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Incorporating health cobenefits from coabated air pollution into carbon mitigation policy making is particularly important for developing countries to boost policy efficiency. For sectors that highly depend on electrification for decarbonization, it remains unclear how the increased electricity demand and consequent health impacts from sectoral mitigation policy in one province would change the scale and the regional and sectoral distributions of the overall health impacts in the whole country. This study chooses the banning of new sales of internal combustion engine vehicles in the private vehicle sector in China as a case. The results show that, without carbon neutrality and air pollution control goals in electricity generation, 53% of CO

China, with its growing population and economic development, faces increasing risks to health from climate change, but also opportunities to address these risks and protect health for generations to come. Without a timely and adequate response, climate change will impact lives and livelihoods at an accelerated rate. In 2020, the Lancet Countdown Regional Centre in Asia, led by Tsinghua University, built on the work of the global Lancet Countdown and began its assessment of the health profile of climate change in China with the aim of triggering rapid and health-responsive actions. This 2021 report is the first annual update, presenting 25 indicators within five domains: climate change impacts, exposures, and vulnerability; adaptation, planning, and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. The report represents the contributions of 88 experts from 25 leading institutions in, and outside of, China. From 2020 to 2021, five new indicators have been added and methods have been improved for many indicators. Where possible, the indicator results are presented at national and provincial levels to facilitate local understanding and policy making. In a year marked by COVID-19, this report also endeavours to reflect on China's pathway for a green recovery, ensuring it aligns with the carbon neutrality goal, for the health of the current and future generations.

Left unmitigated, climate change poses a catastrophic risk to human health, demanding an urgent and concerted response from every country. The 2015 Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change and The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change have been initiated to map out the impacts of climate change and the necessary policy responses. To meet these challenges, Tsinghua University, partnering with the University College London and 17 Chinese and international institutions, has prepared the Chinese Lancet Countdown report, which has a national focus and builds on the work of the global Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change. Drawing on international methodologies and frameworks, this report aims to deepen the understanding of the links between public health and climate change at the national level and track them with 23 indicators. This work is part of the Lancet's Countdown broader efforts to develop regional expertise on this topic, and coincides with the launch of the Lancet Countdown Regional Centre in Asia, based at Tsinghua University. The data and results of this report are presented at the provincial level, where possible, to facilitate targeted response strategies for local decision-makers. Based on the data and findings of the 2020 Chinese Lancet Countdown report, five recommendations are proposed to key stakeholders in health and climate change in China: (1) Enhance inter-departmental cooperation. Climate change is a challenge that demands an integrated response from all sectors, urgently requiring substantial inter-departmental cooperation among health, environment, energy, economic, financial, and education authorities. (2) Strengthen health emergency preparedness. Knowledge and findings on current and future climate-related health threats still lack the required attention and should be fully integrated into the emergency preparedness and response system. (3) Support research and raise awareness. Additional financial support should be allocated to health and climate change research in China to enhance health system adaptation, mitigation measures, and their health benefits. At the same time, media and academia should be fully motivated to raise the public and politicians' awareness of this topic. (4) Increase climate change mitigation. Speeding up the phasing out of coal is necessary to be consistent with China's pledge to be carbon neutral by 2060 and to continue to reduce air pollution. Fossil fuel subsidies must also be phased out. (5) Ensure the recovery from COVID-19 to protect health now and in the future. China's efforts to recover from COVID-19 will shape public health for years to come. Climate change should be a priority in these interventions.

Although widely recognized as the key to climate goals, coal "phase down" has long been argued for its side effects on energy security and social development. Retrofitting coal power units with biomass and coal co-firing with a carbon capture and storage approach provides an alternative way to avoid these side effects and make deep carbon dioxide emission cuts or even achieve negative emission. However, there is a lack of clear answers to how much the maximum emission reduction potential this approach can unlock, which is the key information to promote this technology on a large scale. Here, we focus on helping China's 4536 coal power units make differentiated retrofit choices based on unit-level heterogeneity information and resource spatial matching results. We found that China's coal power units have the potential to achieve 0.4 Gt of negative CO

