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Drawing upon a comprehensive dataset encompassing Chinese publicly traded enterprises across the two-decade span from 2000 to 2020, this article analyzes the effects of external economic policy variations on the productivity of Chinese enterprises. The consequences show that when facing the aggravation of external variations in economic policy, enterprises prefer to enhance total factor productivity and labor productivity to reduce the risk caused by the expansion of external uncertainty. Moreover, the greater the degree of internationalization of an enterprise, the higher its vulnerability to variations in external economic policies. The mechanism test shows that for enterprises that only participate in domestic circulation, external economic policy fluctuations improve productivity by affecting the operating environment; however, when enterprises join in the dual circulation, the fluctuations will promote productivity by affecting the scale of enterprises’ overseas business instead. First published online 6 November 2024

The optimization of the energy structure is a crucial element in the development of green and low-carbon economies and societies. Market-based environmental regulations, such as carbon emissions trading, play a significant role in facilitating this transition. This study analyzes panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2007 to 2020. It empirically examines the impact and mechanism of carbon emissions trading pilot schemes on the transformation of energy consumption structure at the macro level, using the difference-in-differences method. The research findings indicate that provinces with carbon emissions trading pilots have experienced significant reductions in carbon emissions and carbon intensity, demonstrating clear emission reduction effects. Additionally, the transformation process of energy consumption structure has been notably accelerated, highlighting the correlation between initial carbon emissions trading and the regional energy utilization framework. Furthermore, in our extended mechanism analysis, we introduce two new variables - green finance and environmental regulation. Our analysis reveals that the level of green finance in carbon emissions trading pilot provinces significantly influences the degree of carbon emissions in these areas. Additionally, environmental regulation has a significant positive impact on the optimization of energy consumption structure.

Early childhood caries (ECC) is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases affecting children worldwide, and thus its etiology, diagnosis, and prognosis are of particular clinical significance. This study aims to test the ability of salivary microbiome and electrolytes in diagnosing ECC, and their interplays within the same population. We here simultaneously profiled salivary microbiome and biochemical components of 331 children (166 caries-free (H group) and 165 caries-active children (C group)) aged 4-6 years. We identified both salivary microbial and biochemical dysbiosis associated with ECC. Remarkably, K+, Cl-, NH4+, Na+, SO42-, Ca2+, Mg2+, and Br- were enriched while pH and NO3- were depleted in ECC. Moreover, the dmft index (ECC severity) positively correlated with Cl-, NH4+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Br-, while negatively with pH and NO3-. Furthermore, machine-learning classification models were constructed based on these biomarkers from saliva microbiota, or electrolytes (and pH). Unexpectedly, the electrolyte-based classifier (AUROC = 0.94) outperformed microbiome-based (AUROC = 0.70) one and the composite-based one (with both microbial and biochemical data; AUC = 0.89) in predicting ECC. Collectively, these findings indicate ECC-associated alterations and interplays in the oral microbiota, electrolytes and pH, underscoring the necessity of developing diagnostic models with predictors from salivary electrolytes.