tax reform, plays a key role in promoting the construction of an ecological society. To empirically test the policy effect of environmental taxes, this study used the panel data from 274 prefecture-level cities for the period 2012-2020 to explore whether the implementation of environmental tax can reduce the intensity of industrial water pollution. The main results are as follows: (1) The implementation of environmental tax can significantly reduce the emission of industrial water pollution, and the policy effect has shown a persistent trend. (2) In terms of heterogeneity, we find that the impact of environmental tax on reducing industrial water pollution is higher in central-western regions. (3) Mechanism analysis shows that the policy effect of environmental tax is mainly through channels such as enhancing law enforcement rigidity and improving local green innovation. Our findings provide new evidence for understanding the green dividend effect of environmental tax and provide significant policy implications for China's ecological society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental information disclosure (EID) is an important measure to promote multiple subjects' collaborative management of pollution emissions. In this paper, we first measure the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of 282 cities in China from 2006 to 2020, and clarify the theoretical mechanisms and transmission channels of EID affecting CO2. Subsequently, the Time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) and the mediation effect model are used to assess the impact of EID on CO2 and its transmission mechanism, respectively. The study shows that although EID is a voluntary environmental regulation, the policy significantly reduces CO2, and this reduction effect has regional and low-carbon policy intensity heterogeneity. The study also shows that green technology innovation and energy intensity mediate the carbon reduction effect of EID. This study has important reference significance for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the quality of economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalization is becoming a new driving force for green economic growth (GEG) to promote China's realization of the "dual carbon" goal and the green transformation of economic development. Using a Chinese provincial panel dataset from 2003 to 2019, we empirically test the effect and mechanism of digital empowerment for GEG from the perspective of supply and demand, paying special attention to the impact of green complexity on the relationship between the two. Benchmark regression shows that digitalization is positively empowering GEG and that green technological progress is the main driving force for digitalization to promote dynamic GEG. The mechanism test results show, from the perspective of supply and demand, that digitalization promotes GEG by improving carbon productivity and environmental protection consciousness. Furthermore, green complexity significantly moderates the promoting effect of digitalization on GEG. The heterogeneity results indicate that digitalization in the eastern and western regions has a significant promoting effect on GEG but that digitalization inhibits GEG in the central region; there is obvious regional heterogeneity. Our robustness test supports the above conclusion. This research deepens our understanding of how digitalization can promote GEG and the important role of green complexity in green growth, and the results provides a theoretical basis and practical guidance for governments to formulate green growth plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green technology innovation plays an important role in achieving high-quality economic development in China. It is of great theoretical value and practical significance to study the effect of the Energy-consuming Right Trading Policy (ERTP) on green technology innovation. Based on the panel data of 279 cities in China from 2006 to 2020, this paper analyzes the effect of the ERTR on urban green technology innovation capacity (GTIC) by using the difference-in-differences (DID) model. The study shows that the ERTR can significantly improve urban GTIC and validates the “Weak Porter Hypothesis”. After a series of robustness tests, this conclusion still holds. Furthermore, the mechanism analysis shows that the ERTP can promote urban GTIC through industrial structure upgrading. In addition, the heterogeneity analysis indicates that the ERTR can significantly improve the GTIC of eastern cities and non-resource cities. This paper fills the gap of related studies and provides an important reference for improving the ERTP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe syndrome lacking efficient therapy and resulting in high morbidity and mortality. Although resveratrol (RES), a natural phytoalexin, has been reported to protect the ALI by suppressing the inflammatory response, the detailed mechanism of how RES affected the immune system is poorly studied. Pulmonary conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) are critically involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory lung diseases including ALI. In this study, we aimed to investigate the protective role of RES via pulmonary cDCs in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI mice. Murine ALI model was established by intratracheally challenging with 5 mg/kg LPS. We found that RES pretreatment could mitigate LPS-induced ALI. Additionally, proinflammatory-skewed cytokines decreased whereas anti-inflammatory-related cytokines increased in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid by RES pretreatment. Mechanistically, RES regulated pulmonary cDCs’ maturation and function, exhibiting lower level of CD80, CD86, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) II expression, and IL-10 secretion in ALI mice. Furthermore, RES modulated the balance between proinflammation and antiinflammation of cDCs. Moreover, in vitro RES pretreatment regulated the maturation and function of bone marrow derived dendritic cells (BMDCs). Finally, the adoptive transfer of RES-pretreated BMDCs enhanced recovery of ALI. Thus, these data might further extend our understanding of a protective role of RES in regulating pulmonary cDCs against ALI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common malignancy caused by environmental and genetic factors. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of short non-coding RNAs with posttranscriptional regulatory functions. They participate in diverse biological pathways and function as gene regulators. Genetic polymorphisms in 3′ untranslated regions (3′ UTRs) targeted by miRNAs alter the strength of miRNA binding, with consequences on regulation of target genes thereby affecting the individual's cancer risk. We have previously predicted polymorphisms falling in miRNA-binding regions of cancer genes. We selected an insertion/deletion (Indel) polymorphism (rs3783553) in the 3′ UTR of interleukin (IL)-1α (IL1A) for a case–control study in a Chinese population. With samples from 403 HCC patients and 434 healthy control individuals, strong evidence of association was observed for the variant homozygote. This association was validated in a second independent case–control study with 1074 HCC patients and 1239 healthy control individuals (odds ratio = 0.62; 95% confidence interval = 0.49–0.78). We further show that the ‘TTCA’ insertion allele for rs3783553 disrupts a binding site for miR-122 and miR-378, thereby increasing transcription of IL-1α in vitro and in vivo. These findings suggest that functional polymorphism rs3783553 in IL1A could contribute to HCC susceptibility. Considering IL-1α affects not only various phases of the malignant process, such as carcinogenesis, tumor growth and invasiveness, but also patterns of interactions between malignant cells and the host's immune system, our results indicated that IL-1α may be a promising target for immunotherapy, early diagnosis and intervention of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To clearly describe the structural characteristics of China's rare earth innovation network (REIN), this study used data on China's rare earth patents since 2001 in the Incopat global patent database to analyze the structural characteristics of China's REIN from 2001 to 2020 at the provincial and municipal levels using social network analysis. The study finds the following: (1) The overall characteristics of the network show that the connectivity and diversification of China's REIN is increasing. (2) The network spatial pattern analysis shows that the REIN exhibits a radial spatial pattern centered on Beijing at both the provincial and municipal levels. (3) Research on network nodes shows that the network is dense in eastern regions and sparse in western regions, showing distinct characteristics of coastal and resource agglomeration. Not all regions with high levels of economic development play leading roles in the REIN. Small and medium-sized cities with abundant rare earth resources also play important leading roles due to their high levels of rare earth innovation. At the provincial and municipal levels, the REIN consists of four subgroups, among which there is not significant factional diversity. (4) In terms of influencing factors, economic development level, technology absorptive capacity, innovation output level, infrastructure, and market leadership have significant impacts at the provincial and municipal levels. In addition, government leadership, industrial structure, and education level have significant impacts at the municipal level. The study clarified China's technological accumulation in the field of rare earths and provided practical guidance for the innovative development of China's rare earth industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]