China's coal-fired power industry urgently needs deep decarbonization to meet the challenge of climate change. Regional air quality improvement and the health benefits can motivate efforts to achieve low-carbon goals. However, the health cobenefit per amount of carbon reduction may vary drastically across power plant units. The strategy of targeting more health cobenefits has been considered in designing an efficient carbon mitigation pathway, whereas this issue has not been analyzed at the unit level. In this study, an indicator called health benefit by carbon reduction (H/C) was constructed for each power unit to assess the relative potential of obtaining health cobenefits. The results reveal that the distribution of H/C values among units is extremely uneven: the first 1, 5, and 20% of the total carbon emission contributed to nearly 20, 40, and 70%, respectively, of the total health effects. The additional health benefits from H/C optimization were evaluated, and the decommissioning pathway of China's coal-fired power industry for achieving more health benefits was explored.

Given the threats that anthropogenic climate change would pose to human health, tackling climate change is identified to be the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century by the 2015 Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change. The Lancet Countdown was then initiated, as an international and multidisciplinary collaboration dedicated to monitoring the evolving health profile of climate change, and providing an independent assessment of the delivery of commitments made by governments worldwide under the Paris Agreement. The 2019 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change presents an annual update of 41 indicators across five key domains: climate change impacts, exposures, and vulnerability; adaptation, planning, and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. The report represents the findings and consensus of 35 leading academic institutions and UN agencies from every continent. The report warns that current progress is inadequate, and warming is occurring faster than governments are able, or willing to respond. The report concludes that meeting the unprecedented challenge of climate change will require an unprecedented global response, with bold, new approaches to policy making, research, and business. China is the global hotspot in both climate change mitigation and human health protection. Therefore, in addition to the Lancet Countdown global reports, experts from Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University who have been involved in the series of global reports, have been invited to prepare the China policy brief annually to provide a unique national analysis and policy recommendations for health and climate change to the policymakers and the public in China since 2017. The 2019 edition of China policy brief, jointly prepared by experts from Tsinghua University and Sun Yat-sen University, reviewed three indicators mostly related to China’s national conditions, i.e. health impacts of heat, coal phase-out and media coverage of health and climate change, and proposed the following policy recommendations. (1) Conduct vulnerability mapping to understand which populations are most at risk, and implement interventions to safeguard against the acute effects of extreme heat on human health. Curb greenhouse gas emissions to avoid intensification of heatwaves in the longer term. (2) Incorporate the close linkages between climate change, current and future air quality and human health into coal phase-out policymaking. Further enhance the ambition of coal phase-out policy to prevent climate change-driven mete-orological conditions that might worsen air pollution. (3) Media outlets present a key channel for the communication of health risks associated with climate change, spread-ing knowledge of adaptation measures to these adverse impacts, and shaping public perceptions of necessary interven-tions. Health professionals are trusted by the public and should engage with media to further raise awareness of the link-ages between health and climate change and of actionable ways to bring about positive change. (4) With updated Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement due to be submitted by 2020, health considerations should be integrated throughout proposed interventions, with particular consideration of heat adaptation measures, coal and energy policy, and health sector engagement where relevant.

Climate change would pose a range of threat to human health both directly and indirectly. The direct adverse effects of climate change to human health include increased frequency of heatwaves, storms, floods, forest fire and drought. The indirect effects usually mediate through impacts on environmental conditions and ecosystems (e.g., air pollution, food insecurity and under-nutrition, and changing patterns of disease), economies, and social structure (e.g., displacement, migration and conflict). To map out the impacts that climate change is having on human health, and the health consequences of the global policy response, the 2015 Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change and the Lancet Countdown: tracking progress on health and climate change has been initiated, with strong collaboration of world-class expertise from multiple disciplines and leading academic institutions around the world. The 2018 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change tracks 41 indicators across five domains: Climate change impacts, exposures, and vulnerability; adaptation, planning, and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; finance and economics; and public and political engagement. The report warns that a lack of progress in reducing emissions and building adaptive capacity threatens both human lives and the viability of the national health systems they depend on, with the potential to disrupt core public health infrastructure and overwhelm health services. Therefore, the nature and scale of the response to climate change will be the determining factor in shaping the health of nations for centuries to come. China is the global hotspot in both climate change mitigation and human health protection. Thus, in addition to the annual editions of the Lancet Countdown global report, scholars from Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University who have been involved in the series of global reports, are invited to prepare the China policy brief, to provide a unique national analysis and policy recommendations for health and climate change. The 2018 edition of China policy brief, prepared by experts from Tsinghua University and Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, reviewed three indicators mostly related to China’s national conditions, i.e. change in labour capacity, exposure to ambient air pollution and coverage and strength of carbon pricing, and proposed the following policy recommendations: (1) Pay more attention to the labour capacity loss driven by climate change in the policymaking process. Curb greenhouse gas emissions and take effective adaptation measures to manage heat stress at work and avoided unaffordable heat-related economic loss. (2) Prioritize measures that both decrease greenhouse gas emissions and reduce air pollution and its related health costs, and incorporate analysis of those benefits into the climate and air pollution control policymaking process in order to fully realize short-term health co-benefits and prevent climate-change-related meteorological conditions that will worsen air pollution in the long run. (3) Ensure full operation of the national ETS and implement ambitious carbon pricing policy as soon as possible. Fully consider the health co-benefits of carbon pricing, speed up the capacity building process, apply carbon pricing broadly across China without delay, and enhance ambition gradually.

The orphan G protein-coupled receptor G2A has been linked to atherosclerosis development. However, available data from mouse models are controversial. Rat G2A receptor bears more similarities with its human homolog. We proposed that the atherosclerosis model established from Ldlr–/– rat, which has been reported to share more similar phenotypes with the human disease, may help to further understand this lipid receptor. G2A deletion was found markedly aggravated in the lipid disorder in the rat model, which has not been reported in mouse studies. Examination of aortas revealed exacerbated atherosclerotic plaques in G2A deficient rats, together with increased oxidative stress and macrophage accumulation. In addition, consistently promoted migration and apoptosis were noticed in G2A deficient macrophages, even in macrophages from G2A single knockout rats. Further analysis found significantly declined phosphorylation of PI3 kinase (PI3K) and AKT, together with reduced downstream genes Bcl2 and Bcl-xl, suggesting possible involvement of PI3K/AKT pathway in G2A regulation to macrophage apoptosis. These data indicate that G2A modulates atherosclerosis by regulating lipid metabolism and macrophage migration and apoptosis. Our study provides a new understanding of the role of G2A in atherosclerosis, supporting it as a potential therapeutic target.

Water is a fundamental and essential resource for sustainable and healthy development of natural environment and human society. China boasts considerable water resources but is below world average on a per capita basis, and is challenged by the disparity in temporal and geographical distribution and poor utilization of water resources, severe water pollution, etc. As water is closely associated with climate change, change in water resources amid climate change in the future might affect China’s water security. Based on the reality and challenges of China’s water resources, this chapter shall discuss the evolution of China’s water management system and the current water demand, as well as the trend in future. Next, a study of water resources risk and its temporal and spatial distribution in China’s power industry are introduced, concluding with policy recommendations for China to address the challenges.

Usually, previous studies on the future development pathway of coal power are based on the economic models to provide the administrative pathways, or the coal-fired power plants dataset to provide bottom-up pathways with the multi-scenario hypothesis. However, these two methods above are difficult to be combined: there is a gap between the comprehensive consideration of economic, policy, and environmental factors, with the high spatial resolution of technology and space. This study narrows the gap between regional projection and unit data, and also considers the uncertainty of the operating units with the Monte Carlo Method. Firstly, we evaluate the score of each unit according to its technical parameters and other attribute information, which is based on a sufficient dataset of coal-fired power units with their geographical spatial coordinates. And next, the probability distribution function is built according to the scores of the candidate units. Then, we do sampling from the candidate units until the total capacity reaches the regional projection of the coal power development goal. Based on this method, we could identify the spatial distribution probability of coal-fired power units in the future, and therefore it can help us explore the environmental impacts in high-resolution space.•The method calculates the probability of operating status of candidate units using technical and attribute information-base scores with Monte Carlo method.•This paper describes the uncertainties in determining the spatial distribution of future power plants, and verifies the robustness of the results.•This method narrows the scale gap between regional projection and unit-level data., Graphical abstract Image, graphical abstract

Large-scale development of bioenergy is indispensable in dealing with the climate change challenge. The biomass resource may become a limiting factor for the utilization of bioenergy in mitigating carbon emissions in the future. For supporting formulating a feasible long-term strategy for bioenergy development, it is crucial to conduct an ex-ante estimation of the biomass resource potential and accurately capture its variability at fine resolution. Although many previous studies have been carried out to estimate biomass resource potential, there is still a lack of a systematic assessment of the long-term spatio-temporal distribution of resource potential of multiple domestic biomasses in the context of future changes of human and natural factors. To address this research gap, this study proposed a comprehensive framework coupled with the crop growth models, RS-GIS methods, statistical downscaling, and multi-source dataset to evaluate the biomass resource potential and its variability across China at 1-km resolution from 2020 to 2100. This study identified the suitable areas for bioenergy development in the future, and analyzed the impact of climate change and land use change on biomass resource potential. This study also explored the role of bioenergy potential playing in China's energy supply under the temperature rise control target. Results indicate that the bioenergy potential of residues and energy crops in China will reach 5.11–11.01 EJ in China in 2100, only accounting for 5.3%-12.2% of the national primary energy supply demand in 2100.

Background and aims Low-density lipoprotein receptor (Ldlr) and apolipoprotein E (Apoe) knockout (KO) mice have been widely used as animal models of atherosclerosis. However, data suggested that it is difficult to develop typical atherosclerosis in rats. To this end, Ldlr and Apoe KO rats were generated and the potential to develop novel atherosclerosis models was evaluated. Methods We established Apoe/Ldlr single and double KO (DKO) rats via the CRISPR/Cas9 system in the same background. Phenotypes of dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis in these KO rats were systematically characterized. Results Knockout of either gene led to severe dyslipidemia and liver steatosis. Significant atherosclerotic plaques were observed in the abdominal aorta of all mutant rats fed a normal diet for 48 weeks. Western diet greatly aggravated atherosclerosis and fatty liver. In addition, we found mononuclear cell infiltration in early lesions. Increased expression of inflammatory cytokines, as well as macrophage accumulation in lesions of mutants, was observed, indicating that mononuclear cell trafficking and endothelial inflammation affected atherogenesis. Moreover, mutant rats displayed a sex difference profile more similar to humans in which males had heavier plaque burdens than females. Conclusions Deficiency of either Ldlr or Apoe genes induced hyperlipidemia, which promoted endothelial inflammation and led to typical atherosclerosis in rats on normal or Western diets. These models display certain advantages, which will benefit future investigations of atherosclerotic pathology and antiatherosclerotic therapeutics.

Coal power production is the second largest source of water demand in China. However, as coal power would undergo significant changes under ambitious climate goals (2℃ or 1.5℃), it’s not clear how the low-carbon transition of the power sector made at the provincial level would affect the catchment-level water resources in the future. With a power system model (MESEIC) and a unit-level coal-fired power unit dataset, this study explores different power sector transition pathways from 2020 to 2050, and maps out the catchment-level water stress risk of China’s coal power with Monte Carlo method. Results show that the future power supply mix varies much under the shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs) and carbon emission targets. Without carbon emission targets, coal power would continue to dominate the power supply mix advantage and would cause severe risk of water stress. Under SSP1-5, the national water withdrawal from coal power in 2050 would be 12.2–176.2 billion m3 under the reference scenario, but would decline to 10.7–59.2 billion m3 with 2℃ target and 0.11–35.5 billion m3 with 1.5℃ target. Compared with the 2℃ target, the catchment-level water stress risk generated by coal-fired power plants in north China would be significantly reduced under the stricter target of 1.5℃. However, the benefits would be reduced under SSP5 because of the application of carbon capture and storage. This study reveals the strong synergies between reducing carbon emissions and alleviating water stress risk in China’s power sector, but regional risk should be noted while achieving the carbon reduction targets.

As a major GHG emissions source with large growth potential, the passenger transport sector plays a crucial role in deep decarbonization in China. Large disparities among provinces in private vehicle ownership, sufficiency of public transport infrastructure, affordability of clean fuel vehicles, etc. highlight the importance of regionally tailored mitigation strategies to fully exploit carbon reduction potentials. We classify 31 provinces in mainland China into three regional clusters based on their passenger transport development level, then establish a provincial level bottom-up model to project energy demand and CO2 emissions of China’s passenger transport sector by 2050. Mitigation effects of improving vehicle energy efficiency, shifting to alternative clean fuels, and promoting public transport are compared, and regionally tailored policy priorities are then proposed. The results show that CO2 emissions of China's passenger transport sector will peak around 2045 at 647 MtCO2 and slightly declined to 642 MtCO2 in 2050 in the Current Policies Scenario. If fully implemented, regionally tailor mitigation strategies that maximize techno-economic carbon reduction potentials could cut CO2 emissions substantially to net-zero in 2050. Mitigation effects of different policy options vary among time periods and regions. Improving vehicle fuel efficiency contributes the most in carbon mitigation over short time scales especially in less developed provinces, where private vehicle ownerships are projected to increase rapidly. Well-established transport infrastructure and an optimally designed public transport system could play a larger role in wealthier provinces.

GPR54, Kisspeptin-1 receptor (KISS1R), a member of rhodopsin family, plays a critical role in puberty development and has been proposed to be involved in regulation of energy metabolism. This study aims to explore the function of GPR54 in adipogenesis, lipid metabolism, and obesity in addition to its effect through hormones. Results showed that when fed a high-fat diet, the weight growth of castrated or ovariectomized Gpr54−/− mice was significantly slower than that of WT control, together with a lower triglyceride concentration. The ratio of white adipose tissue was lower, and average size of adipocytes was smaller in Gpr54−/− mice. Meanwhile, there were less adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs), especially pro-inflammatory macrophages. Expression of inflammatory related genes also indicated that inflammatory response caused by obesity was not as drastic in Gpr54−/− mice as in WT mice. Liver triglyceride in Gpr54−/− mice was reduced, especially in female mice. On the other hand, oil drop formation was accelerated when hepatocytes were stimulated by kisspeptin-10 (Kp-10). Primary mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) of Gpr54−/− mice were less likely to differentiate into adipocytes. When stimulated by Kp-10, 3T3-L1 cell differentiation into adipocytes was accelerated and triglyceride synthesis was significantly promoted. These data indicated that GPR54 could affect obesity development by promoting adipocyte differentiation and triglyceride accumulation. To further elucidate the mechanism, genes related to lipid metabolism were analyzed. The expression of genes involved in lipid synthesis including PPARγ, ACC1, ADIPO, and FAS was significantly changed in Gpr54−/− mice. Among them PPARγ which also participate in adipocyte differentiation displayed a marked reduction. Moreover, phosphorylation of ERK, which involved in GPR54 signaling, was significantly decreased in Gpr54−/− mice, suggesting that GPR54 may promote lipid synthesis and obesity development by activating MAP kinase pathway. Therefore, in addition to the involvement in hormone regulation, our study demonstrated that GPR54 directly participates in obesity development by promoting adipocyte differentiation and fat accumulation. This provided evidence of involvement of GPR54 in lipid metabolism, and revealed new potentials for the identification and development of novel drug targets for metabolic diseases.

GPR54 is highly expressed in the central nervous system and plays a crucial role in pubertal development. However, GRP54 is also expressed in the immune system, implying possible immunoregulatory functions. Here we investigated the role of GPR54 in T cell and immune tolerance. GPR54 deficiency led to an enlarged thymus, an increased number of thymocytes, and altered thymic micro-architecture starting around puberty, indicating GPR54 function in T-cell development through its regulatory effect on the gonadal system. However, flow cytometry revealed a significant reduction in the peripheral regulatory T cell population and a moderate decrease in CD4 single-positive thymocytes in prepubertal Gpr54-/- mice. These phenotypes were confirmed in chimeric mice with GPR54 deficient bone marrow-derived cells. In addition, we found elevated T cell activation in peripheral and thymic T cells in Gpr54-/- mice. When intact mice were immunized with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein, a more severe experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) developed in the Gpr54-/- mice. Interestingly, aggravated EAE disease was also manifested in castrated and bone marrow chimeric Gpr54-/- mice compared to the respective wild-type control, suggesting a defect in self-tolerance resulting from GPR54 deletion through a mechanism that bypassed sex hormones. These findings demonstrate a novel role for GPR54 in regulating self-tolerant immunity in a sex hormone independent manner.

The hepatoprotective activity of the EtOH–water extract of Ziziphus jujuba leaves was evaluated against CCl4-induced hepatic damage in mice. The EtOH–water extract significantly alleviated liver damage as indicated by the decreased levels of serum ALT and AST and the decreased MDA content, the increased levels of SOD, GSH and GSH-Px, and the reduced pathological tissue injury induced by CCl4. A quantitative analysis of fifteen major constituents (1–15) of the EtOH–water extract of the leaves of Z. jujuba was conducted by HPLC-DAD. Based on our research results, it can be concluded that the EtOH–water extract of the leaves of Z. jujuba is efficacious for prevention and treatment of CCl4-induced hepatic injury in mice. Flavonoids might be the active ingredients responsible for the biological and pharmacological activities towards hepatoprotection.

How to maximize the synergies between CO2 and conventional air pollutants (CAP) emission reductions have been extensively discussed in previous studies. However, few studies have explored the essential policy concern, which is, how to maximize the social benefits including both carbon mitigation and human health co-benefits from the co-abated conventional air pollutants. Besides, for some sectors that have extensive inter-regional trade, using more low-carbon technologies to produce goods (and thus reducing its own CO2 emissions) in one region may influence the need of goods imported from another region and consequently the associated conventional air pollutants emissions. Therefore, the health co-benefits may also be transferred to the other regions. This transfer effect has seldom been quantified before. To bridge these research gaps, this paper took China’s power sector as an example and quantified the operating margin (OM) emission factors of SO2, NOX and PM2.5 in China’s six power grids. Then the co-abatement rates of these three pollutants when reducing each kiloton of CO2 in different grids were calculated. Finally, considering different grids’ meteorological conditions, population densities, baseline incidences, baseline death rates, and the inter-grid electricity trade, this paper computed and compared the values and regional distribution of health co-benefits per kiloton of CO2 reduced. It is found that grids with the highest co-abatement rates in conventional air pollutants do not necessarily bring maximum health co-benefits. Although the northeast grid could achieve the largest co-reduction in NOX and PM2.5, it is the south grid that has the largest health co-benefits. The differences in health co-benefits of the same amount of CO2 reduced among grids vary as much as fivefold. Besides, the share of trans-grid health co-benefits can be as high as 14.1% if CO2 reduction takes place in the east grid. Therefore, it is suggested that the health co-benefits of CO2 reduction and their trans-regional distribution should be taken seriously when making regional carbon emission reduction plans, in order to maximize the social benefits of CO2 reduction.

Amorpha fruticosa L. is a Chinese folk medicine and rich in polyphenols. Fifteen known compounds were isolated and identified from the leaves of A. fruticosa L. They are tephrosin (1), 6a,12a-dehydrodeguelin (2), vitexin (3), afrormosin-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (4), 2″-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl isovitexin (5), rutin (6), chrysoeriol (7), 7-O-methylluteolin (8), trans-p-coumaric acid (9), 2-benzyl-4,6-dihydroxybenzoic acid-4-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (10), formononetin (11), quercetin (12), apigenin (13), β-sitosterol (14), and β-daucosterol (15). Compounds 3, 4, 5, and 7–9 were isolated from A. fruticosa L. for the first time. Cytotoxicity of individual compounds 3–10 and 90% ethanol extract against human cancer cell lines HCT116 and HepG2 were reported. The results suggested that compounds 7 and 8, and the crude extract exhibited inhibitory effects on human cancer cell line HCT116, at concentrations of 100 μg/mL, 5 μg/mL, and 25 μg/mL at

The fruit of Ziziphus jujuba Mill., also called hongzao in Chinese, has a long history of cultivation in China. From the fruit of Z. jujuba, twenty-seven known compounds were isolated and identified as the main constituents of these fruits. They were 3-O-(trans-p-coumaroyl)-alphitolic acid (1), 3-O-(cis-p-coumaroyl)-alphitolic acid (2), 3β-O-(trans-p-coumaroyl)-maslinic acid (3), pomonic acid (4), 2-oxo-pomolic acid (5), benthamic acid (6), terminic acid (7), oleanic acid (8), betulinic acid (9), quercetin 3-O-rutinoside (10), quercetin 3-O-robinobioside (11), apigenin (12), traumatic acid (13), (Z)-4-oxotetradec-5-enoic acid (14), 7(E)-9-keto-hexadec-7-enoic acid (15), 9(E)-11-oxo-octadecenoic acid (9CI) (16), and magnoflorine (27), etc. The HPLC fingerprint of Z. jujuba fruits was established at the same time. Compounds 4, 5, 7, 11, 14, 15 and 16 were isolated from Z. jujuba for the first time. Compound 14 was isolated from the nature for the first time. Furthermore, cytotoxicity against four human tumor cell lines (MCF-7, A549, HepG2 and HT-29) of the isolated compounds (1–17 and 27) was evaluated. Among these compounds, compounds 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9 and 12 had strong growth inhibitory effects on cancer cell lines. These results indicated that jujube extracts exhibited cytotoxicity on these cancer cell lines.

Rabdosia rubescens is a healthy herbal tea and well-known Chinese medicinal herb. To evaluate the quality of R. rubescens from China, a high performance liquid chromatography method with dual-wavelength detection was developed and validated. The method was successfully applied for the simultaneous characterization and quantification of 17 main constituents from four different cultivation regions in China. Under optimal conditions, analysis was performed on a Luna C-18 column and gradient elution with a solvent system of acetonitrile and 0.5% (v/v) acetic acid–water at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min and wavelength of 220 nm and 280 nm. All standard calibration curves exhibited good linearity (r2 > 0.9992) within the test ranges. The precision was evaluated by intraday and interday tests, which revealed relative standard deviation values within the ranges of 0.57–2.35% and 0.52–3.40%, respectively. The recoveries were in the range of 96.37–101.66%. The relative standard deviation values for stability and repeatability were < 5%. The contents of some compounds were low and varied with different cultivars. The proposed method could serve as a prerequisite for quality control of R. rubescens materials and products.

Polyphenols are important bioactive substances in apple. To explore the profiles of the nine representative polyphenols in this fruit, a high-performance liquid chromatography method has been established and validated. The validated method was successfully applied for the simultaneous characterization and quantification of these nine apple polyphenols in 11 apple extracts, which were obtained from six cultivars from Shaanxi Province, China. The results showed that only abscission of the Fuji apple sample was rich in the nine apple polyphenols, and the polyphenol contents of other samples varied. Although all the samples were collected in the same region, the contents of nine polyphenols were different. The proposed method could serve as a prerequisite for quality control of Malus products.

According to current situations, combination of hotel management and low-carbon tourism is of very positive significance. This paper mainly analyzes current situations of low-carbon tourism and problems existing in hotel management under low-carbon tourism standard, and proposes corresponding countermeasures in allusion to these problems. I. Overview of low-carbon tourism and hotel management The concept of low-carbon tourism originated from 1990s. This concept was proposed under the background of global climate warming. This concept is not just an economic development mode, but also an economic development idea. In 2009, this concept was first put forward in Copenhagen Conference and started to be known by people in the world. In the same year, concept of low-carbon tourism was put forward in World Economy Forum report. The concept of “low-carbon” started to go into people’s view. All these directly indicate the main direction of future truism development in the world. The hotel is a necessary facility in tourist attractions and also the place for tourist to have a rest. Hardware level and software level of hotels in scenic spots are directly related to star-level standards of hotels. Both hardware level and software level can reflect service level of a hotel. In recent years, low-carbon tourism has developed continuously. In such situation, hotels must adjust and improve their management mode. II. Status analysis of low-carbon tourism Actually, low-carbon tourism is a travelling mode with low carbon emission. Such tourism mainly advocates green, low consumption and low emission. The essence of low-carbon tourism is a life style under low-carbon background. Similarly, such style will become an important strategy for sustainable economic development of Chinese service industry. This strategy is mainly reflected in the following aspects: advocate green travelling fashion; advocate thrift; enhance travelling intelligence; establish circular economy pattern for travelling. In fact, low-carbon tourism development just starts in China. Jiuzhaigou Valley started to stop external vehicles from entering in 1999 and required green and environmentally-friendly sightseeing measures. The implementation of this measure to some extent controls vehicle emissions, and air quality of Jiuzhaigou Valley gains corresponding guarantee. Also in 1999, Jiuzhaigou Valley Administration launched the project of returning farmland to forests or grassland and has gained certain achievements. Jiuzhaigou Valley can still keep clear water till now, which is closely related to implementation of low-carbon and environmentally-friendly tourism pattern. III. Implication of hotel management in scenic spots under low-carbon perspective Hotel management should be regarded as a special enterprise management mode. From the perspective of service industry, hotels in scenic spots mainly provide services for tourists. Generally, the service aim of hotel management is customer first and service first. Such management mode guides hotel operation and development. But, since low-carbon concept was proposed, the implication of hotels in scenic spots should change correspondingly. The service aim of hotels in scenic spots should be based on “customer first, service first and people first”. Hotels should International Conference on Education Technology and Social Science (ICETSS 2014) © 2014. The authors Published by Atlantis Press 111 provide the best services for tourists through low-pollution and low-consumption green services. Meanwhile, after the concept of low-carbon tourism was put forward, hotels in scenic spots are faced with new challenges. Firstly, hotels should create environmentally-friendly, safe and green environment for tourists and well coordinate the relationship among environmental protection, hotel management and social development. Secondly, hotels should pay sufficient attention to hotel image promotion and attach importance to final realization of economic benefit. Thirdly, hotels should guide green services through the concept of green and environmental protection and establish an image of green and environmental protection. Finally, production design and raw material selection should be improved, and the damage between human and environment should be reduced to the minimum. Besides, ecological protection should be stressed. IV. Difficulties existing in hotel management under the influence of low-carbon concept (I) Software facilities remain improvement In current stage, hardware facilities of an overwhelming majority of scenic sports in China have been higher than those of international hotels in the same grade, but these hotels have shortcomings in application of software facilities such as high-tech services. Take indoor temperature control for example. Different people have fine distinction for feeling indoor temperature. This cannot be solved through installing a central air-conditioner. Hotel service items should not just comply with actual demands of tourists, but also improve from many aspects such as environmental protection, science and technology. Meanwhile, hotel products are services, so the service level is directly related to smooth development of the hotels. Currently, service capacity and level, of many hotels in sciatic spots cannot accord with hardware facilities in scenic spots. On the whole, most five-star hotels in scenic spots in China are rated on the basis of hardware facilities. The soft power such as the service level and service facilities fail to reach five-star standard. (II) Internationalization level remains promotion At present, China has joined WTO. This is sufficient to prove China’s economic development has stepped on a new step. After entering WTO, China started to be known by western people. But, many hotel managers fail to make sufficient preparations to welcome internationalization, such as language barrier. If language barrier of hotel managers cannot be solved as soon as possible, it is very hard to reach real internationalization. Meanwhile, many scenic spots in China are accepted and known by foreigners. However, insufficient foreign language ability of hotels in scenic spots will directly cause foreign tourists reduce evaluation of local travelling conditions and give rise to some negative effects to scenic spots. (III) Employees' quality remains improvement Hotel management needs talents. Meanwhile hotel services also need talents. Under the influence of low-carbon concept, daily maintenance of hotels also needs special talents. But, through a general survey of hotel industry development, it started to develop in 1980s. Due to constraints of Chinese feudal thought, a few people regarded hotel management as an industry. No regarded it as a career. Besides, attraction of hotels is also inferior to other industries. At present, most hotel employees in many scenic spots are middle-aged people. Their educational background and quality are not high, let alone well master advanced science, technology and facilities. This directly leads to the drop of overall hotel service level. What’s more, many scenic spots are in remote areas in middle and western China. Traffic in these areas is inconvenient and economic level lags behind. Of course, living conditions cannot reach corresponding requirements. Under such conditions, attraction of hotels in scenic spots greatly declines. Moreover, many colleges in China do not set hotel management major. So, the talents in hotel management are scarce. There is badly short of professional hotel management talents. (IV) Hotel culture construction does not comply with the concept of low-carbon tourism At present, the key of Chinese hotel development lies in culture construction and cultivation of core values. Hotel culture refers to a value orientation established by hotels in combination of hotel features in order to reach certain height. Many hotel managers pay no attention to hotel culture construction. In their opinions, culture construction is an indifferent thing. Although some hotels